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Old 05-24-2022, 03:27 PM   #11
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4 hours wasnt a great estimate but i think i got it done in 8. . What metal did you recommend treating and coating? the cross member is galvanized and shows little corrosion if any. The big corner washer i did wire wheel and paint. But otherwise, i dont know what else needed coated.
Good to hear! Your problems must not be as bad as I thought they would be. I figured you would find some roof damage, as in the original van roof under the edge of the top. Many do and it can be awful.

I'm really glad the canvas stayed in place for you but I kind of wonder what it looks like below it. If you have no further leaks though, meaning lower leaks behind walls or around doors, then you probably caught this before any van body damage was done.


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Old 05-24-2022, 06:39 PM   #12
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FWIW, my top is about 20 years old and the plywood looks new since it's never had a leak around the bottom of the canvas.
Same, and mine's 32 years old. I attribute that partly to the van having spent a lot of its life west of the Rockies where it doesn't rain a lot.

I would definitely figure out why water is being trapped in that area. The gutter seal is mostly to reduce wind noise; the primary way this area is protected is by the overhanging edge of the top, and because water naturally drains outward due to the slope of the underlying roof. Even without a gutter seal you should not have water pooling at the base of the canvas.

Did you inspect the corners for fatigue cracks while you had it apart? SMB's corner cuts weren't radiused on my van and I had cracks working their way outward from two of them.
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Old 05-24-2022, 10:14 PM   #13
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Good to hear! Your problems must not be as bad as I thought they would be. I figured you would find some roof damage, as in the original van roof under the edge of the top. Many do and it can be awful.

I'm really glad the canvas stayed in place for you but I kind of wonder what it looks like below it. If you have no further leaks though, meaning lower leaks behind walls or around doors, then you probably caught this before any van body damage was done.

Well we will get a peak under the canvas when i get the new material in and i reseal under the canvas. Hopefully there are not surprises there!


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Same, and mine's 32 years old. I attribute that partly to the van having spent a lot of its life west of the Rockies where it doesn't rain a lot.

I would definitely figure out why water is being trapped in that area. The gutter seal is mostly to reduce wind noise; the primary way this area is protected is by the overhanging edge of the top, and because water naturally drains outward due to the slope of the underlying roof. Even without a gutter seal you should not have water pooling at the base of the canvas.

Did you inspect the corners for fatigue cracks while you had it apart? SMB's corner cuts weren't radiused on my van and I had cracks working their way outward from two of them.
This van lived in Western Washington most its life. So hopefully the new life in the desert will help it out. I found what i believe is the source of the water. After all the work on saturday i went out in the beautiful sunny day to inspect and bask in my hard work...only to find the tent was wet! Then a drop of water landed in front of me. i look up to find the nut under the roof rack bolt wet. Ah, this makes sense. The sealant on the roof rack hardware had long given up the ghost. i resealed it all with butyl rubber and we will see if that worked.
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Old 05-25-2022, 02:09 PM   #14
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This van lived in Western Washington most its life. So hopefully the new life in the desert will help it out. I found what i believe is the source of the water. After all the work on saturday i went out in the beautiful sunny day to inspect and bask in my hard work...only to find the tent was wet! Then a drop of water landed in front of me. i look up to find the nut under the roof rack bolt wet. Ah, this makes sense. The sealant on the roof rack hardware had long given up the ghost. i resealed it all with butyl rubber and we will see if that worked.
Makes sense. In Western Washington even a slow leak will cause it to get wet and stay wet for weeks to months, since the water never really gets a chance to evaporate.
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Old 05-26-2022, 03:06 PM   #15
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wondering if King Starboard plastic sheeting might work, leaning toward using it for my floor
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Old 06-03-2022, 07:28 AM   #16
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Another option for future victims is vinyl flooring. You can stack and glue some together after you cut equal straps or just find the thickest mil you can find. The floor depots will sell you one strip as a sample for pennies.
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Old 06-10-2022, 02:05 AM   #17
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Rough Movement

My penthouse had the same rough raise/lower issues. For other reasons I had to disassemble the entire system and thats when I realized why the problem existed. The strut tubing goes through slots cut into stacked plywood and all SMB West did was grease up the wood, and hope for the best. I should have redesigned everything then by installing some sort of bearing system or even half round channeling but I was in a hurry and just cleaned up the wood and packed it with grease. It worked for the first ten times then started to jerk again Not as bad as before, but still discernable. Gotta love some of the crap SMB turned out. but then it justs help us with finding things to do in our spare time
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Old 06-10-2022, 05:24 AM   #18
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My penthouse had the same rough raise/lower issues. For other reasons I had to disassemble the entire system and thats when I realized why the problem existed. The strut tubing goes through slots cut into stacked plywood and all SMB West did was grease up the wood, and hope for the best. I should have redesigned everything then by installing some sort of bearing system or even half round channeling but I was in a hurry and just cleaned up the wood and packed it with grease. It worked for the first ten times then started to jerk again Not as bad as before, but still discernable. Gotta love some of the crap SMB turned out. but then it justs help us with finding things to do in our spare time

Interesting.....I've never seen one with grease, but a sheet of something slippery like UHMWPE may be a lasting improvement. Did the grease help a lot? I'm assuming it was only only the slotted end and not the pivot end.
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