2008 E350 Quigley 4x4 6.0 on EBay

[Wanderer]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141196024272?ss ... 1423.l2649

Can a voyager or CCV high top be mounted on this van? It has 3 sunroofs mounted on the roof and I'm concerned about whether a high top would fit.

Dave

[BroncoHauler]

There looks to be plenty of room along the driver's side and passenger's side, but the remaining van roof at the front and back are the biggest concerns. I believe the metal roof above the driver and passenger is part of the factory structural safety cage and I don't think SMB or CCV cuts away anything in that area.

If you're considering this van, I'd ask the seller how close the front and rear sunroofs are to the edges of the roof, and then ask SMB and CCV about how much roof they require in those areas.


Herb

[Wanderer]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

There looks to be plenty of room along the driver's side and passenger's side, but the remaining van roof at the front and back are the biggest concerns. I believe the metal roof above the driver and passenger is part of the factory structural safety cage and I don't think SMB or CCV cuts away anything in that area.

If you're considering this van, I'd ask the seller how close the front and rear sunroofs are to the edges of the roof, and then ask SMB and CCV about how much roof they require in those areas.


Herb

Thanks, I'll check with CCV and SMB on Monday.

[boywonder]

It appears that the first x-member behind the seats has been cut (looking at the interior pic). That one remains intact for a SMB Penthouse install. I imagine that it remains unmolested on the CCV top as well (check Shenrie's thread in the home build section-he just installed a CCV top on his EB yesterday).

I'm sure that it can be welded up with little ill effects if you were planning on adding a pop top.

SMB doubles up that X member on the EB body when installing a penthouse. They just sheet metal screw one of the removed cross members directly behind that first one, not sure how much integrity it adds.

If you were going to add a penthouse, perhaps welding up the double cross member config would be more robust than the typical install with sheet metal screws.

The other issue appears to be whether or not the rear sunroof is too far back to remove and add a PH top. On the RB body the hole for the PH is about 10" from the rear rain gutter. The rear sunroof hole looks close......hard to tell in the pic. I don't know what that dimension is for an EB. Shenrie could probably tell you how much rear roof metal you need for a CCV top on an EB body.

[photographix]

I have a 2008 EB with an SMB manual PH. Here's a couple photos and measurements for you.

The first one is at the rear barn doors, looking straight up. Due to parallax, the tape measure looks incorrect. The actual measurement from the bend in the J-hook eyelet to the rear edge of the exterior rain gutter is 11".



Here, I measured from where the padded panel opens into the penthouse area to the center of the windshield at the headliner. This dimension is 35".



In both locations, I believe the roof is cut open at those points, give or take a 1/4" behind the padded panels.

In the rear, the rubber gasket on the outside edge on the fiberglass shell lands on the roof just inside the rain gutter, so it probably overhangs the opening by about 9.5"

In the front, the top overhangs more. Measuring from the front of the PH to the same place on the windshield, there is about 18" of van roof exposed, which means that the fiberglass shell extends about 17" forward from the cutout opening.

Trying to estimate distances from the eBay post, I'm guessing that you may be okay with the rear sunroof hole and it will disappear when the roof is cut out. In the front, it looks like the PH gasket would be resting about in the middle of the sunroof glass.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I misread and thought you wanted a pop top. Nevermind.

[BroncoHauler]

Provided the rear sunroof cutout is OK, and the price is right on the van, it might be worthwhile to get some donor metal and have the hole filled in and reinforced. Once the PH hole is cut out, the headliner will cover the patch job.

I'll give the seller points for honesty in disclosing those issues, but at the same time that provides a lot of leverage IMO to get a better price.


Herb

[Foxmaster]

It is possible to install voyager top on it, just need few reinforcement bars in front. It is good price for 4x4 diesel, mileage also looks good. Good deal.

[Wanderer]

Thanks for the input fellas. I'm leaning towards a voyager type high top, so I think it'll be fine. The seller has a couple of new factory crossmembers that he ordered from Ford so it'll be useful if I need to reinforce the sunroof areas.