Cargo van roof rack

[MrNoodly]

should I buy two or three pieces?

Remember, the roof curves from front to back. That's not a problem when attaching a rigid solar panel to two bars, but with three the bars might not line up unless there's some sort of adjustability in the uprights. Sometimes the uprights intended for the center might be a bit shorter.

My setup uses two bars placed toward the back of the roof. That does two things. It leaves room for the vent toward the front, and it gets the panel/rack combo a little more out of direct wind. The air is slightly calmer farther back. When I had a bar at the front, the wind howled around it, and drag must have been greater. Also, when I decided to hinge the panel to tilt when the sun is low, I can stand in the back door opening to raise and lower the panel.

 

[pilgrim]

I used three racks mostly because I had them and 2x3's for the slats (cheap) then I mount one 2 x 4 foot panel and with the brackets from the panel I didn't notice the curve at all.

One other thing before I had anything on the racks the hamonic vibration noise was mind numbing until I tried the tip of wrapping a bungie cord length ways and the noise is gone. Just a few wraps and hooked on each end of the bracket.