Putt

[Putts]

It's a fair point, and I hadn't even thought of racks. 

One thing is that I have assumed that the gutter on the right hand side of the vehicle will be needed to mount the awning. The other thing is I've sort of given up on the idea of having too much on the roof---I'll be in my 60s and 70s in this thing, as much as I'd like a platform for watching motorcycle races I've been mentally keeping the roof simple.

However, I may have gone a step too far, thinking on it a roof rack of some sort seems the best thing to do in the long run. I don't want to go up there, but I'll have to. I really don't want to be walking around on that thin skin all the time. (I do try to distribute my weight on the bracing though.) Be nice to put a black PVC shower water heater up there too. 

Imma have to think on it. Putt is going to be done in phases; some of the expensive stuff has to be done while on the road after I sell my house (2-3 years). The awning may be one of them. Radios, antennas, more solar panels and new battery bank to name a few more. I might just 3M tape them on for now and cut the mounting bracket of at its base later when I put a rack on. No holes left over that way. 

But the rack up top is a good idea. Maybe there will be room for a picnic table, a cooler, and a Cinzano umbrella. Hm.

 

[Moonfreed]

What about a combination of adhesive and mounting brackets?

Dunno if there would be a concern for strength because of the bracket lift, but you'd get some airflow for your panels as a bonus. (and help do your part for the insect world should they find your nice rain/solar awning an appealing home.)

:-/

 

[highdesertranger]

I would still do a gutter mount rack. you could always attach the awning to the rack. plus the gutter type mounting is totally adjustable and you can always move it all to another vehicle real easy if you ever wanted to. highdesertranger

 

[Putts]

What about a combination of adhesive and mounting brackets?

I would still do a gutter mount rack.  you could always attach the awning to the rack.  plus the gutter type mounting is totally adjustable...

Yeah, I will be going with some sort of rack, probably gutter, but that will be in phase two---after I'm on the road and sell my house. For now I'll be using the stock brackets with that 3M VHB 4950. In about three years I'll tell you how they've held up.

... and you can always move it all to another vehicle real easy if you ever wanted to.  highdesertranger

Away, I say!

Got the solar panel brackets installed and prepped the surface for the VHB tape. A nice hearty sanding to remove the oxidation layer.

Clean with alcohol, let dry, and apply tape.

Trim with a cutter.

Badabing! Step number 14,385 done. Only 163,396 to go!

Dart is impressed.

 

[rvpopeye]

" Rats ! He's not playing with me AGAIN !" When I get bigger I'm gonna pee on the tires of that thing he keeps working on ...)

 

[Cammalu]

Putts, your little baby is the cutest little thing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rvpopeye]

Yes he is !

 

[highdesertranger]

what's the holding power of that 3M tape? highdesertranger

 

[Putts]

"When I get bigger I'm gonna pee on the tires of that thing he keeps working on ...)    

Fortunately, even full grown I don't think he can reach the lug nuts.

Putts, your little baby is the cutest little thing

Brutal, isn't it.

what's the holding power of that 3M tape?  highdesertranger

Just looked it up: 140lbs/inch^2 pull strength; 80lbs/inch^2 shear strength.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1267925O/vhb-tape-specialty-tapes.pdf

It's got about 3-4inch^2 per mounting bracket.

Paint on the roof is somewhat aged and thin. I'll be sanding spots down to bare metal where the brackets attach to the roof.

 

[highdesertranger]

how much does the panels weigh? when driving down the highway what is going to be the lifting power of the wind? the reason I am asking is when tape is used usually they use like four 1 foot long pieces of aluminum angle to increase the holding area. highdesertranger

 

[Putts]

Don't know. Seems to me at about 300lbs pull strength per corner it should hold. Had a note from another friend who did it on his Lazy Daze and has held well for 7 years. We'll see.

 

[rvpopeye]

Well just to be on the safe side ....If we caravan ,you follow me !
Skuh kuh kuh kuh kuh kuh

And if he can't reach the lug nuts you'll be ok...

 

[Putts]

....If we caravan ,you follow me !

Sure. Although I keep having this picture in my head of following you and every time you make a turn I look at my GPS and say, "Aww hell, that ain't right!"

Worked on my roof combiner box. It's not really going to be a "combiner box" because I'm not going to do any combining there. The two 100W PV panels will be wired in parallel with some "Y" connectors up top; then I'm just going to feed the wires through the combiner box to the electrical equipment wall just below. The charge controller will be mounted on that wall with the batteries at the base of the wall. From the panel join through the combiner box to the charge controller will be about 6 feet; I'll be using 8AWG wire from the join to charge controller. So up top, all I really need is a way to feed the wires through the box with some waterproof feed-throughs.

Took a piece of PVC long enough to get through the roof and past the false ceiling to the electrical wall. Glued a spare fitting I had to it, and then chopped it short.

Drilled a hole in the combiner box for the PVC.

Test fit the PVC to it and felt that the inlet holes were a little too close to the roof...standing water might have too much opportunity to get in.

So I cut a piece of pressure treated wood I had laying around as a spacer and Sikaflexed it all together.

Glommed a bead of Sikaflex inside so that the wires wouldn't be rubbing against the sharp edge of the PVC.

I'll just be cutting the hole for the PVC in the roof and will cover the entire wood part with Sikaflex, spooge a bunch on the bottom, and then adhere/seal the whole thing to the roof. 

Dart seems really comfortable tethered to his bed box while I work.

L'il bugger's going to have a good life on the road one of these days.

 

[rvpopeye]

My problem with GPS is they just show you a small bit of the surrounding area. A map shows it all and the best part is I get to decide how to get where I want to go...
Never failed me in all my years out on the road ,,,,,now let me tell you about how many times a GPS wanted to take the wrong way....never mind , not enough time to write that out.

I like your redesign of that box , you will have PLENTY of room for anything you want to add to the roof with it !

Dart: One cool little dude.

 

[Putts]

My problem with GPS is they just show you a small bit of the surrounding area. A map shows it all and the best part is I get to decide how to get where I want to go...

"The map ain't the territory."

As a motorcycle adventurer, I just love the point where you're basically where you want to be and you forget all the maps and just enjoy singing in your helmet and wandering around following your nose.

 

[rvpopeye]

Well yes ,then there's that.
But it's still you that decides where to go........

 

[Putts]

You won't have to push me too hard...I LOVE maps...have ever since I was a kid paging through my dad's big world atlas. Ah, the dreams in your head looking at maps. Don't you fret, I'll have plenty of paper maps around.

On the other hand, a good wifi connection and Google maps with satellite views and links to local pix is an unbelievable resource.

 

[Putts]

Say Brian, I've been convince my trailer bike will be a TW200, but somehow got a wild hair up my but when I stumbled across the Ruckus again and started thinking about the weight/space savings of a little scooter. Most of my riding will be local to a campsite or short runs to town (5 miles maybe, wouldn't want to be too far from Putt usually). The Ruckus seems pretty underpowered.low speed though. The Grom comes to mind as well, but I fear I'd look like the proverbial monkey boinking a football. I saw some vids of the Yamaha C3 which seemed like a good fit. In the end, I think I want the more capable TW, which may be worth the extra weight/space. Any thoughts on other rides that might work?

 

[tx2sturgis]

You might want to read the thread about e-bikes..some of those look pretty capable...

I've never owned or even ridden one...so I'm not sure I could live with one for long term...most of them have no suspension other than a couple of springs in the seat.

I'm still contemplating what I will do with my two remaining motorcycles...keep both, or sell one, or sell both...still figuring out my options.

I like the TW200, they look about right, and actually dont look bad with a milk crate attached to the rear rack...I kid you not!

The Ruckus looks good for short putts...  (see what I did there?)

 

[Putts]

Yeah, there are some bitchin e-bikes out there, but I suspect I'll be spending too much time riding through sand to make them workable. That goes for the Ruckus as well, but probably less so. Still leaning towards the TeeDub, have you ridden one? They're a hoot!

What do you have besides the hack?