Roof rack for extended roof

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Geneeus

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Hi there,
I have a 1994 Ford E-150 that was converted by Sharrad. It includes a fiberglass top, and that's where my trouble begins. I need to mount a couple of 200-watt solar panels that I have from a previous build, but I don't have a lot of confidence in the strength of the fiberglass top because it doesn't have a lot of molded-in supports.

What I'm looking for is a roof rack that will clamp onto my rain gutter, and extend high enough to clear the top of the fiberglass top.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
The strongest area of the molded fiberglass toppers or even on a molded fiberglass trailer is along the edge where the upper surface transitions downwards. Structurally that area is quite strong as the load force is well distributed and much like a piece of wide metal angle it does not flex under loads. On the interior and exterior you can add plates for the bolts to pass through for securing cross bars to support the solar panels. Those plates also distribute the stress point load so the bolt in the holes holes do not put all the load directly onto a small hole in the fiberglass. That means your fiberglass top will not be cracking at the bolt locations. CACC5A47-39A4-4CE6-8966-5F9839C122D5.jpeg12A4D327-EF4D-4F4C-A675-5197159ACB07.jpeg
 
A couple of years ago, I saw a pickup with a fiberglass camper shell on it. It also had a roof rack, but it wasn't attached to the shell at all. The vertical supports were attached to the truck body, with the rack sitting a few inches above the fiberglass.

I would have studied it more, but he drove away.
 
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