Sliding Interior Roof Panel ???

[James1000]

I have seen somewhere a sliding panel which will slide across the very large gap at the front created by a pop top. Does anyone know where?

I find it far too noisy for phone use, the radio and can’t hear the kids in the back due to wind noise at 70mph (ahem) on the motorway on my ‘van with windows’

 

[Wills]

Sliding Internal Cover (for Pop Top Roofs)?
Which pop top have you got?

 

[Ayjay]

I made one myself (and if I can make a decent job of it, anybody can). Apologies again, for the quality of the pictures but I posted about it here: What Have You Done To Your Van Today?. Happy to answer any other questions.

 

[James1000]

Thanks

no idea what too it as as I don’t think cascade specifically use anything branded.

that has helped but why do these people operate off Facebook with no real means of contact - given ideas though I just wish it was off the shelf

Sliding Internal Cover (for Pop Top Roofs)?
Which pop top have you got?

 

[bullracing]

They only do them for reimo and austops.

I have asked if they do a westdubs and got this.
"Thanks for contacting us, unfortunately we only do Austops and easy fit reimo at the moment due to the complicated fibreglass front surround."

 

[Crooky]

I made one after taking inspiration from Ayjay's original post - it is very easy...

 

[Ayjay]

Looks like a good job. What are those black squares?

 

[James1000]

do you have any more photos - what holds it up etc quite liking that option

I made one after taking inspiration from Ayjay's original post - it is very easy...

View attachment 58917

 

[xpfloyd]

Nice work on the custom ones guys. I’m going to have a proper look at mine tomorrow and work out if I can do something similar. Mine is an SCA though and I need access into the corners to do the straps up. Can’t think how to make it slide out the way at the moment

 

[DXX]

I’ve got a Reimo roof, the converter fitted a fabric cover that secures with poppers. I have since made a covered foam pad that tightly fills the void above and make a big noise reduction.
When we are sleeping the foam pad goes against the tailgate behind the pillows.

 

[xpfloyd]

So I’ve had an idea of how to do it on my SCA, if I use an aluminium Y channel and secure it to the underside of the roof bed it will leave me a channel each side that a piece of ply can slide along. I can cover the ply in the carpet I used for the walls so it matches. This will allow me to close the roof then slide the panel into place to hide the hole and the roof components. Going to mock it up and see what it looks like

something like this Aluminium Y shape angle with 20mm gap GA 1023S

 

[mlh677]

I do not have an SCA roof but I am looking to do something similar, though in my case the slider ideally needs to be sturdy enough to extend the bed board for my head* in addition to filling the void when the roof is down - although 9 times out of 10 when the van is not too full of "stuff" I would almost certainly favour using the RIB instead. (* Otherwise I will inevitably spend the night kicking the roof.)

@xpfloyd , good to see your thoughts as I came to a similar conclusion as yourself after seeing how this is achieved on a Skyline roof. e.g.

I have not done anything about it yet, as have been too busy playing with other things though I am guessing the additional weight could potentially require new gas struts for the bed board also.

It will definitely be interesting to hear how you get on with the mock-up.

 

[Ayjay]

@xpfloyd. Not being funny but my personal view is that you're overthinking it. The straps are easy once the hatch cover is out of the way but I was careful to make sure that I had some cutouts in it so that there was no way for the cover to ever interfere with the cam strap buckles - even if I have to brake hard, there's no way for the cover to move forward and accidentally hit (and release) them. Measure and cut it right and the panel can simply sit in the gap in the same way as the bed board does. In the pictures for my original post that I linked to above, the panel can be seen slid back over the top of the bed board but I found that sometimes it snagged on the side canvas. Nowadays, when I open the roof, I just push the bed board up a bit and slide the panel underneath it to get at the cam straps. So much easier and I don't know why I didn't do it that way in the first place. If your like us and don't actually use the roof bed at all, using a solid panel (in my case.18mm spruce board) actually gives you a very handy shelf to put stuff on when the roof is up as well. I'm not sure if any of that will make sense to you but it sounded alright in my head! I'll take some more pictures shortly and put them up.

 

[xpfloyd]

I do not have an SCA roof, but I am looking to do something similar, though in my case the slider ideally needs to be sturdy enough to extend the bed board for my head* in addition to filling the void when the roof is down - although 9 times out of 10 when the van is not too full of "stuff" I would almost certainly favour using the RIB instead. (* Otherwise I will inevitably spend the night kicking the roof.)

@xpfloyd , good to see your thoughts as I came to a similar conclusion as yourself after seeing how this is achieved on a Skyline roof. e.g.

I have not done anything about it yet, as have been too busy playing with other things though I am guessing the additional weight could potentially require new gas struts for the bed board also.

It will definitely be interesting to hear how you get on with the mock-up.

Yes thats exactly what I had in mind! Thanks for posting. Since the bed board sits in the groove in the roof frame that was why I was thinking the Y shaped channel. This will allow screwing upwards into the metal frame of the bed board and leave a C channel pointing inwards each side to allow the panel to slide inside. The one in the video looks quite chunky (18-20mm thick maybe?) but I was thinking of using 4mm or 6mm ply with carpet. I dont plan on ever closing it when in the bed so it doesnt need to be load bearing at all.

Something else I liked in that video is the key locks to hold the roof down. I have been trying to think of a way to add a second layer of fixation to my roof as mine has a strap to tighten either corner and I have been wanting something in addition to take the fear of the straps slipping and the roof blowing off at speed out my head. Any idea what to google for those locks with the bar above that rotates 90 degrees? That would be ideal for peace on mind in addition to the straps.

Finally, if you want the panel to take some weight from above the alternative to using a channel at the side would be to use some heavy duty low profile drawer runners between the panel and the underside of the bed board. Some of them can take 250kg weight at full extension. However I think that load rating is then the runner is on its side (as it would be at the side of a drawer) but I dont know how much load bearing you would get with it on the other orientation. It might be possible to find bottom mount ones that are load rated. Hope that makes sense

 

[mlh677]

@Ayjay , absolute proof that it's good to kick ideas around. Actually, thinking about it some more... if I was to simply fit a hinge (to fold the panel double when roof is up) then I would get the benefit of both your solution and the more rigid bed board extension I am looking for.

Where is the facepalm emoticon when you need it?!

Also, look forward to your photos, but can you also please let me know where the grey 'handles' came from. They look perfect!

Not sure which way to go with this yet, but that is why we research...

Thanks!

 

[xpfloyd]

@xpfloyd. Not being funny but my persona view is that you're overthinking it. The straps are easy once the hatch cover is out of the way but I was careful to make sure that I had some cutouts in it so that there was no way for the cover to ever interfere with the cam strap buckles - even if I have to brake hard, there's no way for the cover to move forward and accidentally hit (and release) them. Measure and cut it right and the panel can simply sit in the gap in the same way as the bed board does. In the pictures for my original post that I linked to above, the panel can be seen slid back over the top of the bed board but I found that sometimes it snagged on the side canvas. Nowadays, when I open the roof, I just push the bed board up a bit and slide the panel underneath it to get at the cam straps. So much easier and I don't know why I didn't do it that way in the first place. If your like us and don't actually use the roof bed at all, using a solid panel (in my case.18mm spruce board) actually gives you a very handy shelf to put stuff on when the roof is up as well. I'm not sure if any of that will make sense to you but it sounded alright in my head! I'll take some more pictures shortly and put them up.

Re the roof flying open at speed - I definitely am over thinking it but its honestly been playing on my mind for 3 years now . Its been fine though the whole time at...ahem...70mph

The roof closing panel is unrelated to my strap fear, I just want to do that to make it look nicer when closed. Thanks to you guys I now have an idea of what to do (I think )

 

[xpfloyd]

@Ayjay , absolute proof that it's good to kick ideas around. Actually, thinking about it some more... if I was to simply fit a hinge (to use when roof is up) then I would get the benefit of both your solution and the more rigid bed board extension I am looking for.

Where is the facepalm emoticon when you need it?!

Also, look forward to your photos, but can you also please let me know where the grey 'handles' came from. They look perfect!

Not sure which way to go with this yet, but that is why we research...

Thanks!

Yeah if its something you can put in place before lowering the roof down (Like Ahjays) then you can sit the panel inside the rebate either side like the bed board itself. When the roof is up and the bed is in use you can then sit it back in the same rebate and it will take the weight of your pillows/head no problem as it would be bearing down on the frame itself (assuming 18mm ply used - dont use MDF as it will bend over time with weight). In that solution it doesnt even need to be secured to the bed board in any way, it just needs to be a standalone piece you can sit in as long as you leave holes to pull the roof down.

 

[Ayjay]

OK guys, here's some more photos which I hope shows my mod properly but I'm happy to answer any further questions. As I said, I suspect it's really easy to think about over-engineering the thing as that's exactly what I did before really get my head around it.

@mlh677. If you mean the light grey plastic handles, they were the original fittings for securing my sliding table but I just repurposed them as I found a better way to stow it. Sorry, I've never seen them sold separately but just part of the complete storage kit from Just Kampers and the like - really, any small handle of knob would do as it's just to get hold of when you want to slide the hatch cover (it's just a case of finding something that doesn't look to much of a bodge).

Anyway, here's the promised photos:

1. Cover slid back

2. Roof up

3. In use as a shelf - roof up
4. How it sits within frame
5. Straps cut-out from top
6. Strap cut-out when closed and roof secured
7. Straps tidied away (including tied to handles for extra peace of mind!!)

 

[xpfloyd]

nicely done @Ayjay

@mlh677 - with regards to the pull handle if you google "flush pull handle" lots of options come up. I am thinking about something like this recessed in to the panel - Flush Pulls 120mm Satin Stainless Steel

 

[Ayjay]

@mlh677. You got me thinking about all this again and I came to the conclusion that the handles aren't really necessary as the thing is so easy to slide back once the roof board is pushed up a bit so long as you can get a couple of fingers in the strap cut-out. I've just been out to try it in practice and I'm right - it actually only needs to move a little bit before you can get your fingers in gap between the frame and long edge to push further back so I'm going to get rid of the handles. See what I mean about over-thinking? Thanks for the prompt.