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110 lifting roof (has begun in earnest)


Jocklandjohn

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Guest wunntenn

Oops - missed out the picture showing the 19mm box end which the fabric will be fastened to that I mentioned above. Here it is:

awng-8.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Something I've discovered whilst away with our trailer is some ferry companies get real upset about gas bottles on show. We had to hide ours inside the car whilst loading and on board the ferry (at the request of the guy loading us he said "i didn't see it").

Mike

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Something I've discovered whilst away with our trailer is some ferry companies get real upset about gas bottles on show. We had to hide ours inside the car whilst loading and on board the ferry (at the request of the guy loading us he said "i didn't see it").

Mike

Seeing as the ferry is about the only way to go from and to the UK with LPG, I wonder what the problem is with a bottle?

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The ferries have some funny rules, I was going to Arran for work last year and we were taking explosives over (for quarry blasting) and they had to be taken over separately on a RIB. Meanwhile I went over in the 110 and sat parked next to a tanker full of petrol on the boat.

So solid state explosives in a stable condition - not ok. Several thousand litres of highly explosive volatile liquid - bring it on!

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Guest wunntenn

Thanks lads. Appreciate your comments.

Still got some wiring to finish, awning to complete bit of work on the top and the drop sides need cutting and fitting - got a problem though, the awning maker doing the job has quit after 18 years! (nothing to do with me) but it means I may be completing it myself with the sewing machine. Which might be fun (or not)! And I have a front bar to fit to put my roof spots/lights on, which will also 'soften' the slabby front by breaking up the slope - it's not bad but will look better when done.

My main concern has been rain - it's been a dry summer so far so the roof hasn't really been tested, but the last week or two has dropped some epic rain on occasions and so far it has remained bone dry - well nothing is obvious inside and I've been in in the dark with the torch to see if I can spot anything but not a drop. And there's few 'traps' where water could be and not noticed so if it was getting in I'd see it I think. So I'm pleased with my guesswork sealing methods.

Only real problem was the Sikaflex ate its way through the Halfords cellulose paint and the solar panel came off. Bit of hassle but at least it came off when I was parked and not driving!

SO, if anyone wants make one and can make it a bit smaller (in height) than mine, or wants to adjust it slightly and stitch on a bit to make it fit you can have the cocked-up fabric I mentioned earlier. It has the velcro'd windows in, bug nets, all the stuff that you can see in the image below. Cost of postage and its yours, complete with the extra cuttings to be able to make it fit (but with an extra few seams).

fbrc36450.jpg

fabric.032.jpg

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Guest wunntenn

You've made a lovely job of this! I'm a bit envious of your woodworking skills! Metal I can cope with - but wood always looks like I've made it from old pallets!

Well done!

Si

Thanks Si - I've had a lot of practice!

Great thread

You might be tempted to have a go?

Something I've discovered whilst away with our trailer is some ferry companies get real upset about gas bottles on show. We had to hide ours inside the car whilst loading and on board the ferry (at the request of the guy loading us he said "i didn't see it").

Mike

Yes a good idea. I've not been near a ferry yet but can imagine Calmac being a bit anxious, especially on the Islay route where you sometimes have to reverse on (unless they now have a new roro?) which causes havoc with the folks towing a trailer!

Amazing build! Really high quality. One to be proud of!

Thanks Winton - it's been a year of doing, and a lot of fiddly stuff. But, yes well worth it. I've learned a hell of a lot.

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  • 4 years later...

Ive been wanting to build a pop up roof for a while and hope to copy your design a bit!! However i have a 90 so have been playing about with CAD to adapt the design to fit.

Do you still have it? 

How well has your one survived the 4 years since you built it?

And are there any changes you would make?

Ive attached some of the CAD screenshots as well as one of my sketches and a pic of my 90 from the west coast of Ireland last year.

William

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On 9/1/2014 at 5:30 PM, Retroanaconda said:

The ferries have some funny rules, I was going to Arran for work last year and we were taking explosives over (for quarry blasting) and they had to be taken over separately on a RIB. Meanwhile I went over in the 110 and sat parked next to a tanker full of petrol on the boat.

So solid state explosives in a stable condition - not ok. Several thousand litres of highly explosive volatile liquid - bring it on!

Ferries do not have funney rules. The international Maritime regulations do.

No Jerry cans on ferries empty or full

 

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liquid gases are classed as marine pollutants , try being a refrigeration engineer and getting van across to the I.O.W on the ferry , still one benefit usually got put on first , the idea being in the event of a fire they'd lower the ramp and push the van off! 

had to hide the oxy/ acet under the seat !

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/21/2018 at 11:32 AM, Arjan said:

Funny Rules ? Wanna talk about dangerous goods on trains....

LPG on the Tunnel......

Haha yes, you can have 47kg of Calor gas in a bottle in your boot but no LPG conversions allowed! :lol:

Mind you, seeing the state of some many LPG conversions I wouldn't want them in my tunnel either :ph34r:

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On 12/11/2018 at 2:42 PM, WillFind said:

Ive been wanting to build a pop up roof for a while and hope to copy your design a bit!! However i have a 90 so have been playing about with CAD to adapt the design to fit.

Do you still have it? 

How well has your one survived the 4 years since you built it?

And are there any changes you would make?

Ive attached some of the CAD screenshots as well as one of my sketches and a pic of my 90 from the west coast of Ireland last year.

William

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.14.18.png

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.14.08.png

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.17.58.png

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.17.36.png

2018-10-15 13.47.51.jpg

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.39.52.png

I'm here! I'm here!    I had two accounts (because I was silly and forgot my password and got all tangled up in usernames) and they have been 'amalgamated' into one account  courtesy of the Admin so I'm jocklandjohn! 

 

Yes still have it, still using it, its worked great, never leaked, and proved really usable - have had several family trips in it (two adults, one wee boy and a collie) and no difficulty. And loads of lone uses when I've been off working or gallivanting.  I managed to find a tent that fits the back of the van - its the type that has a connection tunnel (with zipped door) between it and the attached vehicle so you have an intermediate space to enter and take wet boots off before going into either the tent with built-in groundsheet or into the LR. It connects to the rear of the LR with Keder strip and a P gasket sewn onto the tent so it can be clipped and unclipped easily. The tent was single skin and a bit flimsy and leaked in really heavy rain so I got the local tarpaulin maker to fab up a flysheet out of bombproof fabric, and also make a valance that fits across the open area below the rear cross-member and just rear of the back wheels to stop draughts coming in - works perfectly.

What would I change - well the major difficulty is ensuring the fabric is pulled in out of the way when you lower it - I used tabs sewn on the inside to attach elastic cords to pull it in - in retrospect a single loop of elastic going horizontally around might have proved more practical. 

Problems? Well the fabric I used is light coloured and its really bright inside in the long summer nights which can stop you sleeping. And condensation can be problematic when the temp outside drops - or when there's a rainstorm and the outer face of the fabric gets cold. Wind is a pain - there can be a lot of noise, and on a couple of occasions we've had to consider dropping the roof as the noise was mental and the wee lad was certain we were going to die!

Whats worked better than I imagined? The drop-down bed in the front - a sheet of ply on two cargo straps - pull it up and tie it out of the way, drop it down and the wee lad sleeps in it. He  loves it  - he can go to bed whenever he wants, he has a wee light to read by, he can wind the windows down and look out and it mens her;s out of the way of the adults. Gear can still be stored on the seat under him and in the footwells. He likes it so much that even though he's now taller and his feet would stick out the window he insists on sleeping in there with his knees bent! And the tiny stainless steel sink has been a delight to have and use, takes up next to no space and is SO useful. 

I'm away from home at present but I can post some pics of some the newer stuff when I get home. Also - some plans afoot to change the fabric sides to hard, but which go down over the outside of the van (attached to the existing roof and lifting up with it). Its required some careful design and planning but I have the sides and back all welded up out of ally and recently obtained windows and fittings so just need to fit outer ally skin and assemble - more anon!

 

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On 12/11/2018 at 2:42 PM, WillFind said:

Ive been wanting to build a pop up roof for a while and hope to copy your design a bit!! However i have a 90 so have been playing about with CAD to adapt the design to fit.

Do you still have it? 

How well has your one survived the 4 years since you built it?

And are there any changes you would make?

Ive attached some of the CAD screenshots as well as one of my sketches and a pic of my 90 from the west coast of Ireland last year.

William

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.14.18.png

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.14.08.png

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.17.58.png

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.17.36.png

2018-10-15 13.47.51.jpg

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 14.39.52.png

 

PS your design looks excellent. One thing - just be careful about how high you make it to ensure its got enough space in the closed position to be able to sit upright in the back - makes it way more usable. And design in a roof rack - roof bars are perfect - see what I did  - thats proved hugely versatile.

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@Jocklandjohn Glad to hear its still going strong!! Im definitely planning on having roof bars similar to yours. As to solid sides would love to see what you've come up with, i'd thought i'd just build a few solid sections i could lift into place fitting outside the fabric. I can put them up if the weather is particularly bad otherwise just store them on the roof. 

also started my own thread here 

 not much there yet but hopefully ill actually get it built before the summer.... well thats the plan anyway!

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  • 9 months later...

Resurrecting this thread for anyone interested in the 'evolution! The lifting roof I built has been great - I found an add-on rear tent thats been good to use with it and we've used it as a family with great success. However in marginal conditions - bearing in mind I live in the North of Scotland - when the weather is rough or in winter the lifting roof can be less than practical. When the temp is low you can get condensation forming on the inside, and when the wind blows its very noisy, and also 'flicks' the condensation off onto the inside (and your sleeping bag) and my son has had a few terrified nights when he thought it would blow away when we were in bed at 2am and a gale sprang up.

So....I pondered options such as a set of external covers made from truckside material with insulation - very bulky to store and pig to fasten on. Temporary hard sides I can fasten on when the roof is up - too hard to store and an even bigger pain to fit. Internal panels that would fit behind the fabric - hard to store and install on the inside.

Then I thought - the solution might be hard sides with insulation and windows bolted to the existing roof and coming down to the 'waist' of the 110. As I mulled this over I met a Swiss couple in Scotland with their home-made hard sided lifting roof camper and that determined for me it was doable!

 

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What are the problems this creates?

Back door - how does it open?
Sealing it - in the open and closed positions so wet is kept out when parked and driving?
Weight - will it be too heavy?
Lifting it - how wil I get it up with the additional weight?
Cost?

I made a few mock ups using cardboard scale models, and some computer drawings and it looked feasible.

So I bit the bullet and bought some 19mm box alloy and have set to in earnest - another journey into the unknown! Actually I'm a good way in currently so this thread may 'catch up' with where I'm currently at. As before I have no workshop so will be doing all of the work outside on the drive. I DO have a good friend who runs an alloy welding and fabrication business so the main alloy welding and folding will be done by him, and Ill do anything involving steel. For the alloy I'll find ways to jig stuff up and then cart it down to his shop and he'll weld it or fold it for me.

The drawings at top should give you some idea of where this idea will hopefully be heading....
 
 

 

 

Ork1796391.jpg

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