[RidingRoadsAndTrails]

Similar to the @Shade approach (above) to making space for the seat motor, I shaped some plastic into blocks with slots for zip ties and attached some fuzzy stuff on the bottom so they slide easily. Now the motor just clears the collar of the swivel and all seems to be good. We'll see how it holds up over time.

I bought a few of these at the beginning of the van build for just this type of thing, works great for shims & spacers. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003HEWUFO/

I haven't seen much discussion about it here, but Alpine Mechanisms now has their swivel for the Transit available. I had them in my Sprinter and they are fantastic with no rattles. I already had the Scopema swivels on-hand when Alpine announced theirs or I would have gone that way. I imagine they have the same (or worse) issue with the power seat motor, however.

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[gregoryx]

Was originally going with Hein's adapters, but they weren't available. Tried the 8020 pivot setup; but it just wasn't as solid as I wanted. With nudging from posters here that plastic isn't hard to work with, I ordered some plastic and went after it. I tried to take a few photos in case someone wants to follow my amateur / dumb direction.

If you don't mind the work, the price of all this stuff PLUS the table saw is less than Hein's adapters. I'm sure his are much prettier. But these work and - if I only did it for this, it would be like getting a free table saw in exchange for my work. (I bought it because the old saw left a while ago and a table saw is a critical tool for building stuff.)

Evolution - RAGE5-S Power Tools RAGE5S 10" TCT Multi-Material Table Saw, 10 - - Amazon.com

Evolution - RAGE5-S Power Tools RAGE5S 10" TCT Multi-Material Table Saw, 10 - - Amazon.com

amzn.com

The metal mount portions are some 3" angle-aluminum I had left from the bed project on the last van. Worked out fine and plenty strong. Looks just like this: Amazon.com: 6061 T651 Aluminum Angle 3"X 5"X 12" Long 1/4" Thick: Home Improvement

I ordered a few different HDPE pieces, but this cutting board became the final material: https://amzn.com/B003HEWUFO
Using the table saw, I cut into 3x3 blocks (or close-ish) and tested the angle a bunch of times and finally settled on 6.5-degree working best.

FTR, that was a pain: get four angles ready, cut four bases, mount it all on the roof, test for angle and clearance. Not quite right... repeat. Now that I know the angle and the 3x3 combo, the rest of them went really fast. It would take very little time to do another 10 of the bases - longer to drill the holes in that beefy aluminum angle.

Was going with the 1" HDPE cut in half but it wasn't enough clearance on the roof and required another bar. Moved to shaving the smallest amount off the 1" to make the angle and I've got about 1/4" clearance from the cross-bars on the roof. Perfect. Not expecting much weight on the cross-bars. Solar panel weight will be carried on the edges.

Cleaned the roof with a blade and scrubby thing. Dabbed the bare metal from the nibbler with paint.

Used the clear Proflex stuff. Hope it keeps. Seems good. https://amzn.com/B00YBG3NXU

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[Jacek]

Was originally going with Hein's adapters, but they weren't available. Tried the 8020 pivot setup; but it just wasn't as solid as I wanted. With nudging from posters here that plastic isn't hard to work with, I ordered some plastic and went after it. I tried to take a few photos in case someone wants to follow my amateur / dumb direction.

If you don't mind the work, the price of all this stuff PLUS the table saw is less than Hein's adapters. I'm sure his are much prettier. But these work and - if I only did it for this, it would be like getting a free table saw in exchange for my work. (I bought it because the old saw left a while ago and a table saw is a critical tool for building stuff.)

Evolution - RAGE5-S Power Tools RAGE5S 10" TCT Multi-Material Table Saw, 10 - - Amazon.com

Evolution - RAGE5-S Power Tools RAGE5S 10" TCT Multi-Material Table Saw, 10 - - Amazon.com

amzn.com

The metal mount portions are some 3" angle-aluminum I had left from the bed project on the last van. Worked out fine and plenty strong. Looks just like this: Amazon.com: 6061 T651 Aluminum Angle 3"X 5"X 12" Long 1/4" Thick: Home Improvement

I ordered a few different HDPE pieces, but this cutting board became the final material: https://amzn.com/B003HEWUFO
Using the table saw, I cut into 3x3 blocks (or close-ish) and tested the angle a bunch of times and finally settled on 6.5-degree working best.
View attachment 146228
FTR, that was a pain: get four angles ready, cut four bases, mount it all on the roof, test for angle and clearance. Not quite right... repeat. Now that I know the angle and the 3x3 combo, the rest of them went really fast. It would take very little time to do another 10 of the bases - longer to drill the holes in that beefy aluminum angle.

View attachment 146226

Was going with the 1" HDPE cut in half but it wasn't enough clearance on the roof and required another bar. Moved to shaving the smallest amount off the 1" to make the angle and I've got about 1/4" clearance from the cross-bars on the roof. Perfect. Not expecting much weight on the cross-bars. Solar panel weight will be carried on the edges.
View attachment 146229

View attachment 146230

Cleaned the roof with a blade and scrubby thing. Dabbed the bare metal from the nibbler with paint.
View attachment 146234

Used the clear Proflex stuff. Hope it keeps. Seems good. https://amzn.com/B00YBG3NXU
View attachment 146231

View attachment 146235

View attachment 146232

View attachment 146233

View attachment 146236

Would this Fypon 1-1/4 in. x 96 in. x 2 in. Polyurethane Brickmold Trim-MLDWM180-8 - The Home Depot material work for the blocks?

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[gregoryx]

I'm thinking to go this route you took. A couple of questions for clarification, please. You used 3x3 angle aluminum (.25 thick)? The link inserted was for 3x5 though your pictures appear to show 3x3. For the angled base, the way I am interpreting your statement of starting with 1" thick material and shaving the smallest amount off - says the piece is still 1" at it's thickest point, and gets thinner to account for the 6.5 deg angle. Trying to gauge the thickness in the picture compared to the 3" angle, my eyes are playing tricks, looks thinner than 1/3rd of the angle. And, again from the pictures, it looks like the top of the 80/20 is at the same height as the 3x3 angle. You mention about a 1/4" clearance at the peak of the roof with your panels. With all the numbers, the difference between the mount base and the peak of the roof is 3.75"-ish? Knowing this number will allow me to plan for parts ahead of time. Also, did you have any concern with the bolt not tightening flat against the angle due to the offset angle? If you were going to do it again, any changes?
Thank You !!

Yes, 3x3x1/4" angle aluminum. Just what we had laying around from the bed project on the Sprinter. But seemed the right size - just right, in fact. I don't see any appropriately similar Amazon links. But that description should do it. Or get the 4x3x1/4" and cut it as you see fit.

And, yes, 1" HDPE. This link works. Took it from pretty close to no cut at one side (1" think) to a small amount on the other side. I used 6.5-degree but pretty sure even 5-degree would be fine; that's what others have used.

Yes, the outer bars are pretty lined up with the top of the 30mm 80/20 rails. Could easily go higher or lower as you see fit. Another option is to go lower and stack your panels or whatever you're doing up there on TOP of the rails. Our cross-rails are even with the outer rail. That may change if / when we get rid of the solar panel tilting option.

IIRC, the welded nut angles didn't seem to follow the roof... or they were just close enough that it all clamped down well. Even if it's not perfect, it was more than close enough. Everything has stayed 100% solid now for a year and a half and ~28,000 miles. So no concerns about it tightening at this point.

Only thing that we would (and will) change is the big effort we made to mount the 800W of solar panels on a tiltable setup. We don't need to tilt them - plenty of power - so we can get rid of all that mounting mess and a LOT of aluminum extrusions up there. But that has nothing to do with the way we did the rails. Still happy with that. Would do it exactly the same again.

Good chance we'll re-drill the angle-aluminum to reposition the mounts so the panels mount flush without the top section; but we'll see when we eventually get around to that.

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[gregoryx]

We cut a few inches off the 12' extrusions for the long side-rails. Ended up removing the cross-bar on the back and the planned extra 2 x 50w panels back there. We'll still use those rear points for light-mounts. Gotta make a front fairing eventually... 🤔

If you won't go all the way to the back, 10' extrusions for the sides are fine. And then you won't need those rear brackets, either.

I gotta build an actual parts-list for this.Roughly:
3' 3" angle aluminum, 1/4" thickness, 1/4" radius (cut to ~3" wide each (5-6 per side)
HDPE - 1" thick (https://amzn.com/B003HEWUFO)
10-12 M10 bolts (https://amzn.com/B07K5ZBFWS) (add washers and/or lock-washers as you see fit)
2x 12' aluminum extrusion (or less)

Cross-members as you see fit.

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[Clark44]

We cut a few inches off the 12' extrusions for the long side-rails. Ended up removing the cross-bar on the back and the planned extra 2 x 50w panels back there. We'll still use those rear points for light-mounts. Gotta make a front fairing eventually... 🤔

If you won't go all the way to the back, 10' extrusions for the sides are fine. And then you won't need those rear brackets, either.

I gotta build an actual parts-list for this.Roughly:
3' 3" angle aluminum, 1/4" thickness, 1/4" radius (cut to ~3" wide each (5-6 per side)
HDPE - 1" thick (https://amzn.com/B003HEWUFO)
10-12 M10 bolts (https://amzn.com/B07K5ZBFWS) (add washers and/or lock-washers as you see fit)
2x 12' aluminum extrusion (or less)

Cross-members as you see fit.

View attachment 151111

Thanks! That looks good. Does the fan work good being back there? I need to put my fan, a 315 watt panel and a mach 8 cub AC unit. Afraid it might be tight.

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[BobCollins]

We cut a few inches off the 12' extrusions for the long side-rails. Ended up removing the cross-bar on the back and the planned extra 2 x 50w panels back there. We'll still use those rear points for light-mounts. Gotta make a front fairing eventually... 🤔

If you won't go all the way to the back, 10' extrusions for the sides are fine. And then you won't need those rear brackets, either.

I gotta build an actual parts-list for this.Roughly:
3' 3" angle aluminum, 1/4" thickness, 1/4" radius (cut to ~3" wide each (5-6 per side)
HDPE - 1" thick (https://amzn.com/B003HEWUFO)
10-12 M10 bolts (https://amzn.com/B07K5ZBFWS) (add washers and/or lock-washers as you see fit)
2x 12' aluminum extrusion (or less)

Cross-members as you see fit.

View attachment 151111

I am used to seeing only 5 mounting pads on each side. Did you invent the sixth, or is there a pad I wasn't aware of?

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[Clark44]

We cut a few inches off the 12' extrusions for the long side-rails. Ended up removing the cross-bar on the back and the planned extra 2 x 50w panels back there. We'll still use those rear points for light-mounts. Gotta make a front fairing eventually... 🤔

If you won't go all the way to the back, 10' extrusions for the sides are fine. And then you won't need those rear brackets, either.

I gotta build an actual parts-list for this.Roughly:
3' 3" angle aluminum, 1/4" thickness, 1/4" radius (cut to ~3" wide each (5-6 per side)
HDPE - 1" thick (https://amzn.com/B003HEWUFO)
10-12 M10 bolts (https://amzn.com/B07K5ZBFWS) (add washers and/or lock-washers as you see fit)
2x 12' aluminum extrusion (or less)

Cross-members as you see fit.

View attachment 151111

How long are your cross members?

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