Nice looking product. A couple of questions for you:
On your website https://flatlinevanco.com you mention that a side ladder will be coming. Does the photo of the Transit on the initial page of your website show the new roof rack and a prototype of the ladder?
Above you mention decking for the rack. Will the rack be stout enough for a person to sit up there with appropriate decking?

 

The one on our site is a proto type, but yes it's almost exactly like that. Customers have added decking to our Sprinter version of this quite a bit and looks really good. Eventually we may offer decking to purchase, but it's tough as everyone mounts things in different places. It will be stout enough. We suggest people don't go crazy up there with a bunch of people, but everyone who's added decking on top has had a few people up there and we haven't heard of any problems. Thanks for the questions and checking out our site.

 

Will the mid-roof 148 rack be any different?
Do you have suggested weight limits?

Rack looks great and is what I have been looking for.

 

Thank you. We want to build quality products that people are pumped on and at a reasonable price. Mid roof will be out in a month and a half maybe sooner. We don't have a tested rating, but I can tell you I weigh 200 lbs and have stood in the middle of one bar. tied together with some decking it's very sturdy.

 

ETA for a 130 mid roof rack?

 

I don't have an ETA yet. We need to finish the extended and mid roof first just based on requests. We've had one of your 130's in our shop. Rad rigs!

 

Exactly what I've been looking for. Please post when ya have the 148MR available!!

 

We have them in stock now. Just making sure you saw. If we've emailed no sweat. Thank you

 

I'm also interested in the 148" mid roof with ladder (and roof top deck)

I'd also like a front facia piece (wind shield) which provides a bit more finished look from the front. That said, I could probably make and attach one if nothing was available.

 

I'm also interested in the 148" mid roof with ladder (and roof top deck)

I'd also like a front facia piece (wind shield) which provides a bit more finished look from the front. That said, I could probably make and attach one if nothing was available.

We have the mid roof in stock now. We only have ladders for the high roof now, but will have the mid roof shortly. I'll have some wind fairings late next week. Probably not on the site, but available through email friends@flatlinevanco.com Thank you

 

In your website you mention that the Fiamma awning easily mounts to the side of your rack. I have one on my pickup camper and after rolling out the awning a foot or so you have to reach up to pop out and extend the awning legs. I've been wondering how this would happen when mounted above a high-roof transit. Do you need a step ladder to extend the awning when mounted this way? Can you reach the legs while standing in doorways?

 

I'm very curious about this as well.

 

Just wondering why the mid roof and tall roof would be different? Aren’t the mounting point bolt spacing is the same except for different length vehicles?

 

Does it have a roller on the back?

 

This looks like a nice roof rack. Might be the one I've been looking for. So the crossbars can be positioned pretty much anywhere using the slots and holes along the outside rails? Can additional crossbars be added if needed?

You say it's designed to make mounting the fiamma awning easy, but how would one mount other awnings? I'm probably going to go with one of the 270 awnings on the market (leaning heavily toward alu cab shadow awn), so how would one of those mount to the side rails?

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

@Flatline Van Co - a few questions for you...
What's the overall length of the MR rack?
Where does it end relative to the front of the slider door?
Does the Fiamma awning you sell seal to the roof so you can leave the slider open in the rain?

Thanks!

 

@Flatline Van Co - a few questions for you...
What's the overall length of the MR rack?
Where does it end relative to the front of the slider door?
Does the Fiamma awning you sell seal to the roof so you can leave the slider open in the rain?

Thanks!

Regarding your last Q. From their website

FIAMMA F45S COMPATIBLE

There’s no need for any drilling or cutting. Our Low Pro Roof Rack allows you to bolt the Fiamma F45S directly into your rack. We designed our Transit roof rack with the awning in mind, so there’s no gaper gap between the top of your van and the bottom of your awning that would allow wind and rain through.

I exchanged email with them. The midroof ladders are still a month out on availability.

They have a great installation video on their site

 

Hello, I don't have an exact answer to that. If you moved the awning further forward then the rack you'd cover the door opening, but if you placed it just to the end of the rack you'd be about dead on the door opening so any rain could get close to sneaking through. The gap between the roof and the awning is pretty tight though in regards to rain getting through the back side of the awning. Never had any problems there. Here is a rack from the side view of a MR. I don't have a photo of a MR with an awning available but this should help. Email me if you have any other questions. Silas friends@flatlinevanco.com

 

b

ut this should help. Email me if you have any other questions

 

ETA for the high roof extended?

 

I'm getting them this week. I'll likely add them to the site tomorrow. Depending on what time I get them from our shop they will ship Friday or Monday.

Thanks

Silas

 

We recently installed a FVCO Low Pro Roofrack, Ladder, and Front Fairing, along with a Fiamma F45S awning. They are a terrific additional to our build. Our Solar panels fit great on the roof rails. The fairing is effective in reducing wind noise. And, the ladder is very stable. Of course like many projects it took more time than anticipated to complete these installs. Communication and customer service was exceptional. During each step of the process, I had a few questions which were answered promptly. Shipping was timely, and the products are well made.

 

Great to hear. I am ordering the Low Pro extended and fairing next week when they are back in stock. Silas says they are going to be a little slow to have more ladders in stock due to Corona. Awesome customer service thus far with my questions. Seems like a great company.

 

Do you guys make a rear drivers side ladder? One in the works?
I see one on the van above but it doesn't look to be Flatline style.

 

I just want to put another request in for a 130" this is sweet! Especially because I have access to a bunch of 80/20 brackets and stuff...

 

Interested in this roof rack, nicer than what i have seen before - dont know how I missed it!

Is there another production run of 148" high roof kit ongoing?

 

+1 on a high roof rack, i'd like one too, i've already sent mail.

 

@Flatline Van Co How much height does the rack add to the van? I'm trying to figure out if I'd still be able to get my high roof into my 10' garage, and if I should choose smaller tires to avoid lifting the van too much.

Thanks!

 

It doesn't look taller than a maxxair fan, which still fits inside a 10 ft door

 

Thanks! Do you have stock suspension and tires? How much clearance do you have above the fan?

 

I just know that I have gone into a 10ft door, it was close but I couldn't see up that high to see exactly how close. I had fully stock van that was mostly empty when that test was performed.

 

Thanks!

 

Brought the new van home Friday and the FVC gear sitting in the garage was installed over the weekend.

 

Brought the new van home Friday and the FVC gear sitting in the garage was installed over the weekend.

View attachment 138444

Looks awesome! Any tips or advice on the ladder installation? Particularly around mounting the lower plate to the pinch weld? @bitburger seems to have had a good experience, how was yours? (sorry, I'm still a good month out before my 2020 arrives so all i can do is "plan")

 

I installed a Fiamma 45S awning today. Really happy with the results, but it was bit of a rocky road over the last couple of weeks.
Pro tip -- double check the awning model that is printed on the outside of the huge and heavy box before unpacking it. They are so big (10 ft. long and about 90 lbs.) that they have to be shipped by truck. My driveway is not semi-truck friendly, so I met the truck driver at a local outlet mall where he had plenty of room to maneuver. I got it home, unpacked the most elaborate packing I have encountered, and then after talking to Silas at FVC, discovered Fiamma had sent me the wrong awning and mounting kit. Big PIA getting it repackaged, but was feeling lucky I didn't let my dog play with any of the cardboard packing. It took about another week and two more times meeting the truck driver, but they finally sent me the correct awning last Thursday.
Pro tip No. 2 -- When installing the FVC roof rack, there is a little wiggle room from left to right. I centered mine as best I could. It turns out that if you do that, the awning will not clear the vertical brackets that mount the rack to the Transit roof on the passenger side. I could have loosened everything and shoved the rack to the passenger side, but after talking to Silas decided to add spacers instead. I had some .25 inch aluminum left over from another project and cut a few squares out of it to extend the Fiamma mounts past the roof rack brackets.

The awning works great. I was concerned that the height of the HR van would make it difficult to roll out the awning and pop the legs out. Turned out not the case for me at 6ft., but my wife won't be unfolding the legs without a step ladder. I'm looking forward to using this new outdoor space. We have loved our awnings in the past and use them a ton, mostly for rain rather than sun.

 

I installed a Fiamma 45S awning today. Really happy with the results, but it was bit of a rocky road over the last couple of weeks.
Pro tip -- double check the awning model that is printed on the outside of the huge and heavy box before unpacking it. They are so big (10 ft. long and about 90 lbs.) that they have to be shipped by truck. My driveway is not semi-truck friendly, so I met the truck driver at a local outlet mall where he had plenty of room to maneuver. I got it home, unpacked the most elaborate packing I have encountered, and then after talking to Silas at FVC, discovered Fiamma had sent me the wrong awning and mounting kit. Big PIA getting it repackaged, but was feeling lucky I didn't let my dog play with any of the cardboard packing. It took about another week and two more times meeting the truck driver, but they finally sent me the correct awning last Thursday.
Pro tip No. 2 -- When installing the FVC roof rack, there is a little wiggle room from left to right. I centered mine as best I could. It turns out that if you do that, the awning will not clear the vertical brackets that mount the rack to the Transit roof on the passenger side. I could have loosened everything and shoved the rack to the passenger side, but after talking to Silas decided to add spacers instead. I had some .25 inch aluminum left over from another project and cut a few squares out of it to extend the Fiamma mounts past the roof rack brackets.

The awning works great. I was concerned that the height of the HR van would make it difficult to roll out the awning and pop the legs out. Turned out not the case for me at 6ft., but my wife won't be unfolding the legs without a step ladder. I'm looking forward to using this new outdoor space. We have loved our awnings in the past and use them a ton, mostly for rain rather than sun.

View attachment 140631

View attachment 140632

Looks good but sticks out the front a bit. Any wind noise from that? Is that the 10ft length, I assume that since you mentioned the box was that long.

Greg

 

One more awning installation tip I learned over the weekend while installing my MaxxAir fan. I had to move one of my rack crossbars forward a bit to make room for the fan and discovered that the awning blocks access to the allen screws that attach the crossbars at each end. Luckily, the bolts I used to attach the awning were about a half an inch longer than they needed to be, so I was able to loosen the bolts to gain access and didn't have to remove the entire awning. I also had to cut about a quarter of an inch off the end of the allen wrench to be able to fit it in the gap and loosen the screws. The lesson is to plan your crossbar placement as best you can before installing the awning, and don't go too short with the six bolts that hold it to the rack.

 

Hello everyone we just released a roof rack for the Transit High Roof 148". We'll be releasing the rest of the transits shortly. This rack is on our rigs and works great for getting around any fan placement, ac units, mounting solar panels, decking etc. Check it out when you have time. Our company is called Flatline Van Co and we build parts for the Sprinters and Transits.

This rack does cover the entire roof of a 148" high roof transit and is easily mounted by yourself and even easier with two people.

Thanks for looking

Couple of questions:

1. Do you make roof racks for the 130” wb?
2. If not, can the 148 be cut down to fit?
3. Is everything needed for the install included with rack?

I plan on having a side mount ladder and hope that yours supports the 130” wb

Thanks in advance

 

So hey, thanks for the pro tip on not lining up the feet with the rails! however I already tightened them, but did not put on my fiamma awning. Do you think if I just loosen the eight bolts to the feet that I can slide it over?

 

Yes, I ran into this same issue.
Loosen all side rail to roof bracket/feet bolts slide rack to passenger side, tighten