Roof sagging around AC

[Walt]

Howdy,

The roof of my conversion sags a good bit around the air conditioner, probably about 3 inches or so. This wouldn't be a big deal, except when it rains and the truck is parked on level ground, water pools around the AC and eventually rises to the point of entering the cabin through the AC itself.

So, I need to find a way to un-bow the roof. So far, the best idea I've come up with is to attach a couple of steal beams that go cross-wise all the way across the top of the roof, one directly in front of the AC, and one directly behind, so the ends of the beams are over the side walls of the box. Beneath the center of each of those beams, on the inside of the truck, I would have a 8"x24" steel plate. I could then attach bolts from the steal beams, though the roof, and into the steel plates. Tightening those down would theoretically suck the roof back to level, correct?

I don't know if my explanation made any sense or not, but if it did, does it seem like something like that might work? Does anyone have any better ideas?

Thanks,
Walter

[Wick]

Walter,
I would contact the manufacturer and see what they would do. How old is the conversion?
Simple pulling the roof back up to level would not be fixing the problem but only treating the symptom. I would take the unit out and put a jack inside and push up so as not to drill holes thru the roof. But I think you need to figure out the problem first and fix the cause.
Wick

[Walt]

WIck,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, contacting the manufacturer isn't really an option -- I am the third or fourh owner of this vehicle, and I have no idea who the manufacturer is. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen, either.

The roof appears to be pretty flimsy. I can push up on the AC unit with my hands and see the roof move up; it doesn't seem like simply jacking it up will do anything, because I think it will just return to its current position once the jack is removed. That's why I think the steal beams would be good, to actually give the roof at that point some rigidity.

I, too am quite wary about drilling holes in the roof, but thus far it appears to be the best option.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Walter

P.S. Love your rig, Wick!

[MHensley]

Sounds to me like there is no structure around the ac unit. The only way to fix this right is to remove the roof panels from the inside and see if there is cross supports close, running from side to side. Weld or self tapper new structures (tubing) into these supports and create a box around the ac unit seal. If this continues to leak, eventuall water will find its way to the outer part of the shell delaminating cabinets or possibly the side walls. I have learned this the hard way.

[BravestDog]

I'm thinking of sticking an adjustable post underneath it as a temporary measure to prevent it from sagging more, especially if you are driving it. If it's unsupported and getting worse, at least you can put a temporary fix to it. The cargo bars that can be expanded come to mind as something quick and easy?

Sounds like a weak link somewhere in the constuction or during a collision...?

Can you remove an inside panel and look around to see what's supporting it?

Can you post some photos of your machine on this site?

Are conversions built so things like this are accessible?

[Walt]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice, and sorry I've taken so long to respond. Unfortunately, there are no roof panels on the inside of my box to remove -- the roof seems to be constructed of a sandwich of aluminum, foam, and then some sort of plywood veneer on the inside. This all appears to be glued together, or at least attached in some way that certainly does not allow for easy dissassembly.

So, I went ahead and built the steel structure on top of the roof with the steel plates on the inside to suck everything back into place -- It's not pretty, but it seems to be getting the job done -- I've driven the truck about 4000 miles since then, and it seems to be holding up fine. I realize that this isn't the proper way to fix things, but unfortunately my box doesn't seem to have been constructed in the proper way in the first place, so I don't know what else to do.

Thanks again,
Walter