Van Build Episode 8: How we made our Roof Deck and Racks

[@HayleyandJake]

Great looking deck! 😄nicely done! Glad to hear you like the unaka mounts! 😆👍 they’re super easy to work with.

[@LitaandDylan]

They're great, they made our lives so much easier! Also, everyone can check out Hayley and Jake's Roof Build here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6mnm6F_msR5o6M

[@saidt.8200]

The best unistruts rook rack, deck, and solar panels install. Very clean and tidy.

[@LitaandDylan]

Wow thank you so much, we worked hard on it!

[@testimusicali6445]

Great playlist! I'm so impressed. You guys did such good job and I'm really appreciating your "pro tips" . I see you're doing this all at someone's driveway and garage. ....so 2 questions... are all the tools you're using you already had? Or they belong to owner of that house and just letting you use them? Or you bought all those different special tools FOR this build job? (For some van newbies that is the obstacle... no access to those particular special tools.)

[@LitaandDylan]

We were very lucky because Dylan works for a power tools company, so we had gotten from for free. It did save us a lot of money! Also, the house is my parents and we are very grateful they let us use their driveway

[@ChooseThePathYouTake]

Love this video.!!! Honestly sooo helpful…we just finished our roof rack yesterday and we did the same this as you.! Next is solar panels and deck!!! Wish us luck 🙏🏽

[@LitaandDylan]

I'm so glad, let us know if you have any questions! It was kind of hard, but we figured it out!

[@spleerfloof]

Nice video, I appreciate the slower pace and thorough explanations and close-ups of the hardware. I have a ram pro master as well, and I’m going to use the Unaka mounts, thanks for the links, too. I’ve been sort of leaning toward using 8020 but I keep wondering about the unistruts/superstruts. Question: now that the rack and deck are built, when you guys are on the deck do you feel the crossbars bending or sagging at all? I’m just one person and most of the time it will just be me on the deck, and I weigh 150 pounds. I’ll be building a deck with a boat hatch to climb up through the roof to access the deck. I’m going to try to keep the rack as low/close to the roof as I can but I’m worried about the crossbars bending under my weight and coming in contact with the roof.

[@LitaandDylan]

Hi, thanks for watching and your feedback! There is no bending at all with the Unistrut. We have had three people (combined weight of ~400 lbs) have been up there with no problems at all! The wood also barely has bend, but some places where there is a lot of distance between the cross bars there is a slight bend, but nothing serious.

[@spleerfloof]

@@LitaandDylan That’s good to hear, thank you!

[@testimusicali6445]

Did they explain why bad to expose panel to sun while installing?

[@LitaandDylan]

It’s creating energy with nowhere to discharge it!

[@khangngo7480]

Do you have name or link of the " magnatic holder " ? The one that have 4 hole and connect 2 Superstrut together. Thank you

[@LitaandDylan]

I've been trying to find it and I'm having a hard time. We just honestly came across it at home depot. I'll continue to look!

[@testimusicali6445]

I notice you put panels clumped together near the front..... I assumme they're clumped over there so you have the open space as your roof deck. But my question is... was there a reason for choosing the ""front" of the van (versus the rear)? Did decision have anything to do with roof shape?

[@LitaandDylan]

They’re in the front specifically because of the roof deck! The best thing is to actually be able to tilt them towards the sun but that’s hard to do.

[@testimusicali6445]

@@LitaandDylan oh wow didn't know you can tilt renogy. Nice. So now it's been a while since you started,, so how do you feel now about 4 panels (400 W)? Do you maybe regret not putting a couple more panels? Or is 400 enough to cover your activities?

[@LitaandDylan]

@@testimusicali6445 we have been completely fine with the 400 watts! We work full time too and use a fair amount of solar. We also have a dc to dc Charger that works when we drive so that helps

[@khavafis]

Very low tech, low budget, low profile, low wind drag, minimalist deck. What's not to like? If those unistruts came in aluminum the thing would be perfect for lower weight. 5/4 wood boards great choice.

[@LitaandDylan]

I’m so glad you think so! We love our roof deck