Alpine Roof Support Structure

[alpinejimy]

Does anyone have any information on the Alpine Roof Construction? I'm sure WRV had structural design plans. My 99 Coach has 1 1/2in. square aluminum rails that are used for roof support. I know there is a couple of these rails at each AC spaced approx. 14 inches apart. I'm sure there are others but are not exposed to the naked eye. I would like to know where the centerline of these other rails are located in relation to the ones at the AC. Any feed back would be very helpful and appreciated! Thanks.
Jim

[Algoma]

I found some of the side frame rails using a stud finder; never needed to look for the roof frame so don't know if that would work there.

[alpinejimy]

Algoma
Thank you for the information John
We tried two different stud finders but had no luck in finding the rails that are aluminum. We are trying to fit solar panels to the roof of a Alpine 10 inches above the roof so we get no shadows from the hoods and vents of the coach. We are mounting a continuous 2” X 2” X 1/8” aluminum angle to the roof and we would like to attach it to the rails with 5/16” lag bolts.

[EngineerMike]

Jim- Might want to take a look at the Hughes Net and MotoSat dish mounts. They use a large number of smaller fasteners over a large area. Angles the length of your panels would afford the same opportunity. That way you don't have to rely on a large force resistance per fastener cuz you have a lot of 'em, and they don't need to be large or deep. You just need a profile that doesn't form a sort of forward facing scoop.

[kraig]

Jim-Going along with what Mike said, I have had Motosat on my 2000 for 10 years and on my 2007 for 2 years. WRV did have a problem around 2000 by installing the the dish on the the front of the coach and it would rattle in the wind. I did end talking to to the VP of marketing for Motosat and he said there is not enough support on the WRV roof ahead of the front AC. His recommendation was to move it behind the front AC, which I did and had no more problems. TO mount the plate to the fiberglass, I used construction adhesive and filled about half the screw holes with small screws into the fiberglass. On my 2007 I mounted a larger HD motosat the same way behind front AC no problem. If you stay between the two AC and use construction adhesive and screws into the fiberglass, you shouldn't have a problem.

[alpinejimy]

Thanks guys for your imputs! Its appreciated. I did fine the other aluminum rails in the Alpine roof with the help of a friend.
Thanks Again!
JIM