This page will point you to a biblical van dwelling life via the gospel to eternal life: https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html
Here is a link of our daily van dwelling posts: https://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2019/12/van-dwellers-preaching-christ-2020.html
Raising the Van Roof!!!!!
If you know anything about van life, one big challenge in a low roof van is not being able to stand up on a daily basis. We live in ours just fine but a higher top would be a nice little add on for sure! After I did our storage rack on top of our camper van (see it here: https://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2020/03/roof-top-storage-van-dwelling-tips.html
I got the confidence and a real urge to put a raised roof on the van so we can stand up to shower and change. Oh, you should have seen Sister Debbie's face when I said I was cutting the roof open in her van camper house:
But she does has confidence in me so ..... she is excited too.
As I started designing it, I was really put off by the height we needed up on top. I mean driving with that 24 inches sticking up there catching the wind and all, I did not like that idea. So I put it off and gave up on the project really a bit disappointed too.
Then one day recently, I got a idea for a pop up roof ( we raise and lower) and I started to think it out. It will give us 6'3 inside that front area of the van for shower and changing. Originally I was going to just push the roof up myself but I came up with a even better idea to easily raise and lower it. See old brother Jim is getting older and this new idea will be nice on my back for sure!
Here is the project to date and I will add all the final pics when it is done and a video of it being raised:
I started by adding white plastic lumber and bolted it to my metal rack on the van.
Next, I added inside supports boards that will be screwed into the roof eventually.
Then I added two port hole windows ($30 each) in the back area to let out heat and fresh air in.
The next step was to make a roof section that will set on the box I made on the van and it will raise and lower as we need it to.
I used 2 x 2 pine lumber to save weight......
I choose metal roofing as it is very durable and I had some. (many use rubber roll roof)
*It will get sprayed with some water proofing material to help it better keep the water out once I have it installed.
Next, I added the 4 corner legs that will hold up the roof when it is raised up. They will fold down when we drive and the roof is lowered. I also added trim and sealed all the way around the box, inside and out with adhesive and silicone to make it water tight (well, I hope anyway!!!) Keep in mind, I have NOT cut any holes in the van roof yet so it is water tight still and we can drive it, that was my plan all along. I had to plan this all out with weather as I need dry days to seal it then cut the roof open.
Missouri is known for surprise rain storms too!
All that is now left to do is take the plunge and....
cut the 5' by 4' foot hole in the roof of the van out.
Note: Once I cut the roof out there is NO TURNING BACK and I gotta make it work!!! (I like pressure though)
Today I added weather striping on the roof inside edge
Now I am finally ready to cut into the van roof. Make sure you put blankets inside to control the dirt and metal chips....
I added 3 strips so the roof wont fall is as I cut.....
Got the trusty sawzal all ready to go......
I drilled through the roof to mark my cuts with holes and away we went cutting. Then I lifted the section right out........
Here is sister debbie liking the progress so far.
Me celebrating a good cut with no cuts on me. I seem to always cut myself on metal work!
Next, I set the roof section on and mounted my lifting devices and installed the tarp skirt from the inside.
Two scissor jacks will raise and lower the top in seconds with a cordless drill, it works awesome!!!!
Here is the roof raised up as I was trimming the green tarp on the outside. It goes up like 13 inches. We can even stand up in the van when it is fully lowered too. We will raise it for showers and overnight stays at a camp spot.
Next I needed to add wood trim inside
I added a LED light
Then I finished chalking it to make sure we have no leaks. We even gained two extra shelves on the inside as well. Sister Debbie liked that a lot.
Here is the finished product and how it works from the inside and then outside:
If you want to see a complete video of the van go here to the sisters blog and see sister Debbie's link with videos:
https://titus24sisters.blogspot.com/2020/05/camper-van-updates.html
Can you believe I went the entire day, it was sunny / dry and just as I was done / picking up my tools, the rain came in.... Thank you Lord! It rained all night and there was NO leaks, I am thankful!
I am also really excited how this came together. Now it will be nice to drive to a spot down the highway and not have a high roof up there (saving gas/wind surface issues) then we just un-snap it and raise the roof. And we can get in and out of the van and STAND UP ALL THE TIME! That is a luxury you cannot imagine unless you have van dwelled in a low top before.
It takes just a few seconds to set up or take down the roof, I am impressed how well my design worked out really!
Total cost for this roof project was just under $300. It would have been around $240 till I added my mechanical roof jack raisers in but; they are priceless really.
Note: commercial pop top van roofs start at about 3,000 and go up to $5,000-7000 or more.
In the end, the roof raising project was a total success and we are ready to hit the gospel road again preaching King Jesus to this lost world!
http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/p/van-dwelling-tips.html
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