Thickness of weekender poptop roof?

[hmbrgrs]

Hello, new here, thanks for reading. I have searched high and low and can’t seem to find the answer anywhere. Does anyone know the approximate thickness of the roof on a 2002 weekender?

I understand it’s a couple of layers of fiberglass and wood composite. I would like to install some Rhino Rack tracks that use T-bolts in a bottom channel (so no holes through the tracks) and cap nuts inside, and the bolts are 35mm (1.4”) long. Swapping to longer T-bolts would be difficult because they are an uncommon shape, and they don’t just drop through from the top like with Yakima/Thule tracks. 35mm is the longest Rhino offers.

All I can find is a consensus that the 1” bolts Yakima/Thule supply are too short, but nothing about what the actual total thickness of the material is. I have a backup plan in case they are too short, but would like to know before I start poking holes in order to have everything prepared.

Thanks for any help!

[IdeaNerd]

I don't know the answer, but the part of me that is curious about the top's construction and various layer thicknesses has wondered about this as well. Hoping you get an answer.

Perhaps someone who's got drilled-through bolt-mounted racks can pull one bolt out and measure?

[hmbrgrs]

I’d hate someone to break the seal on a well-installed bolt just to answer.

I’ll drill through and find the answer if I have to (and post it here). Would just be less nervous about it if I knew beforehand.

Backup plan is just to use sleeve nuts to grab the bolts if they don’t reach far enough through, which might actually look nicer. I’d rather not need tools to check tightness though, and it would be twice as much drilling to counterbore the holes from the inside

https://www.belmetric.com/allen-ultra-low-sleeve-c...15510.html

[jjvincent]

Pull the seal off of the side and measure it. Typically that seal falls off and needs to be recrimped as it gets older.

[hmbrgrs]

My understanding is the flat top surface is considerably thicker than the edges where the seal strip is attached.

[Joshwa]

Not the answer to the original question, but here is a little view of the weekender insides. This was at a shop. I believe the story was that the owner was forcing the roof up, with too much weight on top.

_________________
93 Weekender TDI conversion (AHU)
93 MV TDI conversion (1Z)
Weekender rear cot
Late model cabin air filter on 93
Euro spec bumper install on 93

[hmbrgrs]

OK, finally got the courage to poke holes. Measure 300 times, drill once...

That pic above is not what I expected, but is exactly what I found. There is no wood at all - just fiberglass, foam, and more fiberglass. Total thickness in the area where the hinges/struts bolt on is an inch, give or take 1/16”.

Maybe the pre-VR6 models had wood? Anyway, that’s good to know in case anything needs mounted to the inside ceiling.

The 35mm T-bolts that came with the Rhino Rack tracks were a perfect length, plenty of length to get through the capnut hardware with a few threads to spare.
So, there you go - an off-the-shelf through-bolted roof track setup that doesn’t require any trips to the hardware store.

I don’t know how to post photos on here, but the whole setup with the 63” RTC tracks and 59” aero bars looks pretty good. I mounted them in line with the hinge bolts (42.5” center to center) with the tracks between the hinge and strut bolts, and the internal hardware doesn’t interfere with anything. I primarily will be hauling long, lightweight stuff (surfboards and paddleboards), so wanted a centered rack to minimize overhang. The popular thing seems to be mounting further back. [/img]

[IdeaNerd]

@Joshwa and @hmbrgrs, thanks for picture and info! Very useful and helpful for the things I'm thinking about. Construction is about what I expected materials-wise, but a little thicker both on the foam and (from the looks of it) the fiberglass itself. Good to know!

[bigfoot_ev]

I've been contemplating mounting a support to hold a flexible solar panel to the inside of the pop top in my 2003 EVW. It's a 100W panel so it's a bit long, unwieldy, but lightweight.

After reading this, I'm unsure about the holding capacity since I would drill into the inside fiberglass and foam (no through bolt). Would something like a drywall expanding screw work? Or, something better?