Forum Discussion

Dan_Johnston's avatar
Dan_Johnston
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013

Installing roof rail system on BT Cruiser

I'm putting one up on the roof, to carry two surfboards. I have the space (2004 5270) for 30" cross bar with two rails at 60" each running north and south. The roof is membrain and with plywood under it. Anyone install a rail system on this kind of roof? The rails have about 9 holes for mounting and am thinking I could use large wood screws to go into the plywood. But I would like to avoid the metal roof bars under the plywood. I've called Gulfstream twice and emailed 3 times but no response, not good service.

thanks,
dan
Class C
  • tatest's avatar
    tatest
    Explorer II
    Jun 28, 2013
    Whoever handles random incoming email might still be trying to figure out how to answer, running the questions through engineering and legal departments.

    I doubt that they are going to come back with the answer you want to hear, that yes it is OK. That would just expose them to liability if one of your surfboards get loose.

    Roof skin is likely 1/8" or less, and usually a softwood. I couldn't get that material to hold screws for my air conditioning grill. If you are hoping to hold down surfboards in 70+ mph winds, you need something more solid for mounting your rack system. When a RV manufacturer puts mounts something to the roof, like a ladder or rail, there is usually a reinforcement plate installed for the purpose. You might want to find, and use, the metal structure in the roof.

About Motorhome Group

38,705 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 14, 2025