Can my garage roof (truss system) hold a camper shell?

[Shadow_Hunter]

I would like to set up a pulley system in my garage to lift my camper shell from my pickup truck. My shell weighs approx. 200 lbs. Problem is, my home uses trusses instead of conventional framing for the roof. I've heard conflicting answers on whether a truss system would be damaged while supporting a camper shell.

My basic design would be a two seperate 2x10's (spaced several feet apart for the front and rear of the shell) layed perpendicular across several trusses in the attic. Attached to this would be four threaded rods that would go through the sheetrock on the garage ceiling. The threaded stock would again go through a similar 2x10 setup pressed against the sheetrock and held in place with washers and nuts on both ends. So, in essence, the 2x10's would be sandwiching the trusses from above and below to spread the load. I would then attach some sort of pulley system into the 2x10's for a solid anchor point.

Any comments or concerns with hanging a camper shell from a truss roof system? I think it is doable but I definitely do not want to cause any damage to my home. I would like to keep my camper shell stored on the pulley system while I travel with my Northstar truck camper, but if this idea is questionable I would at least like to use the truss system to lift the shell off before lowering it down onto a cart for storage elsewhere.

Thanks for your answers,

Shadow Hunter

[Ramp_Digger]

I used a series of rope and pulleys to lift the fiberglass top from my jeep.About 200 hundred pounds.The load was spread out over several trusses with two double 2x6 beams made to span the entire width of the garage and resting on the exterior walls,14 feet.They were installed via a small hole cut in one gable end of the building. No problems.I Know its slightly off topic, however the work shop where we store our alaskan popup camper we use two large laminated wood beams that span the entire width of the building. We use them to lift the camper on and off the truck via four one ton chain hoist, one at each jack bracket. No more wobbly camper jacks or swingout brackets for us.The point is with a little additional work bracing and supporting as you suggested you should be fine.It may be overkill but I believe in making things twice as strong as needed for safety. Ramp

[gpascazio]

The short answer is it depends. I don't think you will have any problems with hanging the shell from the ceiling. However, that assumption requires additional investigation. Trusses are designed to a certain capacity depending on the span, the dead load and the live load expected in the building. Dead load is all the items required to build the roof (sheathing, trusses drywall, mechanical systems conduit etc.)in other-wards all things installed at the time of construction. Live load are temporary loads like snow, people, boxes etc. it is a very specific number based on the planned use of the structure. This number is determined by the code used in your area. So any load that is placed on the trusses after construction that was not originally designed for will start eating into the live load. What I have seen happen is that people will start using the attic of their garage and think everything is OK becaouse the roof is not sagging. However, come winter and a large snowstorm and all of the sudden the garage roof is sitting on top of your car. Your camper could be the straw that broke the camel's back. Your post does not contain enough info to say that the roof can hold the shell. Only you can do that by evaluating the structure and how the garage attic and roof. So the closer the existing structure is to the as built condition the more likely it is that you will not have any problems. I am an Architect who worked as a code official for many years.

[FreeLanceing]

A lot of times people will put plywood up there and throw boxes etc for extra storage. When I spec a building and they plan to lift things like small engines they will sandwich 2 trusses together. 200 lbs is of no concern. Now its seems like humane nature to always want more. When you start adding more and you end up point loading 1000lbs or so you may want to rethink that. It would be easy to sister some framing and build up a truss or 2. If your 200lbs was of any concern we would see garages caving in all over the place.

[Z-Peller]

My single door 2 car attached garage is 2x6 trusses spanning across the garage. Sheet rocked with rails & door opener. When constructed, a 2x4 was run in the attic fore & aft 90 degs to trusses. I attached another full length 2x4 with screws on top of the existing 2x4 and wrapped a chain around both, drilled a hole thru the sheetrock just big enough to drop a link thru, and shackled a small chain come-along to that.....I have been lifting my 8ft fibreglass Leer canopy off & on my truck for 5 years now without a quiver from the trusses.....

[Pangaea_Ron]

I design roofing systems for my projects, and you don't want to count on manufactured roof trusses to be able to carry any extra weight. I would add a pair of 2x10's parallel to the roof trusses that bear at the walls at each side. What I didn't see in your info was the span between walls. I can calculate what you would need to support your canopy if you can give me that information.

[bjbear]

Reality Check wrote:

GMCPU53 wrote:
I worked for years in the retail and contractor home center business. The company I worked for also manufactured wood roof and floor trusses. These trusses were supplied for regular homes, commercial buildings, municipal buildings, large apartment complexes etc. Each truss is designed for an intended load with specified bracing points to make the truss system work as one unit. If a truss is not designed for a specific load to be hanging from it, then you are taking a real chance at a failure of the entire roof . When a roof truss has a load on it, ex: snow, the webs in those trusses push down against the bottom cord and then back up to the top to balance or absorb the load. Hanging something not planned for on the bottom chord could cause failure of the entire system because if the plates on one truss becomes comprised, it can affect all the trusses.

Joe

This is the sort of stuff that just kills me; everything GMCPU53 stated is technically correct. But the world isn't really black and white.

I think more often than not, folks don't read what the OP is really asking. I'm guilty of is; I missed the fact that the space was already sheet rocked.

The OP is asking about hanging a couple of hundred pounds off a truss system, spread out between four points. A system that can easily handle a 250 # man sitting in the rafters working on an HVAC or electrical system. He's not talking about lifting engines out of farm equipment.

Honestly, I think the 2x10's are overkill. They're just adding weight. One could use a 2x4 on edge and it would handle the partial weight easily.

Then again, I might need to re-think this and go ask my engineer if I can hang a garage door opener. I think the one I was looking at is 56#'s... about the same load the OP is asking about.

What "Reality Check" said! 200 lbs hanging from 4 Trusses as you described would be no problem. I would do it if I needed to.

[idaho_camper]

I have my quite heavy fiberglass canopy from my longbed F350 hanging from my garage ceiling via pulley system similar to what you describe. I used 2 8 foot long 2x4's to support it. Been there for years. Ceiling is as straight and level as the day the house was built.

[Reality_Check]

GMCPU53 wrote:
I worked for years in the retail and contractor home center business. The company I worked for also manufactured wood roof and floor trusses. These trusses were supplied for regular homes, commercial buildings, municipal buildings, large apartment complexes etc. Each truss is designed for an intended load with specified bracing points to make the truss system work as one unit. If a truss is not designed for a specific load to be hanging from it, then you are taking a real chance at a failure of the entire roof . When a roof truss has a load on it, ex: snow, the webs in those trusses push down against the bottom cord and then back up to the top to balance or absorb the load. Hanging something not planned for on the bottom chord could cause failure of the entire system because if the plates on one truss becomes comprised, it can affect all the trusses.

Joe

This is the sort of stuff that just kills me; everything GMCPU53 stated is technically correct. But the world isn't really black and white.

I think more often than not, folks don't read what the OP is really asking. I'm guilty of is; I missed the fact that the space was already sheet rocked.

The OP is asking about hanging a couple of hundred pounds off a truss system, spread out between four points. A system that can easily handle a 250 # man sitting in the rafters working on an HVAC or electrical system. He's not talking about lifting engines out of farm equipment.

Honestly, I think the 2x10's are overkill. They're just adding weight. One could use a 2x4 on edge and it would handle the partial weight easily.

Then again, I might need to re-think this and go ask my engineer if I can hang a garage door opener. I think the one I was looking at is 56#'s... about the same load the OP is asking about.

[GMCPU53]

I worked for years in the retail and contractor home center business. The company I worked for also manufactured wood roof and floor trusses. These trusses were supplied for regular homes, commercial buildings, municipal buildings, large apartment complexes etc. Each truss is designed for an intended load with specified bracing points to make the truss system work as one unit. If a truss is not designed for a specific load to be hanging from it, then you are taking a real chance at a failure of the entire roof . When a roof truss has a load on it, ex: snow, the webs in those trusses push down against the bottom cord and then back up to the top to balance or absorb the load. Hanging something not planned for on the bottom chord could cause failure of the entire system because if the plates on one truss becomes comprised, it can affect all the trusses.

Joe

[maxum1989]

I've done it for years. No issues. If your roof system can't support an additional 200 pounds then you have some other issues to worry about besides your truck cap.

[Reality_Check]

Hearsay...ya gotta wonder where people get their info sometimes and then why they repeat it.

Yes, you can hang things from engineered trusses. The answer is always, how much??

Do you have sheet rock on the ceiling now? To give you an idea of what a system can hold, typical ceiling rock is over 2 pounds a sq ft (2.2 more likely). Add mud, lights, door openers, and truss planking, and you're over 1000#'s for a small garage, just hanging on the bottom side. Most codes allow up to three layers of shingles (ugh...bad plan, but another day). Add 4#'s per sq ft, per layer for that. Three layers on that small garage with avg slope, would add another 6600#'s.

Dependent on where you are, you'll probably have snow loads as part of the equation too; 10, 20, or more pounds, per sq ft factored in.

Throw in a guy working up there for a spot load (working in the attic).

Can you hang a canopy? Two options for you here: hire a licensed engineer and have him run the numbers and give you a piece of paper saying yah or nay (I like engineers by the way; I am just fully incapable of performing that job) or throw a hat into the realm of common sense based on readily available data. Latter works pretty good for that minor stuff.

Full disclosure; I'm not an engineer (redundant statement now), but I've installed at least one truss, can read drawings, code, and building requirements, can add sometimes and have been in the industry for over 30 years. And I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express once.

[korbe]

Since we don't know the loads your trusses were designed for, or whether your trusses were designed for access and storage, I would guess that the more you can distribute the weight between the trusses, the better off you will be. The sandwiching that you propose seems adequate for a 200 lb load.

[firemedic1992]

I use a Harken Hoister to lift my 8' long canopy off of my truck in my garage and have done so for 5 years without any issues. I also use two ratchet straps as a safety/back up.

[DutchmenSport]

My father-in-law worked home construction and repair type jobs all his life. He told me to never store anything, or hang anything from the trusses in a garage. They will hold ok, they can support the weight, but the roof will begin to sag over time.

For what you're proposing, if you don't want long term damage on your building, support the bottom of the trusses from the floor up, so the weight is on your (new) upright supports and not the roof itself. Then, you can hang a semi-truck from it without any affects to the structure.

You've got to remember, in homes with second floors, builders use floor joists (2x12's) or larger that can be walked on and are heavy enough to support a lot of weight. The trusses in your garage ar all 2x4, and they are no even a real 2x4 inches any more either!

Find a way to support from the floor, and you'd make my father-in-law very happy!