AtlantaCamper

I have also been doing well with these tires and I will continue to buy them. However, I have had one of them go bad after two years because of what i assume was a delamination. But it was my own fault because I let it sit in the off season and didn't move it. That was precisely exactly where they went bad - at the contact point with the ground. Probably only 10k or 15k miles on them, plenty of tread. Normally I try to put her up on jack stands in the winter for this very problem, but I forgot last year and one went bad on me. I can tell when it's happening now because it feels like an out of balance tire. This happens in the back only where the weight is. It blew out on the freeway but didn't cause damage. Kids got nuggets at KFC while I swapped it out and we were back on the road. Has this happened to anyone else? A related tire question. a front rim was really hard to balance last time I changed tires and I had to take it back to recheck. Tire guy did a more careful check and saw that the rim was just slightly bent in one spot. Maybe I curbed it, not sure. Nobody around here would repair it so I started hunting for another rim, but they are like hen's teeth here in the South. Finally found one and I've got it in the garage ready to refurbish it and swap it out. Anyone else have this kind of issue/experience? I hope y'all are doing well, I've been scarce on the forum here but my rig is running better than ever.

Did you check the voltage on the alternator when the truck is running? It should be in the range of 14 to 14.7 V DC. If it's not then the alternator would be suspect. How did you determine that the alternator is the source of the current draw? If the alternator regulator is bad then perhaps I can see how it could pull current, but is it possible that the draw is from somewhere else? This is how I replace the alternator (from memory so it may not be exact). I prefer to take the radiator all the way out, but it can be done with it left in there. You have to remove the fluid and hoses anyway and at that point it's just 4 bolts to get the whole radiator out. I've caused damage to the fins on the radiator when I've tried to do it with it left in because there is so little space to work with if the radiator stays in there. Procedure: Disconnect the battery negative wire(s). Remove Radiator. remove upper air intake tube, drain the radiator, disconnect upper and lower hoses, disconnect and plug the transmission lines that go through the bottom of the radiator if yours has them, remove the 4 bolts from the radiator and pull it out with the plastic fan guard still attached. If you are going to keep the same belt then just loosen the alternator belt with the 12mm bolt on top of the alternator. If you are going to replace the belt(s) then take them all off. This is a good time to do any belt replacement. Disconnect the main charging wire on the alternator. You may have other wires to the alternator depending on what type it is. Remove the 12mm bracket bolt and then the nut on the main alternator mount (14mm I believe). Getting this bolt out can be tricky. Don't mess up the threads as you do it. You should be able to get the alternator out at this point. Reverse the procedure to assemble. You probably won't be able to get all of the radiator fluid in at first so run the engine and it should burp the system and give you the room to get the rest back in. Test the voltage when running to make sure it's above 14V and thus charging. I'd start by checking the wires carefully from the battery to the starter. It could be a lack of current due to a failing connection for example.

I had a similar issue with my steering box. I had a very difficult time getting the correct steering box when I ordered a 'remanufactured' one. There are like two companies that do pretty much all the remans and both companies have the same messed up database with regards to my particular box in a '87. If you go the route of buying a rebuilt box just make sure you are getting the right one.. I can't remember all the details but likley I cold dig up some info if necessary. I believe it's the 1-ton vs not 1-ton that is the problem. Note that one 'rebuild' I ordered that turned out to be the wrong one had worse play than the one I wanted to replace. When talking to a person at one of these companies he said that wasn't uncommon - they have pretty loose tolerances for the rebuild and some are just plain lousy but with good seals. This is a reason to go with having your unit rebuilt instead of getting a reman from an auto parts place. He also thought that my issue with not being able to get the right box for a 87 1-ton was because neither of these 2 reman companies have a rebuild protocol for that specific unit. Just beware of this issue - it cost me a lot of time and trouble... I decided to have my box rebuild instead of getting a remaned unit. I paid $300 to Marty at powersteering.com, shipped it to him, and he got my steering box tightened up really well (plus the seals, etc). (edit: just noticed his price now is $339 plus shipping, but still a great deal IMHO) These heavy rigs put a lot of stress on the steering gears and it's very noticeable having a newly rebuilt one. Much less sway from heavy cross winds for example. I'm very pleased with the work Marty did. My suggestion would be to asses the wear of your box and if it has any significant play in it then consider the Marty rebuild. Whatever you do, do NOT give anyone your box until you are 100% certain that you are all set.

What a great result! It's always rewarding to see the quality collaborative DIY projects documented by this group.

It sounds like the setup I run into at the Atlanta UHauls is more of an anomaly and so this is really a non-issue. I can see that being useful in some situations.

Perhaps it is a U-Haul thing? I've seen them at several local U-Haul fill sites. I assumed those are the normal thing for fast fill of the larger ASME tanks. In central Atlanta U-Haul is pretty much my only option for propane fill locally. It would be interesting to know if that fill nozzle is uncommon. I saved that label by carefully removing it and I have some adhesive that could put it right back where it was. I'm still on the fence about putting it back or not.

DOT vs ASME fill stations and "fill to auto-stop" vs "add XX gallons" strategy for filling: At the U-Haul today they had two different filling systems. One was for DOT tanks and it fills slower and has this kind of nozzle plus various adapters: The other system is for ASME tanks and has this nozzle for the 1-3/4″ Acme threads: The ASME filler fills FAST (ASME tanks are usually large and DOT are relatively small) and it could fill my entire tank in in like 20 or 30 seconds. This concerned me a little because I'm not sure how sensitive or accurate my OPD (Overfill Protection Device) is. My strategy with these "fast fill" systems is to ask to put a specific amount in rather than going to "full". An overfull tank is not a good idea I'm told (too much pressure, possible damage to regulator). The tech said they are told to not use the vent valve. They will NOT fill my tank with the vent open to see liquid come out if the OPD fails to shut off the flow. Using the ASME pump I had the tech stop filling from empty at 3 gallons and then pause (reading was exactly at the "1/4" full mark on the gauge), and than at 5.1 gallons and pause to let the gauge settle (pretty much right at 1/2 on the gauge) and so I feel pretty confident now of the gauge readings at these two points. (5.1 is half of the 10.2 gallon capacity of my tank). Normally I run it down to 1/4 on the gauge and then have it filled. Fills to 80% are always right at 4.5 to 5 gallons this way. My original tank had this sticker on it: I'm not going to put it on the newly refurbed tank because nobody seems to pay attention to it anymore. Everyone's training says to not open the bleed valve. The fancy ACME filler is supposed to have an auto recovery system for the propane like a regular gasoline pump. They don't want any extra propane getting out so no venting, certainly no liquid coming out (I noticed there was _zero_ propane smell during the entire fill process so i guess that system actually works). So fine, if that's the way they want to do it I'm just going to go with the "put 5 gallons in" method when it's at the 1/4 mark and this puts me right at 80% full. I can monitor the fill with the slower DOT pumps to tell them to stop near the full line, but the ACME filler is so fast that the gauge isn't accurate during fill because so much liquid is sloshing around in there. Either way I'm just not all that comfortable relying on the system to automatically shut off at 80% Anyone have any advise on this issue? Am I being over-cautious? If anyone has more insight on tank filling please let me know or correct any errors I have in this post.

I got it mounted and then got a UHaul place to put 6 gallons in it and all is well. No leaks, all seems fine. And once the air in the line from opening it up was purged out the stove it burns clean and blue. With the new regulator I think I have a tad more pressure than the 1987 one. it runs my stove better and with more consistent variation in flame with the dial.

All is going well and the tank is ready to re-install in the camper. It took a full 48 hours to burn off the propane in the tank. I cleaned it up and did a primer/topcoat and then took the valves out and installed the new ones. I pressure tested by connecting an air compressor to the service valve with some brass fittings and pressurized to 100 PSI and did a bubble leak test. No leaks were observed. NOTE: I used DRY air to do this by running the compressed air through molecular sieves to remove the water. Otherwise you are going to get water in the propane tank doing this step in the same way that you get water collecting in the air compressor tank. In the humid South a lot of water comes out of the air when compressed. I'm confident I didn't introduce water. I then purged the tank with propane gas from a portable cylinder by injecting low pressure propane into the service port and then venting with the bleed valve. I did this purge cycle six times so I have only low pressure LP in the tank now. I can now install the tank, new regulator and new soft hose and then go fill it up. With regard to the odd 1" NPT fill port mentioned previously, it turns out that the fill port from 1987 was an odd two piece fitting with a standard 3/4" NPT into the tank flange but two halves that have a 1" NPT threads. The new fill valve is shorter so I hope there isn't an issue connecting when it's time to fill. Here is the new/old valve: For reference, here is the tag on the tank once the grime was removed: It's 10.2 gallons. When it says 1/4 full and time to fill there is still about 2.5 to 3 gallons left. I typically get about 4.5 to 5 gallons into it at a fill, which would then be a total of about 7.5 to 8 gallons at the 'full' mark, which is right near the spec of 80% propane = max full. The tank was not too bad under the grime. I used 60 grit sandpaper by hand to get corners but mostly flap disc sander on a grinder to remove the paint/rust. Took about 3 hrs total for the prep. Here is the tank just before painting: Here is the tank hanging where I painted it and it's drying and still getting the last of the propane out with the turkey fryer. This is quite the redneck setup: I painted with the old valves on, then took them off and put the new ones in. I used a big 1-3/4" socket for the fill valve and that tool I made to put the service valve in. I wrapped the thick yellow PTFE tape 4 rounds over the blue sealant as propane warehouse recommended. Bleed pot and fill gauge were left as they were. Here are the valves: I'll give a final update once I have it reinstalled with a new regulator and soft line and filled.

I didn't realize that was a permanent install tank, my mistake. I don't suppose you could insert a NPT male to female 45 degree fitting like this between the POL and regulator input? It might angle the regulator into the upper right corner and give you the room to attach a low pressure soft line to the output of the regulator. (edit: this may be a bad suggestion as the regulators are designed to be vertical or horizontal. Angled might be a poor choice). I am replacing my original soft low pressure line from the output of the regulator to a hardline under the rig that feeds the rest of the system. I was told that a softline in this place is what acts as a shock absorber so that the movement of the tank when the rig hits bumps doesn't get transferred to the rest of the piping due to the softline.

The soft hoses are rated at either high pressure or low pressure based on what I've seen at Propane Warehouse. It's possible some metal flex line is rated for high pressure. Just make sure the hose you get is rated for full ~350 psi if you go that route. This would allow you to mount the regulator somewhere else like outside that compartment. It would make it easier to move that tank with just a flex line to the POL fitting. You could even get a hand tightening POL (with the o-ring instead of hard copper end) and you wouldn't even need tools to get the hose off the tank when it's refill time. I'm assuming you have to remove the tank from the vehicle to refill.

Yea, it's big and in the way. I had to really wangle it around to get it out through the bottom of the rig. In order to empty the tank I'm burning off the propane with a turkey fryer burner. Slow but effective. In the last 16 hours I've burned off about 30% to 40% of what's left. Still a while to go though... I've contacted them but no answer yet regarding my seemingly odd fill valve inlet size. Once it is empty and I can take the old valve off and inspect the mounting flange I may get more info on this NPT inlet thread size issue. Excellent suggestion! I looked up the tool and then fashioned one myself from a part I found in the garage. It was just strong enough to move the valve so I think it will solve this issue of getting the service valve off/on. The old fill valve has two flats on it for a wrench and I think I have just enough access around that big metal guard to get that off and the new one has six hex flats so getting the new one on should be fine too. I'll have more room to work on that once the service valve is out too. Here's my DIY tool:

It seems I have an odd fill port size. Standard sized are 3/4" NPT or 1 1/4" NPT into the tank. Mine measures 1.2" OD (with calipers, not the ruler), which seems to be 1" NPT according to https://www.ultimatewasher.com/dimensionschart.htm: This is a 1987 tank, all original parts. The service valve (with integral relief) seems to be normal size at 3/4" NPT. For the fill I'm thinking of just using the standard 3/4" NPT part from Propane Warehouse with a 3/4" to 1" NPT adapter like this: If anyone thinks this is a poor choice or has insight into this NPT fitting size issue for the fill valve I'm all ears. As long as I don't have leaks it should be ok. I've not found a Fill valve with 1" NPT. The tank itself is pretty dirty but I think it will clean up ok. Issue now is that it's 3/4 full. I have it hooked up to a turkey fryer burner to get rid of the propane. Might take well over 24h to burn off at the rate it's going.... I'm also realizing it's going to be difficult to get a wrench into that confined space to get the valves on/off....

Thanks for the tips y'all. While I'm looking for a place to do the leak test and purge I'm going to go ahead and get started with the tank refurb. I've ordered the new valves and I'll get the tank off the rig now. The only 'service' I'll need is to leak check and purge. There isn't any need to certify my type of tank. I'll keep trying to find the right person at the right place (good idea on that place Linda).

Thanks for that Linda. A lot of useful info there. Hopefully I won't have as much trouble with leaks... I've been calling all the propane companies around Atlanta and I can't find anyone that will do a purge and/or leak test on a tank like this. Camping World said no too. Hopefully I can find a place to do the proper test and fill once the refurb is done.

I have a horizontal mounted propane tank that needs some attention. All of the valves and fittings are original from 1988 I believe. The fill valve started leaking a tiny bit based on a soap bubble test after it was filled it the other day. The service valve seals when all the way in and out but leaks a bit when opening/closing. I am planning to use the rest of the propane in the tank, then disconnect the tank at the regulator to service valve connection, removing the tank from the vehicle and then refurbishing it. The refurb would involve replacing the fill valve, the service valve and the regulator. The bleed port and float gauge seem to be working ok so I might as well leave them alone. There are square flange fittings that have some sort of gasket holding the threaded inlet ports to the tank. I am planning to leave these alone rather than trying to take them apart and replace the seal. I will clean the tank and re-paint. There is only minor rust and the tank appears to be in good overall condition despite the grime. I’ll use the proper yellow teflon tape to put the new fittings in. I’ll get the regulator from Lowes per Fred’s suggestion and the other valves from PropaneWarehouse. I think these are the appropriate parts: Fill Valve: INLET 1-3/4" ACME, OUTLET 3/4" MNPT, MFG PART NUMBER 1855SD Service valve: ASME Valve with Relief, INLET 3/4" MNPT, OUTLET Female POL (CGA510), MFG PART NUMBER 3250BC312 The tank is not the removable DOT kind, it is the stationary ASME and so it apparently doesn’t need to be recertified. I often have found that the U-Haul tech filling my tank will look for or ask what the certification date is. Usually they just fill it after I tell them this is an ASME tank and doesn’t need recertification, but once they refused to fill it and I had to go somewhere else. Am I correct that I do not need to have it recertified? What about purging/leak testing and fill? Should I get it all done and put it back on the truck and then take it to Amerigas or a similar place to have it purged and filled and then do a leak test with soapy water? If anyone has suggestions about how I should be doing this job I would appreciate the input as this is my first propane tank refurb.

I had a bit of delamination in my roof in a 2 foot by 3 foot area around one side the air conditioner hole. I used a syringe and injected a quart of epoxy (TotalBoat 5:1 Epoxy Resin Kit) and it did take care of the problem. It was caused by a roof vent for the gray tank that was compromised and let water in. It was a nasty job, but it worked and I'm pleased with the results. Very sturdy result. In hindsight the only thing I would have done different is use a larger diameter injection syringe tube. That epoxy is too viscous and I had to work hard to shove it down a ~1/8" ID tube about 2' long. You have to drill some holes or otherwise get access to the delam area so you can inject the epoxy. I put cinder blocks on the top and pushed up with 2x4s from inside to get a good sandwich while the epoxy cured. I have a couple of minor spots on the sides that have delam but I have not tried the same approach on those spots yet. YMMV

I'll throw a reply on this thread partly to say hi to wadingthroughlife because I'm also in an '87 Sunrader in Georgia (downtown Atlanta). HI, you have a local person if you ever need hands on info/assistance. on the general fridge issue, I replaced the cooling unit a few years back and I've been happy with it. I only use propane. It's just easier for me to not be switching fuel sources. My 12v and 110VAC heaters do work, but I never use them. It uses so little propane that it's not worth changing to AC imho. So the cheap way to go about this is to just forget about the AC heater and just use it as it is on propane. Is that a realistic option for you? My impression from the quick review of the thread is that the fridge generally works on propane, just not on AC. I had to take my heater core apart to get the 12v and 110vac heaters to work by making sure they had good contact with the ammonia boiler, which was a kind of pointless task considering I never use them now...

That unit has an rotary compressor as opposed to the more efficient scroll compressor. It likely works fine, although their specs are all over the place so it's hard to make a comparison of cooling output vs power input. It does have the bonus of fitting into a standard opening!

Well put, and I did. I gave this project a wide berth in terms of time and money spent as it's a hobby for me and I've been interested in the off-grid with AC concept for some time now. I'm really pleased with the outcome. I guess that's all that matters.

The AC parts in that package are pretty much identical to what is in the roof unit I bought. I attached a gut shot of the Huabon unit. The heart of it is the compressor and converter electronics module. The converter widget takes DC input and outputs 3-phase AC. Yup, this "12 volt" AC system actually runs on 3-phase AC. Speed is controlled by changing the frequency of the 3-phase AC. This is the same as all of those mini-split systems that are designed for home use. The 3-phase AC variable frequency converter allows the compressor motor to run efficiently at lower speeds and this is the key to the overall efficiency. Apparently DC input is required to make variable frequency 3-phase AC output. The home mini-splits with 115VAC input actually convert the 115VAC to DC and then DC turns into 3-phase AC. When you run a 115VAC mini-split (or the Midea window unit that is based on the same tech) off a LiFePO4 battery bank you start with 12V DC, convert to 115 VAC with the inverter, then the air con unit converts the 115VAC back to DC and then to 3-phase AC to run the compressor. There is obviously a good bit of loss in there. While the current generation of 12V air con compressors and associated DC to 3-phase AC converters are not as overall efficient as the home mini-splits running off grid power, eliminating the 12V to 115VAC and back to DC conversion steps with a DC driven air conditioner brings the overall efficiency of these 12 V DC air con units about even with a battery/inverter driven 115VAC mini-split. There are differences in the efficiency of the 12v compressor/converter packages out there too. The newest generation is about 10 to 20% more efficient. The unit I have uses the latest more efficient type, the stuff on Amazon/Ebay is all the previous gen I believe. 10 to 20% isn't huge, but it's something. For example, that Amazon system is rated at 750W while mine is 650W for the same btu output. Every little bit helps. I thought about using a system like in your link and mounting the condenser under the rig (a space efficient place for the condenser) but I couldn't find a good place for the evaporator that would get good airflow. Plus I don't have the experience to make all of the AC tubing connections. The roof unit has the best location for air flow. With the electric variable speed fans it's super quiet and it's low profile on the roof too. If anyone does intend to buy and install this specific unit let me know as it requires some serious modifications to be fit into a 14x14 hole and have a low profile on the interior air handler. It was originally designed to fit in the sunroof of a European/Asian semi-truck. It fits in the 14x14 opening with modifications plus it requires 4 additional 1/2" bolt holes through the roof outside of the 14x14 hole. I was not able to find a 12v unit using the latest generation compressor designed specifically for a 14x14 opening like we all have.

Those videos by Will Prowse and the associated website https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/ are a fantastic source of information. That was my primary info source as I designed my system. He really gives you a lot of good perspective about how to realistically put a DIY system together. The all in one units are nice because they reduce the install headache of wiring up the individual components correctly and neatly. The only thing they are missing for RV use is a DC to DC charging option. I ended up going with components for that reason but you can still add a DC charger to that all on one system so if the rest of the specs match your needs those are great. Designing a LiFePO4/solar install for a ToyHome is going to be a custom job for each person I suspect. I'm really glad I took the plunge, but it was quite a big time and money commitment.

One of my primary goals was to get rid of my generator. That's why I went with the 12vAC. I use my 22re engine now as my generator when I need to charge. I will be able to provide a higher charge rate off the alternator (once I add the second dc charger) than I can get plugged into shore power or using a generator. If you have the room somewhere, there are some inexpensive 115vac inverter compressor based window units that can be _very_ efficient and cost effective. Or the split systems, but they are hard to fit in a Sunrader. You could get probably close to the same efficiency as my roof 12v unit, even through a DC to AC inverter, with the Midea 8,000 BTU window unit that retails for $400. I pondered putting this Midea in my generator compartment under the bench seat but went with the roof unit instead. Instead I ended up making a fiberglass new storage area where the generator was (see pic). You could probably run that Midea on ECO mode with solar without touching the battery and it would provide good pet cooling for much longer than the roof unit you have. Just a thought, but if you too lose the Onan, put the Midea or similar unit in it's place (they make a 10k unit too I think) and install the rest of the stuff you propose, then you could run essentially indefinitely in the ECO pet cooling mode with solar. You could run at higher cooling but it would use some battery and then driving or idling to recharge. I suppose this isn't great for boondocking as you have to run the main engine rather than the Onan, but since I am driving a lot when I'm out with the camper it works in my case. I've had no problem keeping the 300 ah battery full even with high ac use using only solar and the alternator (no shore power).

One of the things I found out in this process is that the specifications don't really match reality all that well in many cases. You can't get as much current out of your alternator as you think you ought to, solar doesn't generate the amps that you think it should, the chargers/converters are less efficient than the specs and put off a lot of heat, and the voltage drop over a long cable with 12VDC is more than you want it to be... All that being said, I'm very pleased with my system, but the main thing that makes it work with AC running on solar/alternator was the replacement of the old 115VAC 13.5kbtu roof unit with the new 12V unit. I would not be able to supply the power needed to run the old unit (well, you can but only for a short time). The current required to run that roof unit off a 12v battery is likely in the range of 60A to 130A DC. At that power level you really start running into some issues like I mentioned above. Everything is going to get hot and be overworked. The 12V unit requires a lot less power and doesn't need an inverter. No start up surge either. It puts it right in the range that I feel a 12V system can supply comfortably and keep a Sunrader cool. Solar can only supply a small portion of the power required for AC in real time and so you have to count on the alternator. I can easily power my 12v AC unit while driving, but getting a good charge rate at the same time is not as easy. On the highway I can pull 130A from the alternator and get AC plus a good charge at the same time: 20A for the engine, 70A for the DC to DC charger and 40A to run the AC unit on medium direct from the alternator (bypassing the charger). If I'm in full sun I can get up to 25A solar charge as a bonus. I think in general you could run the AC unit while driving if the inverter can keep up but you would show up at camp with a depleted battery rather than a fully charged one because the alternator + solar wouldn't match the load. If running your roof unit requires about 10A of 120V AC power then it would take 100A of DC power to the 90% efficiency inverter, this in turn would require 125A of DC power from the alternator given that the DC/DC converter is only 80% efficient. This means you need two 60A DC to DC converters, not one. In theory a high out put alternator can supply that, but in reality it's difficult. On the highway under steady state conditions it might work, but in city traffic it's going to get hot and it's going to struggle at idle. On my 22RE I could initially pull 60A easily under idle or high RPM, and up to 100A at idle if I pay attention to it, but anything beyond that is a real challenge on a single V-belt. I had to make this extra idler pulley bracket (see image of redneck engineering) to keep the belt from slipping at draws over 80A. Now I can get about 130A comfortably, but only at RPMs over 1500. It's a 250A spec unit but that only applies if you have a serpentine belt. It was quite a learning experience trying to get the current I needed out of an alternator on a 22re with one V-belt... The key components I'm using are a Quality Power 250A alternator, 60A Renogy DC/DC charger, AIMS 75A shore charger, 300Ah Ampere Time battery, 40A Renogy solar charger, 5X100W solar panels, Renogy 2000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter and a 9kbtu 12vDC AC unit. Oh, and a lot of heavy copper wire. I plan to add an additional 40A Renogy dc charger. Later on I could add 3 more 100w panels and a second 300 ah battery. Odyssey 4x4, it sounds like you have good specs on what you plan to add, but perhaps consider a 12v AC unit too. The 12v AC unit I bought is the same as the Mabru 12000btu unit they sell for $2600 plus shipping. I found the manufacturer on alibaba, which is Haubon and the unit is the AC-2600EI which costs less than half that direct from the factory (50% of cost for the unit and 50% was for air shipping). Shipping drops significantly with multiple units or if you have an importer you can work with. Note that Haubon confirmed that I have the same unit as Mabru sells, but it's actually 9k btu and Mabru is pretty much, uh, not being truthful with the 12kbtu spec. They made it up by measuring with a phone app. Don't get me started about how uncool that is of Mabru to market this 9kbtu unit as a 12k btu unit and charging a lot for it. I'm very pleased with the AC unit itself. It's well made and is more efficient than the competing units because it has a high quality frequency converter and DC scroll compressor.

I recently removed my generator and installed a LiFePO4 battery system with solar and a high output alternator. Attached is a picture of 5 100w panels I mounted on the roof. I have a set of factory aluminum 1" diameter roof rack parts that I used for the two in the back. My goal was to make no additional holes in the top of the roof. I ran the wires down existing holes (the black tank vent for example). I used 1" square tubing from Lowes and some light bar clamps in the back. On the front I used 80/20 to make a frame and I mounted it using plates attached to the side, taking advantage of the existing bolts that hold the roof strut spans in place. All panels are easily removable for cleaning too. I didn't try to put anything over the cab area. If I put some there later I'll use the VHB tape and ABS mounts, but I will likely not do that because I get enough charge from my alternator and I don't boondock much. Also of note is the 12V AC unit I installed. It's working really well and I'm able to cool the camper with no generator! I have a 300 ah battery with room for a second. I put a high output alternator in and I can charge up pretty will while driving. AC unit runs on low/med/high 20/40/55 Amps, which is really not bad. At 55A it will put out ~9kBU and it's _really_ quiet compared to the old unit. In a sunny parking lot or even driving down the road the solar output (~20 to 25A) is enough to drive the AC on low with zero load on the battery.