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Hey! Before You Upgrade Your Ceiling Vent Read This!!!


TikiShack

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My 1992 Toyota Spirit Minnie Winnie has got a three-quarter inch thick roof.That's it. What a joke.
That means the newer upgraded Powered vents will have to have a box built on the roof so they will not hang down inside the motorhome.
I have installed several vents in the roofs of RVs over the years and I had no idea that my roof is only three quarters of an inch thick. I'm very disappointed. This is exactly why my roof is sagging and I have a pool of water around my air conditioner after a rain. What a piece of shxt...
If I don't want my new reversible vent to droop down inside my sleeping quarters, then I'm going to have to build a ring or a box so that the fan will set up a couple of inches higher. This adds 4 seams at least, kind of like a picture frame. I suppose I could glass it in but that's a lot of extra work. Anybody else had this issue?

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Winnie used their own design vents, you may have to "square" up the corners.

Also contact the fan mfg. some of them will send you a thin garnish ring for free.

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And the Chinook Newport and Omegas used an off-sized vent, so if you want to upgrade, you'll either need to cut the hole in the roof larger, like I did, or build something to make it smaller. More available in the smaller sizes, but I decided it was easier (given my skill set) to make the hole larger.

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Never had an issue using the proper sized vent.

I did raise the roof using glass on one Toyota RV but it was a choice not necessity.

If you want to use the vent you purchased used off of craigs list instead of getting the proper one that will fit, you can make a riser out of some pressure treated, screw it into the roof, and cover it with eternabond tape (white or silver).

This would be a cheap way to go if you don't want to get the proper vent for your application.

Personally I would not modify the RV, I would get the correct sized vent and install it normally

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My 1992 Toyota Spirit Minnie Winnie has got a three-quarter inch thick roof.. Anybody else had this issue?

Are you 100% sure about that 3/4" for a total thickness? I worked on a 90 Toyota-Winnebago last year. Took the AC out for the owner and stuck in a powered roof-vent. Also put in a Winegard RV antenna. Total roof thickness was 1 1/16" in both areas I cut. Main supports in the roof were 3/4" thick with a 3/16" veneer on the outside, and 1/8"on the inside. If the roof HAD been only 3/4" - it still would not have been an issue. The Fantasic vent I installed is 3/4 deep where it passes through. If stuck on top of a roof that was only had 3/4" total thickness -the inside of the fan would of been flush with the ceiling. It would of required a lot of cutting to the interior trim ring - or maybe adding a 1/4" thick interior trim space. Easy to make or the vent companies also sell them.

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Welcome back jdemaris. You and your expertise were terribly missed. Kim

Thank you for the welcome. Nice to hear considering I was just banned from the Yahoo Toyota group for reasons not explained to me. (Yes, I asked).

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If it was my project I would go looking for some 1" or more thick hard rubber mat. Then take the mat to a firm that does water jet cutting to make a custom gasket ring to put on the roof. Install with butyl rubber tape and stainless steel screws. Use a free CAD program to draft the gasket to keep your cost down so you don't have to pay to have the digital file made. Sometimes the firms that do water jet cutting have leftover remnants of materials that are suitable for your needs. That would keep your material cost down.

No disrespect, but, well that seems like an awful lot of extra work to solve a simple problem. All I had to do was build a 2 inch square ring from a couple of scraps of wood and seal it with two coats of oil based porch alkylid enamel. It will last a long time.. As a previous poster replied , it's no big deal. The roof is slightly more than three quarters of an inch thick. It is still really flimsy and I realize that nobody should be walking around on these roofs. It's kind of sad. It wouldn't have taken much to provide a little more interior bracing. I have a sagging air conditioner which makes a lake every time it rains. There's other posts on here about that phenomenon, maybe I will address it if it starts leaking. For now I'm going to go out and try to have fun and enjoy my wonderful new $50 vent that closes automatically when it rains and has a remote control! Thanks to everybody who pitched in for ideas.

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I still don't understand the issue being discussed. Any Winnebago I've worked on (80s-90s) had an engineered-panel roof. 3/4" main supports with luan plywood and aluminum bonded to the supports and 3/4" foam. Total thickness from 15/16" to 1 1 /16" . I've yet to come across any Toyota RV roof with a total thickness of 3/4". I'm not saying they don't exist. I'm saying I've never seen one. So for somebody that has - please post the specs. My 1988 Minicruiser uses an engineered roof of similar design to the Winnebago Micro Warrior. The engineered panel system works great and holds plenty of weight until moisture gets in an ruins bonds and rots wood. I've walked on these roofs when in good shape and felt no bounce or springing at all. When it comes to sagging - I don't see the OEM thickness as an issue. The culprit is time and rot and moisture intrusion. I recently parted out a 1986 Winnebago Phasar that has the same roof construction as the Toyota Micro Warrior. Still had the AC on top with no sag and by some miracle - sat in a New York woods for 10 years with lots of snow on it. The sidewalls and certain portions of the roof rotted and sagged horribly. The AC area however was well sealed and had no rot or sagging. In fact - I had a heck of time getting it out. I'm not sure what sealant was used by Winnebago to install it but after 28 years - it was still pliable and tough. Kind of looks similar to modern Quad sealant. That area of roof was 15/16" total thickness where the AC unit was. No flex with me standing next to it.

In regard to the roof vent? Like I said; I don't understand the problem. I just put a new Fantastic vent in my 88 Minicruiser with a total roof thickness of 1 1/32". 3/4" supports with 3/4" foam, and luan and aluminum skin - all bonded together. The new vent/fan assembly has a depth of exactly 13/16". I.e. if the roof only had a total thickness of 3/4" - it would only protrude 1/16" past the interior ceiling. In that case - all that would be needed is a 1/16" or thicker interior shim to go under the plastic trim ring (garnish).

Any roof of any thickness will have problems when flat and left outside after moisture gets in. I'm in the process now of tearing off the roof of a house with 10" wide spruce rafters they rotted out. It caved in after 15 years due to chronic leaks from the outside - and lack of venting that trapped the moisture. Granted that if someone built a motorhome with a roof support structure made of stainless steel and composites - it would handle moisture a lot better.

The photo is a "core sample" from my 88 Minicruiser. Very similar to the Winnebago except the Micro Warriors I've seen did not have quite as much wood.

This one is 1 1/32" total thickness. 3/4" foam and main supports in the roof (metal and wood) with veneers bonded at both sides.

post-6578-0-03922800-1400071098_thumb.jp

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