raising the roof

[lloyd]

I have a 1965 MCI 5 and I am going to raise the roof. I see alot of buses have been raised 8 inches. Is there any reason why the roof can not be raised 10", or even 15". I realize the maximum height is 13'6", but as long as I stay under that is there any other reason not to go that high. The bus is 35' so I thought if I went as high as I could use the height for storage.
Lloyd

[JackConrad]

10" might not be bad but a 15"?  We raised our MC-8 roof 8". Although the limit is 13'6", I think that is for federal hiways/ maybe just interstates. We travel a lot of back roads and go to campgrounds with trees that are not aware of that maximum height. l also think it has to do with proportions, when you make a significant roof raise with the original width, when veiwed from the front or rear, the bus seems out of proportion. Also putting serveral roof Acs on top of a 15" raise will raise your center of gravity. Not sure how much this would affect your handling?  Just a few things to consider and research before starting a big roof raise. Good luck with your porject.  Jack

[Ross]

I've taken down many telephone and cable TV wires on rural roads with my stock height MC9.  Enough that I've thought about putting a cable cutter on the roof (like what you see on helicopters).  Fortunately, they come down easy enough without damage to the bus.  The power companys seem to honor the 13' 6" rule, but the others don't seem to think it applies off the interstate.

Ross

[Chaz]

This is an interesting subject. Ross' last remark brings up something I have been planning to do on my bus. Basically it will be a couple tubes anchored to the roof that are curved to take wires and limbs over the AC. I also want to use the Vista windows on the top and was planning on doing that there also.
  Anybody else done this?? It may be the hot ticket when you raise a roof up.

  Chaz

[Sam 4106]

Hi Lloyd,
If you raise your roof more than 8" what are you going to use for front and rear caps? R&M Fiberglass only had caps for an 8" raise for our '84 Prevost Le Mirage XL when we raised our roof so, unless you have a good way to deal with the cap issue I would recommend not raising more than 8". I realize you would be able to have taller cabinets and closets for storage but unless you put in a suspended ceiling and used that space for storage it seems to me that you wouldn't gain enough to justify the additional height. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Sam 4106

[gumpy]

Hey Sam,

Haven't heard from you for awhile. Hope you faired well this winter. Was going to stop in on the way home from FL, but it didn't work out.

I limited my raise to 8" because of the R&M restriction, but in retrospect, and the poor quality of the R&M product, I wish I
had gone 10" and simply filled in below the cap with a strip of aluminum or some of the material I used for my siding. I think
if I were doing it again, I'd use the old front cap, instead of ordering a new one. I would probably order a new rear cap,
but I'd have them leave a couple extra inches of fiberglass all the way around the edges so I could trim it properly. That
would probably be the only piece of R&M fiberglass I'd buy from them again.

craig

[Ross]

Having seen R&M quality first hand, I'd make my own caps from aluminum.  Some 3003 and some TIG welding and you'd have a much nicer cap that actually fits.  I'll probably make one for my finished MC9 this summer.

Ross

[Tom Y]

Craig, You are about the only person I've heard complain about R&M. May I ask some questions? I was looking at the front and rear and a rear cap. What do you wish was different? I have a 5C and hope to fill in under my front cap. I was also looking at fender flares, Any suggestions? Thanks Tom Y

[gumpy]

Craig, You are about the only person I've heard complain about R&M. May I ask some questions? I was looking at the front and rear and a rear cap. What do you wish was different? I have a 5C and hope to fill in under my front cap. I was also looking at fender flares, Any suggestions? Thanks Tom Y

If I were doing it again, I would not waste the money on the rear surround. It was all basically junk. It's all cracked and there were large voids in the gel coat which have appeared since installation. I'll be replacing it eventually and making my own out of my siding material.

The rear cap was not as bad, but the wrap around lights in the top are not right. One sealed fine, but the other one leaks. Just a slightly different curve in it that's not right.  My biggest gripe with it, though, is that they trimmed it too short, and did a crappy chipped edge job at that. They left nothing for me to trim to a nice edge. I didn't put any trim back on the bus, so wanted a crisp edge on the glass, but it was so short, I couldn't even trim it in a couple places.

The front caps just don't fit right. I think they are intended to be used over the old cap, and getting them to fit the curve of the corners is nearly impossible.  I would not buy the front cap again, and would instead just use the old original cap, fill in the light holes with fiberglass, and add a strip of aluminum below it to cover the raised area.

craig

[jjrbus]

Hi Craig, I had no quality or fit problems with the R&M caps. I purchased my caps in 2000, maybe things have changed? They were a bear to install.  In hindsight if doing it again, I would save the money and use the old front cap. It is not that much work to redo the old one
The fuel gauge is still working, when Gumpy fixes something it stays fixed!!!!

[gumpy]

Hi Craig, I had no quality or fit problems with the R&M caps. I purchased my caps in 2000, maybe things have changed? They were a bear to install.  In hindsight if doing it again, I would save the money and use the old front cap. It is not that much work to redo the old one

I think I bought mine in 2001.

The fuel gauge is still working, when Gumpy fixes something it stays fixed!!!!

Glad to hear it's still working for you.

[FloridaCliff]

Craig,

I think you are right on target with "I think they were intended to be used over the old cap".

When I did my raise, they had a cut on line for if you were putting over an existing cap.

I think they just extended the bottom for a higher roof raise.

All those angles change a little as you go up.

I had to do a lot of custom trimming/fitting to make them work.

At least more than I expected for a pre engineered fit.

Probably fine if just over a cap.

Cliff

[jeffacc]

Hi Lloyd
I raised my roof 8" on 1983 MC9 I also used R&M front and back caps along with other products from R&M I have to say I was very happy with the products on the other doing a 10" or more roof raise for me was not needed I am 6"4" tall and  have no problems with headroom. good luck with you project.
                                                                           Jeff

[captain ron]

I raised mine 8" and used both original caps. I looked at it for a while and decided where I needed to cut everything and got started. I only had 14 days in which to do it and was second guessing myself after I cut every thing, but was soon glad I did. I just filled in the area at the base of my caps. There were some compound angle/curve issues I didn't see and it wasn't real easy but I got it done. I would have loved to had a rear cap because I like the look and it does give you nice closet space. I may build my own someday out of aluminum. Good luck

[gumpy]

I raised mine 8" and used both original caps. I looked at it for a while and decided where I needed to cut everything and got started. I only had 14 days in which to do it and was second guessing myself after I cut every thing, but was soon glad I did. I just filled in the area at the base of my caps. There were some compound angle/curve issues I didn't see and it wasn't real easy but I got it done. I would have loved to had a rear cap because I like the look and it does give you nice closet space. I may build my own someday out of aluminum. Good luck

That's the only reason I'd consider using the rear cap again. It squares up the rear, and leaves you with a lot of room for a nice walk in closet.