Roof bracing for A/C unit.

[Martorious]

Looking to redo the roof in our PU in a similar fashion to Birol and Lee's work on Birol's Finally.  My question, would the bracing Lee used around the vent fan be strong enough to support an A/C?  How much do roof A/C's normally weigh?

[Tim5055]

How much do roof A/C's normally weigh?

Depends on the make/model

The Coleman MACH 3 PLUS is 92 pounds, so figuring 100 lbs probably is safe.

[Gone-Camping]

The bracing isn't likely strong enough, but even if it was, the lift system itself is not rated to handle that much weight. Those old Starcraft cables break very easy!! The pulleys rip right out of the system too with any kind of strain. You're best bet for that unit would probably be a window unit (I know about this, I've owned 2 70's era Starcrafts, and looked hard into this on both of them)...

[mike4947]

Got to go with Cliff. I had several 70's vintage trailers and none of them would take the strain of a roof top AC.  The roofs do not have the internal structure to keep it from sagging not to mention the cables and pulleys.

Internal bracing and lift systems rated for AC weights when raised didn't start to become "universal" until the early 90's.

[Martorious]

Thanks guys, that saves me the headache and wallet crunch of a major foul up!  I saw Larry's (brainpause) window air platform on his Palomino, that may be the way for me to go.

[birol]

Marty,

I would not put an AC on the roof of of Finally. Even with bracing, unless one can add a curve to make the roof look like a modern colemans (middle up, sides down) roof, and as strong, you will be asking for trouble. There is no internal structure on that roof, and mine is still sagging even with the bracing we added !

I have seen one AC installed through the front wall though, right above the hitch enters the body, and it looked builtin ! I wish I had that picture somewhere still. I will look for it. There is nothing but skin and some plywood there as I understand.

[Martorious]

I like the idea of a built in.  Maybe in the back wall, since I don't have a rear dinette.  I'd have to move the spare tire, but that is not a big deal.

[Gone-Camping]

You might find some useful idea's on window units at my website...
 
http://www.gonecamping.net/pages/windowunit.html
 
Also, check out these...
http://www.gonecamping.net/images/window_ac_finished.jpg
 
And not even mounted...