Bus Roof Raise Hat Channel

On a 13 row bus we used 4 tubes on each side.

Bus roof raise hat channel.

Why raise the roof. If i had cut all of the channels ahead of time the roof might have slid or fallen so it wasn t worth the risk. The high hat furring channel is a hat shaped corrosion resistant framing component used to fur out masonry walls and ceiling assemblies. In concrete wall applications furring channel is installed vertically to the wall surface using concrete nails or power driven fasteners.

Hat channels are an alternative type of steel roof framing system which can also be used as a purlin where a lower profile is required or where the cover system requires closer purlin spacing thus making standard z or c purlins overly expensive. Nick stayed at the bus and cut some of the old hat channel old school style. So based on other builds and those numbers i had already decided on 14 gauge hat channel and 18 gauge skin some people go 20 without issues. Expand holes with a drill.

Ahead of the sunday we raised the roof i cut through the rear of the bus the front of the bus and half of the channels. I had to make the remaining 14 cuts the day of the raise. The stock hat channel ribs is 13 14 gauge and the stock skin is 16 gauge. Finally each piece of square tubing should be secured into the hat channel by one bolt before the roof raise begins.

Don t forget the pre drilled holes in the bus hat channel must be expanded to fit your sturdy bolts. The most popular reason is value. A raised roof coach is easier to sell and usually is about 15 000 20 000 more value. Whenever you buy a commercial passenger coach there are modifications you will need to make it a comfortable private coach.

We had all of the old hat channel cut ready to raise but there was something wrong with the rear cap. Sunday night was kind of tough. For me the two and very important decisions were the height of the roof raise and the fasteners. We were hoping to get some new hat channel fastened on to a newly raised bus but hit a snag.

For the lift we used yardarm boat jacks and 4x4 posts. To get the 42 square tube down into the hat channel you will have to bang it in with a hammer so make sure you have no screws or rivets on the bottom half of the hat channel. One of the most popular structural changes to make is raising the roof.