average height of most class B's

[Davidk]

Hi everyone

So we have done a couple small trips with our new to us 170 Roadtrek.
We both love it and the 3 girls seem to be fine with it also.

So in saying that we will stay with and always have a b class, so now i am in process of building on to my shop to store the van in when winter hits us here in Nova Scotia.

My question is i know the height of our rig but we have the air out the back and not on top . So i want to make sure that i build enough height to take in the VERY BIG chance that we will change up to a newer rig down the road as we ( sweet wife) see fit......i know this will happen. Happened with Travel Trailers, our boats and so on.

Thanks in advance

David Mona
and the Girls

[markopolo]

A 10' garage door should be enough for most B vans. 12' high walls reduce construction wastage. The longest Sprinter based B's are 24'+ now I think. 28' garage length should accommodate most. Allow longer length if leaving cargo box or bikes on the rig.

EDIT: 11' door might be better: http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29702 - 10' might be too low for some.

[Bud]

Plus whatever is on top of the B, satellite antenna, etc.

Bud

[Davidk]

Thanks Markopolo
I will draw it up with 11' and 12' height door. I will have to spin the shape of the new build that will attach to my shop so i am putting the opening on the gable end of the new part of building. Instead of the front wall like the other 2 doors are for the shop.

As for the depth, i will hopefully only ever go up to a 20 ' van . I am kind of restricted for the depth because of property border guidelines in the building laws here

[mkguitar]

If you are going to do this- I would look at overbuilding- consider the resale, bigger will accomodate more needs and 20' is just too short!

even my old 2006 PW lexor is almost 20' with the spare and newer vehicles are adding feets.

Mike

[Bud]

Mike, it is longer than 20' by maybe 6 inches or so.

Bud

[Davidk]

Thanks all

Yes my build will be 24' deep that way i can at least walk around when i work on the van or just work in that part of the shop.

I meant but did not say ( hear wife laughing at me ) i maybe will not go over a 20 foot rig in the future.

I will have to build out 2 feet more for this add on to the double door shop that i have now, which is 22' deep. I just cannot go any closer to next persons yard

[avanti]

Our GWV Legend is under 10'. I think the trend is toward somewhat lower clearances--low-profile (or under-vehicle) A/Cs, smaller antennas, etc.

[Davidk]

I will have to get in touch of the garage door companies around here to see my choices. Was thinking 10 foot. But now i will go higher just in case. Not sure if i can go 11 ' or they sell in 2' differences.

That would make it 12 foot door opening that way i can put a big whip antenna with a raccoon tail on it

Thanks

So to keep the roof somewhat close to the existing roof ( intersecting ) i will look into raised up trusses

[markopolo]

I built with the just-in-case I bought a bigger B in mind. Another forum member suggested it.

26' length on my plan allows 25' or so usable inside. It would be tight but I probably could squeeze the longest Sprinter in. I went with a 10' door and 11' walls to keep it as low as possible. The door needed extra parts (only a few bucks) to make the bend and/or give the full entry clearance (I can't recall exactly).

I lost about 1/2" due to finish trim so it's a 9' 11 1/2" high opening or likely 9' 11" to not touch the rubber seal.

[Davidk]

Markopolo

Do you have to lower your dish and antenna on the roof to drive into the 9' 11.5" opening

As my van sits it is approx 100 inches give or take 1/2 in. But like i said . I can see us getting into a newer one down the road, and it might have air on the roof.
So trying to build for the future

[ra2jim]

Bud, depending on width of your shop door you may be looking at a commercial roll-up door due to height. You may want to look at a coiling type so as not to lessen your head room in the first ten 10'. Don't forget to add the weight of your coiled up door (insulated?) & housing to figure your opening header beam size.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by Davidk

Markopolo

Do you have to lower your dish and antenna on the roof to drive into the 9' 11.5" opening

As my van sits it is approx 100 inches give or take 1/2 in. But like i said . I can see us getting into a newer one down the road, and it might have air on the roof.
So trying to build for the future

I probably have 4" clearance from the top of the WIFI antenna. My GM van has a very low roof though. I can just stand up in it and I'm short.

[Davidk]

Hi ra2jim

as for the door, with whatever height i go with will be ok to be the regular style garage door. as head room will be above the height of the opening. And that is all this new section will be for.

But thanks for the idea of the rollup. Not sure how well they are insulated

[mkguitar]

my residential garage door is std 17' wide- it comes in 2' sections, so you can make as high as you want by stacking sections and connection with hinge/roller units.
even the least expensive aluminum or galvinized will accept 2" styrofoam panels for insulation.
torsion springs are selected for the weight of the door- and then tensioned- youtube will show how- but a pro is safer-

My neighbor pal is a garage door guy- he helps me out...I fix his guitars


BTW our chev based PW was 8'10 stock ( a/c) and is now 9'4" with added fantastic vent cover.
on a ladder with laser level and tape measure...


Mike

[booster]

Around here, in Minnesota, standard doors would 16' feet wide as far as I have ever seen.

[Bruceper]

I would suggest 24' wide by 28' long with two overhead doors. Yes there is more hardware with two doors, but they're not a big and heavy as a single. And if you plan on using insulated doors, they are even heavier.

If your van is 20 feet long, a 24 foot garage would theoretically give you 4 feet of space. But if you needed to raise the front end for any reason you have a pendulum effect which brings the rear roof closer to your door. Plus you might want space at the back to open your doors without your front bumper touching the back wall.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by booster

Around here, in Minnesota, standard doors would 16' feet wide as far as I have ever seen.

you are correct!- I just asked garage door man and he tells me that 16' is now std.

my 17' is due to the fact that my house was built when we all wanted cadillacs- that's why it is 23' deep!
Mike

[Davidk]

Today i checked out a couple overhead door places ;

Good news is that they sell them in sizes of 3", so 9', or 9' 3", or 9'9" and so on.
So that is great, i just priced a 10' 6" high by 9' wide. $ 1675.00 plus tax installed. R16 finished both sides

Now i will just draw up the plans so i can join onto existing garage to see what kind of height i need to go above the roof line and still have a good look to all

Thanks for everyones input

David Mona
and the Girls

[markopolo]

Just thought I'd post a warning about the garage door track release rope for manual operation of the garage door. Make sure it is well clear of the van!

I had previously made sure the pull handle couldn't touch the van (see photo):

wifi antenna repair 1.JPG

The knotted rope might have brushed the very top of the TV antenna mounting pole but it couldn't snag on it. (another photo) - you see where this is going ..... ?

wifi and TV antenna.JPG

The new front coil springs and rear air lift bags raised the van height 2.25 inches ..........
http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f8...ings-4136.html

I was exiting the garage when I heard a clunk sound above. The garage door had come free from the motorized track and had come down 6" to 8". The sound was caused by the WIFI antenna hitting the bottom of the garage door. The garage door won by the way - just a tiny dent on the inside ........ The WIFI antenna snapped (another photo)

wifi antenna repair 2.JPG

The red handle was still clear of the lifted van but the knot on that rope must have snagged briefly on the TV antenna mounting assembly and released the garage door.

On a taller van like a Sprinter with roof air, the a/c would have likely come into contact with the garage door and the damage could have been much worse.

The WIFI antenna did not looked damaged on the inside. The break was not as clean as it appears. There were some long fiberglass shards remaining which made it easy to epoxy back together.

wifi antenna repair 3.JPG

To further strengthen it I made an epoxy collar:

wifi antenna repair 4.JPG

I'll test it later today. Fortunately, I have performance data - http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f2...html#post48350 - to reference to make sure the antenna is still good.

Originally that antenna cost CDN$25 but it's hard to find and much more expensive now so hopefully the repair works well.

Needless to say that rope is not near anything on the van now!