Chevy Roadtrek Skylight Window Covers

[Jon in AZ]

Our Arizona climate has done a number on the interior covers for the three small roof windows on our Chevy Roadtrek. They are warped and brittle, and when I was driving yesterday the large center one cracked and fell down. The covers are important to us for light and heat control- we rarely take them off.

I'm not exactly mourning the factory covers because they never fit very well. For the moment I have pieces of Reflectix cut a bit large and friction fit in the openings. I'd like to add decorative covers over the Reflectix held in place by the factory clips.

Can anyone recommend a thin material (1/8", maybe) that would be stiff enough to span the largest window (about 20"x8") without sagging? I am thinking some kind of plastic or composite that wouldn't be affected by temperature and humidity variations, but open to all suggestions.

Good news is we're actually getting out for a little mini-vacation in Flagstaff next week!

[mkguitar]

1/8 acrylic/plexiglass from home depot


easily cut with jigsaw or a rotozip/dremel


or you could do same with a wood composite material or even formica



on our PW the 2 windows have a curtain on rails above and below - I put reflectix in place 6 years ago and closed the curtains...done


mike

[RAA357]

Made ours out of infrastop double mylar reflective
Insulation. Made them for all of the windows and have noticable decrease in temperature inside.
Total cost was less than $75 for all the windows.
2007 RT 210 Versatile.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by RAA357

Made ours out of infrastop double mylar reflective
Insulation. Made them for all of the windows and have noticable decrease in temperature inside.
Total cost was less than $75 for all the windows.
2007 RT 210 Versatile.

Yes, I have Reflectix on all the windows, including (now) the roof skylight windows. I googled "Infrastop" and it seems to be pretty much the same.

The other windows have shades that cover the Reflectix and help keep it from sagging and shifting. The roof windows originally had stiff plastic panels that clipped in place. I was hoping to replicate those panels.

[GroupB]

I will be using Expanded PVC to replace my covers.

I have used this product for other projects and find it lighter and more rigid than solid plastic in areas with minimal support. Available in various colors and thicknesses.

An example:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-4-in-x...2521/205760182

[Jon in AZ]

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of product I was thinking of.

[Hammernine]

I used the foil bubble material found at most hardware stores. I then glued ferrite magnets to the frames, also from Ace Hardware. Cut the foil to size and glued magnets to the material. Snaps in place and when not in use I roll it up. The reflective foil really cuts the heat.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Hammernine

I used the foil bubble material found at most hardware stores. I then glued ferrite magnets to the frames, also from Ace Hardware. Cut the foil to size and glued magnets to the material. Snaps in place and when not in use I roll it up. The reflective foil really cuts the heat.

Yes, that's what I have in there at the moment. Got a pretty good friction fit by cutting slightly large. I still plan to buy some grey "expanded PVC" to go over them to restore the original appearance. Hoping the foil bubble will prevent the UV deterioration that caused the factory covers to fail, as well as reduce heat gain.