Fitting roof bars and ladder to a Nuevo

I've just bought a Nuevo ES 4-berth, and would like to fit roof bars and ladder to it.

Autosleeper have quoted me £245 for the ladder and £204.60 for three roof bars. This is just for parts and does not include fitting.

Does anyone know if there are other (cheaper!) makes of ladders and roof bars available that would fit a Nuevo, and are there any instructions available for me to fit them myself? I am pretty handy at DIY.

Any advice would be very welcome!

Many thanks,
Brian

Hi Brian,

Don't know how old your van is but might there be warranty issues? Also I have heard a few horror stories about roof fixings..... Always erring on the side of caution, I would tend towards the manufacturer making this sort of modification if the price is not too horrendous

Hello Brian,

Our A/s Windsor already had the bolts on the roof with s/s domed nuts, the roof bars from A/s were a simple straight hollow aluminium rectangular section which sat over these bolts........the Nuevo may well be similar.... if so, very easy fit.
With regard to the ladder....really a job for the professional as I'm sure positioning of fixing bolts is crucial so as not to damage rear panel.

Best wishes,

Brian (another one)

Hi Brian's

I don't suppose you have a photo of these bars do you, I need to make a roof rack on my Sandhurst, the bolts are there just like to see what Autosleeper supply as I will need to add on to the bars to be able to carry a canoe, hopefully.

Cheers John

We need to know more about the age of the van.

Our van - a Windsor like Fellterrier Brian's - has a ladder fitted. Assuming the Nuevo is a fairly recent model (our Windsor is '06), it's likely to be very similar - there are a couple of raised areas at the rear of the roof, the one on the offside being quite small. The ladder is bolted down through these using coach bolts. Once these are located, the bottom mounting position is clear, and again just uses coach bolts. Make sure you seal the mountings; I re-sealed ours recently, using Sikaflex in the hole so the bolts are sealed, and mastic under the mounting plates.

Hope this helps.

Tony

Brian do not forget that the ladder has to support your weight plus movement up and down. And please believe me in that I am not being sarkey about weight, just carefull and hopefully practical. I have factory fitted bars and ladder on my Windsor and believe me it looks a long way down when I am on the roof, so personally I would not risk fitting the ladder myself and it coming adrift with me on it. The roof bars are different as they are a simple fit.
I would not expect Autosleeper to take more than 1/2 an hour to fit both, so say 1 hour charged cannot be too much and you get the reassurance that any leaks are down to A/S, I presume that they guarantee their work.
I would not be without my ladder etc, but in the end it is your choice.
good luck - Mike

I've got a ladder and rack on my '09 Nuevo ES.
Is the ladder just there to let you put things on the rack or is it safe to walk on the rack and the roof itself?
I have asked AS and they did say they'd get back to me. Twice.

Norrie

I do walk on the roof of our Windsor, but try not to make a habit of it, and only walk on the "reinforced" parts - ie where the roof appears to be raised. I take as many precautions as possible aginst damaging the roof - soft shoes etc but I can't imagine how I'd be able to clean it or carry out routine maintenance if I didn't.

Tony

I was trying to find out if it was safe to go up on our Nuevo's roof as well... Anyway, went up on the roof the other day to give it a clean, wasn't sure at first but it seemed pretty sturdy up there, just used caution near the large Heki rooflight (as I figure this must be the weakest area) but seemed OK to me... no mention in the manual about keeping off the roof so figure it must be OK

Hello Littlejohn,

This is my 1st post on this forum so hopefully it will work!

John, did you proceed with getting and fitting roof bars on your Nuevo?

If so, who supplied the bars. I got a price from Autosleeper Parts (!) and want to check the price of an alternative supplier.

I am surprised that Parts tell me the bars are tubular and constant depth from the stud position, given that the stud fitted in the roof is just 16mm long. Perhaps you would describe the bars you used?

I do not intend having ladders fitted. I will carry an aluminium step ladder (5 steps) attached to the underside of my bike rack and get onto the roof via the roof vent (I have tried it). The item I will carry will sit alongside the roof vent, ie a sail quiver bag and windsurfer booms. I may use just two bars.

Regards,

Fireball