Astradome Installation

[Twinkie]

The 'lifters' on the inside of our 64 overlander are missing, and the previous owner climbed on the roof and screwed the plastic cover down with about 20 screws...So it wouldn't lift even if the lifters were present. The edges and corners outside are cracking and I've noticed a couple small drips during heavy rains. Needless to say, I want to replace this with the Astradome. So here are my questions.....
Inland RV's looks alot skinnier (low profile) and the edges don't appear to have a "lip" like the one on Vintage trailer supply. My existing one looks more like the one on VTS, as it appears to have more of a lip. Will either one work?
And more importantly, I don't really want to buy the lifters at the price I see them at. Im fine with this vent NOT lifting. Can I just buy a new astradome and say, glue it down? I wont want to screw it down as the PO did, but the inside U shaped brackets for the lifters are all bent, so I'm not sure the lifters would fit even if I had some.

[overlander63]

I had basically the same situation with our 63, and found a pair of lifters from a fellow forums member. The Astradome I used was the one from VTS, it is a reproduction of the original. You can bend the U-shaped pieces out for the lifters to fit into, and rivet the Astradome to them.
Adhesives have come a long way over the years, but I would not recommend just gluing the new part on your trailer, there is too much chance of it coming off. It will usually happen while towing in a hard rain...
The lip on the VTS part will help keep rain from getting inside. An idea for keeping the new part from cracking and splitting if you don't want to use the lifters, is to use strips of aluminum about 1/2" wide, and as long as the dome, and as wide as the dome, and run the screws through that, then through the dome. This will spread the load, and help prevent cracking. A screw every 6" of so will be sufficient.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Our ceiling vent covers do have a lip on them.

They also have a thermal barrier, others do not.

Our vent covers are white or solar gray.

The white covers let in white light.

The solar gray covers, let in more light, and it's a soft gray light.

Fiberglass vent covers let in a very small amount of light, but it's a brown light.

Our astrodomes and solardomes also cost less than the brown fiberglass covers.

Andy

[Twinkie]

So the difference in the look of the two would be the center domed area on the one from VTS?
Are the ones from Inland RV made of plexiglass?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Twinkie

So the difference in the look of the two would be the center domed area on the one from VTS?
Are the ones from Inland RV made of plexiglass?

No, they are not made with Plexiglass.

Plexiglass is not UV resistant.

Our covers are made with Acrylite, which is UV resistant.

Our covers have trapped air between the outer and inner sections, which creates a "thermal barrier."

The fiberglass versions do not have the thermal barrier.

Andy

Andy

[centennialman]

I purchased a solar grey one from Andy at Inland. It looks great on the trailer and I like the type of light it lets in. It's nice to look out the skylight and see the clouds, trees etc....

It was easy to install too!

[chapparel]

I have a 1965 22' Safari that I am redoing myself with a bit of help from some friends. I will need to replace the vent above the front area. Can someone post a photo of this Astradome so I can see if it is something I can use in my 22'er? Also, the demensions would help.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by chapparel

I have a 1965 22' Safari that I am redoing myself with a bit of help from some friends. I will need to replace the vent above the front area. Can someone post a photo of this Astradome so I can see if it is something I can use in my 22'er? Also, the demensions would help.

The rectangular cover is called a "astrodome" and is 14 x 26 inches, nominal. They are available in milk white and solar gray.

The square cover is called a "solardome" and is 14 x 14 inches nominal. They are available in milk white and solar gray.

Andy

[dwightdi]

Acrylite is the trade name for a acrylic plastic made by the Degussa Chemical company. It is UV resistant. Plexiglas is the same acrylic plastic made by the Rohnman Hass Company. It is also UV resistant and chemically you can not tell one from the other. Google it and you can verify what I say. Acrylic plastic has been used for years for green houses. VTS makes their Solardomes from thin fiberglass which uses polyester thermoset plastic. It is somewhat uv resistant depending on the brand of polyester they are using and the UV resitant additive they add to it. It does not transmit nearly the amount light that the acrylic plastic will.

[Midamrail]

We lost our original Astradome on the way to a rally in Iowa, where the forecast was calling for heavy rain on the third day of the rally. We had a new one overnighted, but the old one took the metal lifting brackets with it (although we still had the cranks). Amazingly, there was a small metal fabricating shop on the rally grounds, so Ben and the shop owner fabbed up some new lifting brackets, which worked great.

http://www.griffithrvservice.com in Oklahoma City can often be a good source for that kind of hardware, but we found that out after the monsoon in Iowa.