WeBoost Antenna Mount

I recently added a WeBoost Drive Reach to our van, and wanted to mount the large roof antenna in a way that would allow me to easily raise & lower it.  Based on recommendations, I decided to use the Rhino Rack Folding Aerial Bracket for mounting the antenna. 

However, when mounted on the crossbars and folded down, the antenna still protruded too much, so I decided to invert the rear crossbar and mount it with a lower profile.

However, the antenna is now lower to the roof, and will bob up & down in the wind, tapping on the roof. To stop this, I created a simple cradle that clasps the antenna stalk. The cradle is a thin bar of aluminum that is bolted to the side rail with a 5/16" x 3/4" carriage bolt and a stop nut. The clasp is a plasticized wire clamp that is easily bent with one hand when I want to open and close it.

07-May-2021

Angling the Front Solar Panel

Early Revels shipped without a fairing or air dam, so the leading solar panel caught a lot of wind and made a lot of noise. Several people in the Revel Facebook group ('Winnebago Revel 4x4') inverted the crossbeam and lowered the panel on the leading edge to improve the aerodynamics, and I finally got around to doing that.  Here's what I did...

After detaching the solar panel and removing the crossbeam, I had to remove the rivets that were introduced by Winnebago in one of their early Revel recalls.

After removing the rivets and freeing the L-brace, I was able to invert the bar. However, to maintain the function of the L-brace, I had to drill a larger hole to replace the rivets with a 5/16" carriage bolt. I chose a 3/8" bit, matching the other 3/8" inch hole on the L-brace.

When this was complete, I was able to reassemble the crossbar fitting with carriage bolts and stop nuts (should have used stainless, but couldn't find it).

When the cross bar is back on the van with the lowered solar panel, it's much more streamlined than before.

Red Rack Plastic Goes Black

I've never really liked the red plastic accents on the Revel's roof rack, so following another member of the Revel group (Jim Lincoln), I decided to pull it all off and paint it black.

It wasn't difficult to take the rack apart and remove the plastic pieces. 

I chose flat black in a paint that is made for adhering to plastic (satin would've been a good choice, too). I applied one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint.

I think it looks better without the red plastic on the roof.

Wind Fairing

Due to the aerodynamics of the van and the rack system, and given the pressure on the solar panels, I decided to install the 52" Yakima Wind Fairing to our roof rack.

It all went well until I got to the farthest strap on the passenger side because the strap's buckle was colliding with the rack's knob.

I trimmed the buckle off with some wirecutters.

All done. I'm not a mechanical engineer and can't say for sure that it really helps, but common sense says that it will help to shunt some of the pressure above the rack, and that's a good thing.