Is this normal between roof and cross beams?

[roooms]

I noticed while sound deadening my roof that the cross bars and roof are not tightly joined. There is some flex in the roof and I’m not sure if this bonding was factory or aftermarket. Looks a bit weird though…




Is this ok or is something very wrong?

 

[Dellmassive]

What colour is the van?

The main body is normally welded and bended..... The painted in a bath.

So most glued plarts would have paint on.

But I have very similar on my van with the side panels.

 

[roooms]

Thanks Dell. It’s starlight blue, but I’m just concerned the black glue (looks like sika c1 but is soft?) is there to hold the roof to the cross beam and that’s clearly not happening with the gap you can see.

 

[Pete C]

Pretty certain ours was like that. If it worries you, then stick some sealant in the gap - it could help with reducing roof panel resonance.

Pete

 

[JDC]

I put a bit of dodo mat in minewhen I done the insulation. Made the roof a lot a quieter in mine.

 

[roooms]

Thanks all, that’s more reassuring. I can see how it might not be designed to have the roof attached to that cross beam, but just a bit surprised that the previous converters would have decided to gun it if that was the case.

 

[Pauly]

I wonder if its a non permanent bond to allow some movement and expansion/contraction with temps, the roof can get pretty hot in the summer especially on dark colours

 

[Slunkie]

I've noticed the same on mine just now - all looks oem and undamaged but there is a consistent 5-10mm gap between the roof panel and the cross bars such that the black glue is no longer bridging the gap.

Fill with tigerseal? Not sure what the OEM glue is but it's still very tacky and soft, doesn't seem to go off and has perhaps spread/run excessively when the roof panel has been very warm.

Whatever sealant I use needs to be compatible/bondable with the OEM stuff. Any ideas?

 

[The_Lad]

I’ve had my van from new and converted it myself and I have that glue between my beams and the roof

 

[Slunkie]

Just had another look evening time once the roof has cooled down and the space has closed up significantly. I guess it's a just an obscure design feature to allow for a significant amount of thermal movement in the large flat(ish) roof panel..?? As such I'm minded to just leave it alone.