Fitting ladder and roofrack

[Towat101]

Hello everybody, we have just bought our first motorhome, a 1998 Bessercarr E695 on a Ducato chassis, and we can't wait to start our adventures, just one problem (well several but I can fix most myself) I need to fit a ladder and roofrack to carry our kayaks, my question is what sort of fixings should I use, what is under the outer skin is it plywood or a foam sandwich? It has had a ladder previously as you can see where the holes have been filled.

All advice gratefully received.

 

[Jamesh]

Bessacarr E695

Bessacarr E695 1998, 6 berth motorhome for sale in Essex. Manual gearbox and Right-hand Drive with 65,410 miles. Find out more.

www.motorhomedepot.com

Same model as this??

I'd first find out where the studs are in the wall and put your bolts through these.

I would put a piece of 1/2" plywood inside the rear lockers and spread the load screwing to the studs and gluing it in with a polymer sealant / glue.

On the outside I'd want a round discs of something like painted aluminium, ext plywood or chopping board plastic glued on with similar glue?

Without load spreading help, I'd think the ladder especially will crack the outer and inner plywood and outer plastic panels.

 

[Towat101]

Bessacarr E695

Bessacarr E695 1998, 6 berth motorhome for sale in Essex. Manual gearbox and Right-hand Drive with 65,410 miles. Find out more.

www.motorhomedepot.com

Same model as this??

I'd first find out where the studs are in the wall and put your bolts through these.

I would put a piece of 1/2" plywood inside the rear lockers and spread the load screwing to the studs and gluing it in with a polymer sealant / glue.

On the outside I'd want a round discs of something like painted aluminium, ext plywood or chopping board plastic glued on with similar glue?

Without load spreading help, I'd think the ladder especially will crack the outer and inner plywood and outer plastic panels.

Yes that's the one but without the roof bars, the previous ladder holes should give a clue as to the studs, I haven't been on the roof yet but chances are if there was a ladder there was also a roof rack previously, I was thinking of fitting longitudinal roof rails from a car then putting my own cross bars on, so they would be relatively close together say 4 feet and therefore not near the edge of the roof, if this would compromise the roof strength I could move the rails to the edge and get longer cross bars.