Looking on Promaster Forum and asking around, I didn’t see anyone using the Weather Guard roof rails, so I decided to order a pair for my 159” high roof.

I’m looking to install at least two large solar panels, and looked at the Vantech rack mounts, but I want the flexibility to anchor the panels anywhere on the roof, not just at the stock locations.

So far, I’m not terribly impressed. The rails attach to the roof pins, and require each pin to be rotated 90 deg, then rotated back. They do rotate, but making them rotate without damaging the paint is a challenge, even using soft-jaw pliers. Vantech and other attachments have something which slides under the pins, without requiring them to be rotated.

rotating pins

The rails rest on the raised roof metal, where I expected them to sit in the channel. So they’re higher profile and don’t seem as well supported as if they were in the channel for the entire length, but they should still be usable for my purposes. I’m currently thinking I’ll get some paint protector vinyl, and lay it down under the rails before installing them.

Not urgent, I’ve got a lot of work to do on the electrical system before needing to install solar panels.

rails on metal

The way that the channels bolt to the roof pins is interesting and not what I expected from the instructions.

rails rail attachment

Also the rails are not quite tall enough to lay panels directly across. I’ll need spacers to raise the panels high enough.

Not quite tall enough

They also don’t run the full length of the van. On the 159” the last roof pin is not attached to the rails, but I will have a fan back there, so no current need for rails.