Mounting Winegard Trav'ler to '17 377RLBH roof

[JetTech]

Looking for any info and/or pics of anybody's rig with the Winegard Trav'ler Slimline SWM mounted to the roof. I reached out to Jayco CS only to be told they don't recommend mounting on the roof as there's no supports built in to mount the unit to. ($70k doesn't go nearly as far as it seems it should...) Their advice was to purchase one of the domed, tripod-mounted units. The only issue is that I want DirecTV HD programming, so the domed units won't work for me.

As far as I can tell, Winegard also makes an optional mounting plate, the SKA-008, which would strengthen the mounting considerably, assuming that the plate is mounted to something substantial as well. I've walked on the roof, and it feels a little thin, so not sure that this large dish will have much holding it on if relying on the thin roofing material. I've seen other 5er's out there with this system, so know it can be done.

And sorry if I've missed a post somewhere on this same topic. I haven't had much luck find this info on any of my searches, whether here or the web in general. Just trying to get my ducks in a row before tackling this...

[Rustysocket]

I have a Traveller mounted on my 355. I have been on the roof of mine several times and see no reason why it should be an issue. My guess is that jayco isn't going to endorse it simply for warranty liability.

There are thousands of similarly constructed RVS out there and I've seen no complaints of one coming off that didn't have to do with overhead clearance issues.

The installation was simple and straightforward. Wiring was brought down into the basement following the vent pipe in the bathroom closet. The power inserter and control module were mounted there on a custom shelf. Coax signals were brought into the four existing locations using wiring disconnected from the docking station where you would connect to your normal outside coax inputs. So it didn't require rewiring the entire coach.

It never even occurred to me to worry about the roof. Mine is rock solid.



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[JetTech]

Yeah, I think the 355 is very similar to the layout of the 377. I'm assuming your dish is somewhere in the middle of the RV, near to where the toilet is mounted. That makes sense to run it down next to the vent to keep from having to cut a hole in the roof. Did you use either the larger mounting plate that Winegard makes to stiffen the roof and protect the roof from the LNB, or the smaller square plate to protect the roof from the LNB as it retracts?


Did you remove the satellite connection at the docking station or run coax into the docking station and connect directly to that port?

[Rustysocket]

We did not use the large plate. Had I known it was available I probably would have purchased it simply because... I have the smaller plate where the LNB would touch the roof material on order and my dealer is going to install it when I take the rig in this fall for some other items. When I say it is solid It literally does not move, I've put 5800 miles on my rig and there is no sign of an issue but again I'm going to install the rub plate just because it's cheap.

Dealer is a personal friend of mine. If he had structural concerns or performance concerns he would not have sold it nor installed it. I know that doesn't mean much to you from some guy on the internet, but it is relevant in that between him and I there is much more at stake than a business deal and I trust him. There have been things I wanted to do in the past and he encouraged me not too even though he stood to profit if I did.

We removed the existing coax cable connections from the back of the Sattelite/AUX inputs on the docking station and capped those off (The CABLE input was left intact). The coax was then connected to the SWM splitter. In my coach the AUX side went to the bunk room and the bedroom and had a splitter installed. That splitter was removed and the two cables were connected to the SWM splitter. The Sattleite input side went to the living room and also to another drop in the basement via a splitter. That was removed and those two drops were connected to the SWM splitter. So essentially all four drops now have a direct connection to the SWM splitter. (Sorry if thats confusing). The Cable input on the docking station still goes to the amplifier panel that is used for cable/ota signals.

This made the installation very simple from a wiring standpoint and should I choose to remove it at a later date it is very simple to rewire the coach to the docking station inputs.

I will admit that during the purchasing process I had concerns about how the whole thing was going to be wired and installed and I envisioned holes being cut in the roof and wires not hidden, etc. I was pleasantly suprised that the install was clean, simple and straightforward. It was not the monster that I had stressed out about in my head. The tech that did the install was well versed in this system and it was obviously not the first time he'd done one.

I will snap some photos of where things are for you.

[Rustysocket]

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[JetTech]

That's exactly the info I was looking for! Thanks so much for taking the time!

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by JetTech

That's exactly the info I was looking for! Thanks so much for taking the time!

You Bet ! Glad to help.

[Fish]

I see you have most the info you need for routing, just wanted to re-affirm, the Pinnacle roof seems to be a strong enough mount surface. I have an FLSA and mounted it very near the front and offset toward the driver side so I had to add a subplate to level the installation as the roof is very curved at that point. It seems to be a very solid installation.

[JetTech]

Originally Posted by Fish

I see you have most the info you need for routing, just wanted to re-affirm, the Pinnacle roof seems to be a strong enough mount surface. I have an FLSA and mounted it very near the front and offset toward the driver side so I had to add a subplate to level the installation as the roof is very curved at that point. It seems to be a very solid installation.

I'm thinking of mounting mine more towards the back of my North Point due to clearance of things on my roof, but worry about the slope of the roof. How did you go about having a custom fit wedge made to level your setup?

[Fish]

Originally Posted by JetTech

I'm thinking of mounting mine more towards the back of my North Point due to clearance of things on my roof, but worry about the slope of the roof. How did you go about having a custom fit wedge made to level your setup?

Good question, not sure how good I am at explaining that. The roof at that point is a compound curve.

I first cut a thin piece of plywood (luan) to match the bottom of the Wineguard and marked on the new cutout with the forward direction and all hole locations from the base of the Wineguard. With the trailer already level, I then placed that cutout on the roof in the place I wanted to mount the Wineguard. I then used a level and wood blocks and wedges to level the new wood baseplate, it should not be closer that .75" at its closest point to the roof. After it was level I marked every 2 inches around the circumference of the wood template. At every mark I measured the distance between the bottom of the leveled template to the roof and wrote that measurement on the template were the measurement was taken. using a Sharpie, I then marked the roof with the outline of the template so I could put it back in the same place later.

At this point I have a wood template with about 20 marks around the circumference with height measurements written next to them. I then cut Styrofoam 2" x 2" x to the length measured at each mark and glued it to the bottom of the template with Styrofoam safe construction adhesive. Repeated until there was a Styrofoam block glued at every measured point. Wait for the glue to dry. I then took the template back on the roof and used a bastard file to shape the choppy square blocks to better fit the slope of the roof, this took a while with many test fits in the marked position on the roof. I wire burned around the circumference to clean up the outside edge of the assembly.

Next I covered the whole assembly with fiber-glass cloth and resin, inside and out, top and bottom. You have to be careful in your selection of resin because some resins will melt Styrofoam. Once the resin dried I sanded it smooth and painted it to match the tan TPO roof. I then re-marked and drilled through the assembly at every mount hole. I measured the thickness of the assembly at every drilled hole to generate a list of bolt lengths needed allowing extra to penetrate the roof by at least 3/4" .

Using an adhesive appropriate for TPO I glued and screwed the dish and subplate to the roof. Later I noticed the sealant in one spot had pushed out and I found it was due to expansion and contraction of air in the sizable void under the plate. I then drilled a semi horizontal hole at a low point and a slight downward angle, I then glued a plastic tube in this hole. THis allows the cavity to breath and since it is at a low point under the dish I will not get a significant accumulation of condensation.

In the end it made a very nice and secure installation, but it was a lot of work. Someone smarter than I could probably find a more simple but suitable method. I was motivated by the stupid and absurd answer I received from the dealer on how they would install it if I hired them to do it.

Hope this helps or at least gives you some ideas for mounting yours. I do recall there being a specification in the mounting instructions that there could not be a gap larger than 3/8" between the Wineguard and the roof before tightening the fasteners.

[Fish]

One more photo from the side. This shows how thick the plate can get at the lowest point of the roof.

[JetTech]

Awesome! Hard work shows in the details of a quality install!

Getting some great info here! Keep it coming!

[seansbass1]

Originally Posted by Rustysocket

We removed the existing coax cable connections from the back of the Sattelite/AUX inputs on the docking station and capped those off (The CABLE input was left intact). The coax was then connected to the SWM splitter. In my coach the AUX side went to the bunk room and the bedroom and had a splitter installed. That splitter was removed and the two cables were connected to the SWM splitter. The Sattleite input side went to the living room and also to another drop in the basement via a splitter. That was removed and those two drops were connected to the SWM splitter. So essentially all four drops now have a direct connection to the SWM splitter. (Sorry if thats confusing). The Cable input on the docking station still goes to the amplifier panel that is used for cable/ota signals

Were the splitters SWM already that were installed at the living room, if so I can just take the drops from the docking station and install those to the splitter that came with the Travler right?

[seansbass1]

Originally Posted by JetTech

Awesome! Hard work shows in the details of a quality install!

Getting some great info here! Keep it coming!

Did you install yours yet? Mine is in the driveway, waiting on the lap sealant to come in tomorrow and I'm wanting to see which side of the bathroom vent you ran your cable. I noticed our vents are different on the 377.

[JetTech]

Not yet unfortunately! My rig has been at the dealer waiting on warranty work! Possibly this weekend!

[My garage]

Looks like a great job I asked about putting one on my new pinnacle they also told me no it will void my warranty have one on motorhome love it that's a glass roof mine probably wii not see one as of today it's still stuck at factory been there since may when Jayco picked it up in az now ready to raise h as you get no replays tried customer asst dept no call backs there last week friends tell me get my money back afraid to go legal as they stop doing anything I was told , then hit facebook or park a truck with sign in front of the place fed up we also had looked at anthem at least now we're not out that huge amount of money

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by seansbass1

Were the splitters SWM already that were installed at the living room, if so I can just take the drops from the docking station and install those to the splitter that came with the Travler right?

Correct, the existing drops were just disconnected from the dock and connected to the SWM splitter.

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by My garage

Looks like a great job I asked about putting one on my new pinnacle they also told me no it will void my warranty have one on motorhome love it that's a glass roof mine probably wii not see one as of today it's still stuck at factory been there since may when Jayco picked it up in az now ready to raise h as you get no replays tried customer asst dept no call backs there last week friends tell me get my money back afraid to go legal as they stop doing anything I was told , then hit facebook or park a truck with sign in front of the place fed up we also had looked at anthem at least now we're not out that huge amount of money

Anybody have a spare decoder ring?

[seansbass1]

Originally Posted by Rustysocket

Correct, the existing drops were just disconnected from the dock and connected to the SWM splitter.

I disconnected only the 'Sat' coax from the dock and connected it to the SWM splitter and left the cable and the Aux connected. I put a DVR in the living room and the bedroom and have nothing at either one. Has anyone got a wiring diagram of these cables to see where and how they are split? The Travler found all three satellites, I changed the settings on the receivers, and nothing. I'm going to disassemble the belly again tomorrow and hook up the aux to the provided SWM splitter as well. Then I guess go buy some new coax cables maybe?

[Rustysocket]

Originally Posted by seansbass1

I disconnected only the 'Sat' coax from the dock and connected it to the SWM splitter and left the cable and the Aux connected. I put a DVR in the living room and the bedroom and have nothing at either one. Has anyone got a wiring diagram of these cables to see where and how they are split? The Travler found all three satellites, I changed the settings on the receivers, and nothing. I'm going to disassemble the belly again tomorrow and hook up the aux to the provided SWM splitter as well. Then I guess go buy some new coax cables maybe?

Sat goes to the living room. Aux goes to the Master Bedroom on my 355.

The guy who did my install used a device like this:

Klein Tools VDV Coaxial Explorer Plus Tester-VDV512-058 - The Home Depot

To map out where all the cables went.