Any experience with RB Components headliner shelf?

Anyone have experience with the headliner shelf made by RB Components? I'm sure I could take the time to build one but this is pre made and appears perfectly cut to size.

I need a big space to store pillows, sheets, clothes, etc and the space above the headliner seems to be a good spot that is wasted.

I've also been trying to figure out how to hang a blackout curtain that I bought for when I don't want to take the time to put up the window covers. This would also reduce the need to cool/heat the front when I'm driving.

http://www.rbcomponents.com/van-pro...an-shelving/sprinter-van-headliner-shelf.html

My primary worry here is banging my head getting into/out of the driver's seat. I'm 6'2"...

600 bucks after shipping? Pretty steep. And is stainless really the right material for a shelf? Functionally and aesthetically failing in my eyes. Does someone sell detailed plans of the sprinter interior dimensions? This is the sort of thing that would be handy for. Sure I can measure but to be able to have templates of some of the curves in here would really make my life easier when fabricating

Thats one pricey shelf.

At some point I was contemplating building a cab overhead shelf but decided against it due to ingress and egress (I am 6’2”) besides having a lot of cargo spaces in the rock & roll bed and the overhead cabinets on both sides. I was also considering a soft cargo-net storage, getting a custom net attached in the front to the visors mounting screws and in the back to the MB rib at the rear edge of the front headliner section. The net angled up toward the rear of the van would eliminate cab accessing issue.

http://www.organizedobie.com/categories/239/Netting-Organization?gclid=CLWwmqeLo8oCFQZsfgodcaIG8g

https://www.usnetting.com/commercial-netting/cargo-netting/?gclid=CNLl6dWLo8oCFcZbfgod1OEAuA

To make net edges stronger you can use interweaved into the net tent poles.
http://www.questoutfitters.com/tent_poles.htm

Oldtownryan said:

And is stainless really the right material for a shelf?

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FWIW, its not even stainless, its 0.100" aluminum. About $100 of aluminum sheet if purchased from onlinemetals.com.

Like @GeorgeRa, I considered this but at 6'3" was also concerned about clearance, and am now intending to do a strap/net/bungie type thing to make some use of the space while leaving the gap between seats open.

Thanks all. I played around with the head clearance and, on balance, I think the pros of the extra storage could outweigh the inconvenience of crouching to get in/out of the driver's compartment.

The materials question also made me think and I am hoping that the lightness of the bedding, etc won't be an issue.

I the end, I wound up ordering one that they will powder coat for me in grey to match my van. Will post pics and how it works out once its installed. Gonna be a few weeks for their next powder coat run and I didn't want to pay extra to get mine done right away.

The van is a constant work in progress as I don't have a complete "master plan" but instead add/subtract things as needed with travel/experience. Without L-track and 80/20, I wouldn't have that option and I am thankful for all of the discussions that informed my decision to go that route.

The cost of the RB shelf was off-putting, but so was the time required to get a decent looking DIY solution in place.

I ended up having a local sheet metal shop craft mine which only cost about $170. I've made the plans available for purchase down below, which also includes the brackets and fasteners.

https://vancillary.com/product/headliner-shelf/

zeidwh said:

Anyone have experience with the headliner shelf made by RB Components? I'm sure I could take the time to build one but this is pre made and appears perfectly cut to size.

I need a big space to store pillows, sheets, clothes, etc and the space above the headliner seems to be a good spot that is wasted.

I've also been trying to figure out how to hang a blackout curtain that I bought for when I don't want to take the time to put up the window covers. This would also reduce the need to cool/heat the front when I'm driving.

http://www.rbcomponents.com/van-pro...an-shelving/sprinter-van-headliner-shelf.html

My primary worry here is banging my head getting into/out of the driver's seat. I'm 6'2"...

Click to expand...

Shelf has curtain rod for blackout and they sell curtain too. Essentially very similar to RB. https://vanwifecomponents.com/product/shelf-headliner-for-sprinter/

Less money than direct from RB and free shipping. Probably not hard to get a coupon code for mass market place like jegs. Direct from RB has stupid high shipping. https://www.jegs.com/p/RB-Components/RB-Components-Sprinter-Van-Headliner-Shelf/5096744/10002/-1


DIY video from Ken at ourkaravan https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ylAL4d-KTG8

seantjacklin said:

The cost of the RB shelf was off-putting, but so was the time required to get a decent looking DIY solution in place.

I ended up having a local sheet metal shop craft mine which only cost about $170. I've made the plans available for purchase down below, which also includes the brackets and fasteners.

https://vancillary.com/product/headliner-shelf/

Click to expand...

Some questions about your design.

What material is used for the shelf?
What material is used for the brackets?
Is the shelf formed (ie, bent) at the front edge and middle "beam" or is the middle beam an extrusion welded to the main panel?

You claim this will cost $170 to be manufactured, but I'm skeptical. A 27x56 .100" sheet of 5052 alloy from Onlinemetals.com is $180 (local pickup, no shipping). The lowest powdercoating quote I could get was $120. Add $90 for your plans/bracket and I'm at $390 and I haven't even inquired with a shop for cutting/forming.

I paid a shop $95 for material and CNC fabrication, combined. I emailed the step drawings to fabricator.

The 2019 van has not arrived; unable to confirm fitment of shelf.

Inertiaman said:

Some questions about your design.

What material is used for the shelf?
What material is used for the brackets?
Is the shelf formed (ie, bent) at the front edge and middle "beam" or is the middle beam an extrusion welded to the main panel?

You claim this will cost $170 to be manufactured, but I'm skeptical. A 27x56 .100" sheet of 5052 alloy from Onlinemetals.com is $180 (local pickup, no shipping). The lowest powdercoating quote I could get was $120. Add $90 for your plans/bracket and I'm at $390 and I haven't even inquired with a shop for cutting/forming.

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Surely one would expect a metal fabricator to get wholesale prices on their materials, no?

Don't overthink this one too much. Start-to-finish instructions are provided on how to get a shelf commissioned, including all specifications, from the provided CAD files.

If it doesn't work out as described, Vancillary will give you your money back.

seantjacklin said:

Surely one would expect a metal fabricator to get wholesale prices on their materials, no?

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Of course. And one would surely expect them to add a margin to that, and charge a retail price to their retail customer.

seantjacklin said:

Don't overthink this one too much. Start-to-finish instructions are provided on how to get a shelf commissioned, including all specifications, from the provided CAD files.

If it doesn't work out as described, Vancillary will give you your money back.

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So asking if your design is aluminum or steel is "overthinking."?? Asking if it requires welding or forming/bending is overthinking?

Some of us here can weld. Or form. Or have leftover sheets of aluminum, but not steel; or steel, but not aluminum. So there are credible reasons for those questions. Why are you so reluctant to answer extremely basic questions, or offer the most basic of descriptions of the nature of your design?

You have time to make a fancy webpage promoting it, but you can't tell people what metal it is based upon?? Even your money-back-guarantee is ambiguous. "if it doesn't work out as described" isn't worth much if you haven't described it. Presumably, if I read you design, and I conclude its not something I want to pursue, then I'm not entitled to my money back? Because I didn't actually commission a shelf??

Seems like it would be a lot simpler to offer a basic description and/or answer the very simple questions I posed.

dynaco1 said:

I paid a shop $95 for material and CNC fabrication, combined. I emailed the step drawings to fabricator.

The 2019 van has not arrived; unable to confirm fitment of shelf.

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What material? And what constitutes "CNC fabrication"??

Normally I would expect CNC to imply some form of milling, which isn't apparent anywhere in the limited photos/descriptions. Are you referencing a CNC cut of the template?

Beyond the cutting of the main shelf, was there additional fabrication via either forming or welding? And was that included in the $95?

I applaud self-starting people who take the initiative and create plans/designs/ideas that others can use. It's what I love most about the Sprinter community.

But as a design engineer, it's a big ask to sell CAD files to the general public and then send them off into the yellow pages to find a capable manufacturing vendor to create a shelf from a CAD file. I've designed dozens of products and many for my own Sprinter, and at the end of the day I bought the RB shelf. It was more cost effective for me and a good balance of cost/benefit, and I also spent my time covering it in marathon fabric so it looks more factory.

You can't build this shelf for $95 out of powder coated aluminum unless the shop is giving away the labor or the material (or both). $95 will barely buy you a nice dinner these days, so I highly doubt that you could find a shop to laser cut the pattern, brake bend the sheet, and then powder coat the finished shelf for anything less than $250... and you'd be lucky to get that. Aluminum itself has doubled in price where (as others have mentioned) the cost for the material alone is going to be over $100.

A better solution would be to provide the CAD files along with a list of vendors throughout the US who have "opted in" and have been vetted by the author for capability and cost. That would be a solid product. Trusting that the average Joe has any idea of what to do with a DXF or IGES file is not a good way to go, and likely recipe for frustrated customers and frustrated vendors.

I made an overhead shelf for my low roof T1N out of scrap pegboard, a piece of aluminum storm door framing, cardboard, thread, a little scrap of plexiglass, some foam, and vinyl. It took most of an afternoon to cut out and assemble and my cost was in the neighborhood of $30. The shelf’s 12” deep in the middle. I’m 6’ tall and have about 4” clearance when seated, although I do bump it every time I go from the front to the back. It’s super handy, I’d highly recommend an overhead cab shelf, pretty much regardless of who makes it

Montucky said:

Aluminum itself has doubled in price where (as others have mentioned) the cost for the material alone is going to be over $100.

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Aluminum prices have changed very little on the west coast. The Industrial Metal Supply chain is charging $3.79/lb for aluminum in just about any shape including pre-cut or custom cut sheets. This headliner weighs less than 15lbs if made from 0.100” aluminum. So around $50-60 for the aluminum sheet.

I chose to make my headliner out of 1/2 prefinished Baltic ply. Pattern courtesy of @SprinterPaul. I covered it with some leftover 1/8” landau foam and black Pleather (hide of the Nauga) to match my Pleather OEM seats. Covered support brackets with scrap headliner fabric and put a large radius on the leading edge to minimize any head bumps. Total cost of less than $50.















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gltrimble said:

Aluminum prices have changed very little on the west coast. The Industrial Metal Supply chain is charging $3.79/lb for aluminum in just about any shape including pre-cut or custom cut sheets. This headliner weighs less than 15lbs if made from 0.100” aluminum. So around $50-60 for the aluminum sheet.

I chose to make my headliner out of 1/2 prefinished Baltic ply. Pattern courtesy of @SprinterPaul. I covered it with some leftover 1/8” landau foam and black Pleather (hide of the Nauga) to match my Pleather OEM seats. Covered support brackets with scrap headliner fabric and put a large radius on the leading edge to minimize any head bumps. Total cost of less than $50.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I wish aluminum prices stayed the same here in MT. Case in point - I paid $24 for a 21' stick of 1"x1"x0.125" 6061 aluminum a few months ago and today I bough 3 more and they were $55 each. Hence my "more than double comment".

But if somebody can get that shelf for a hundred bucks, order a few! Onlinemetals is pricing a 36"x48" sheet of 5052 material for $116.

Montucky said:

Onlinemetals is pricing a 36"x48" sheet of 5052 material for $116.

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And note that is 48". Since the raw sheet is 48" wide, their price change is disproportionate (higher per sq ft) if you exceed that dimension, aka want to really duplicate the RB Comp shelf at 58". Hence my reference to $180 earlier in the thread ($162 + tax).

If one entirely avoids forming by using 1.5x1.5 angle at the front and some shallow channel at the mid-sheet (and therefore using 6061 rather than 5052), I could see one reaching lower raw materials cost and lower fab costs (just some CAD driven cutting). But that's a less elegant product than the RB shelf. And still won't save much money unless you can find cheap backyard/craigslist powdercoating (which I've embraced for smaller things, but typically their ovens can't handle a sheet this size), do the cutting yourself, etc.

I'd simply like to have an accurate sense of what I'm gaining/losing in one scenario versus the other. But hard to do that w/ the ambiguous description for the CAD solution.

Montucky said:

I wish aluminum prices stayed the same here in MT. Case in point - I paid $24 for a 21' stick of 1"x1"x0.125" 6061 aluminum a few months ago and today I bough 3 more and they were $55 each. Hence my "more than double comment".

Click to expand...

I'm definitely seeing higher prices here in Seattle. Comparing current prices to my receipts from 2015 when I did several projects, prices are about 75% higher for the same product at same dealer.

Although I think your *double* experience was partly due to an exceptionally good price on the $24 purchase! I was paying more than that for 21x1x1x.125 back in 2015

Inertiaman said:

And note that is 48". Since the raw sheet is 48" wide, their price change is disproportionate (higher per sq ft) if you exceed that dimension, aka want to really duplicate the RB Comp shelf at 58". Hence my reference to $180 earlier in the thread ($162 + tax).

If one entirely avoids forming by using 1.5x1.5 angle at the front and some shallow channel at the mid-sheet (and therefore using 6061 rather than 5052), I could see one reaching lower raw materials cost and lower fab costs (just some CAD driven cutting). But that's a less elegant product than the RB shelf. And still won't save much money unless you can find cheap backyard/craigslist powdercoating (which I've embraced for smaller things, but typically their ovens can't handle a sheet this size), do the cutting yourself, etc.

I'd simply like to have an accurate sense of what I'm gaining/losing in one scenario versus the other. But hard to do that w/ the ambiguous description for the CAD solution.

Click to expand...

Jegs sells one version of the Rb shelf....they ship free. They always have a coupon code, etc.


https://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/sto...fPGMLz0dMeKgEabO4=&ddkey=https:OrderCalculate