Marine grade all weather material roof Tent

Clear front window with zip over cover

Mesh side vents with zip over covers

Stainless steel hinges

Seamless surface (no fastening points catches through the fibreglass shell)

Heat resistant resin

Honeycomb plastic core

Single piece rubber seal

Powder coated struts with metal ball joints/brackets

Stainless steel fasteners

Aluminium trim profile

Galvanised and powder coated framework

Low profile wind deflector

Moisture resistant lightweight plywood (bed Kit)

Integrated light wiring

Free gel coat colour coding (selected colours only)

Elegant ribbed pattern shell

Low profile/slim-line roof

Contoured to vehicle

No visible fastenings

Simple operation

Aerodynamic shape

All products are manufactured in-house at our suppliers factory in North Yorkshire, from raw material to finished product they control the whole process so we can make sure everything is to our exacting standard.

With spot checks at all stages of production our suppliers quality management system ensures everything that leaves their factory exactly as it should..

Austop roofs T5 and T6 roofs are fully TUV tested, this testing is done at the TUV Rheinland testing facility in cologne and ensures that the roof fitment process does not alter the vehicle in a way that would make it unsafe. This is the only test available that is specifically designed to test the impact of elevating roof fitment on the vehicle, products tested in this manner will always show the TUV kitemark on any certification.

The assessment of the impact of a roof cut-out on the vehicle structure is a multi stage process:

First the strengthening frame must conform to pre-existing parameters.

Then the donor vehicle is tested prior to any alteration to gather data for comparison.

This data is gathered using experimental stress analysis using strain gauges placed in the vehicle.

The test is done with maximum permissible masses in the vehicle which is driven through a series of driving manoeuvres multiple times, these manoeuvres are outlined by Road Traffic Licensing Regulation.

The process is then repeated after roof fitment and data compared.

Provided data is within the allowed boundaries the roof is considered a passed product and can then be associated with the TUV kitemark.

Austop roofs are ISO9001 certified. This standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement.

The ISO 9000 family addresses various aspects of quality management and contains some of ISO’s best known standards. The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organisations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customer’s requirements, and that quality is consistently improved.

TUV Fully Approved...what is it?

Now Skyline Roofs have this status, a lot of their customers are asking what this actually is, so I thought a little post about what it took to get this approval and the basic's around the testing! 

So to start off with Skyline will point out that the UK do not require this test to fit pop tops roof's, in fact the UK do not require any testing of these Poptop roofs to fit to van's, the rest of Europe does require TUV or similar, depending which country. 

Skyline feel strongly about the safety and ensuring that this is 100%, at the end of the day you are cutting out a huge hole and a huge amount of structural support from the van which Volkswagen designed into the vehicle which had to pass safety testing to be able to produce and sell them.

A large part of the testing for TUV Approval is around this structure and comes in the form of two tests, a Pull test ( referred to as a M1 test in the UK ) this is a test which pull's the seat belt points from the front seats in a forward motion and it measures how far the front of the roof with the poptop structure installed forward. 

This test is a valid test but only testing the forward pull which is only one movement as such. 

The next test is the Torsion test, this is done in Germany, we had to supply the TUV test centre with a donor van, they install 10s of sensors from the underside up to the roof section and then drive it around a set course, this now measures how much the body of the van moves, how stiff or flexible it is ie torsion testing. 

Skyline then had the van back and we installed a roof frame system and the poptop roof. 

This van was then driven around the exact set course and the results will give us if we have a frame/roof strong enough for it to be the same as Volkswagen produced it, i.e putting the strength back into the vehicle body that you have cut/removed and on the other hand not putting too much back in to make the body too stiff! 

The end result will show that Skyline have not taken the strength out of the body when our frame is installed again, therefore as safe as it was when Volkswagen designed it.

Another couple of test's where to check that the fibre glass we use is burn resistant to a point and that it won't splinter over a point, these are two areas we had to design into our roof's to pass, so again safety at the heart of the design.

To achieve TUV Fully Approved the company is also required to achieve ISO9001 this is basically quality control and also focuses on customers and service. It ensures the product will be the same as the tested product and to the same quality.

So if you are planning to have a poptop fitted I would ask yourself the question is it worth putting on a Skyline with this extensive testing!

There are cheaper roofs in the UK with no testing at all and some with M1 testing at around the same price mark, the average campervan costs between £30k - £50k, for a few hundred pounds extra is it not worth it?

Then don't forget this is not all you are getting,  Skyline caps are not hand layered fibre glass which will not give the strength, we vacuum mould into a honey comb structure, this gives us our extra strength, stainless steal high lift hinges, 3D CNC moulded the list goes on.