imp

Realized finally, my days of hefting transmissions, differentials, welding pipes, etc., working on my back under a vehicle are practically over. A car lift has become mandatory if I am not going to drop out, sit in a rocking chair, and die.

So, having 96" floor-to-truss height in my shop, I needed a "hole" in which to fit the upper part of a car body. Looking at my '94 GT, I realized it's roof height is < 5', so a 10' clearance would give > 5' undercar clearance. Perfect.

So, FWIW, here's how I did it. 2X8 Douglas Fir rafters nailed to the existing truss upper chords, wall end notched and resting on top plates. 2X8 DF joists, horizontally spanning to rafters at 120" above floor line. First, here is the type of truss involved:


http://www.scstruss.com/blog/wp-cont.../FinkTruss.jpg


Here is a view of the rafter/joist combination:



Another view:




My Explorer, which will NOT raise up 5 feet, showing remaining front section of roof. I removed a total of four trusses, giving a lineal frontto rear distance of 10 feet in the "hole".



I fastened a 2X10 x 60" web at the top juncture of each rafter pair, as added assurance of load carrying capacity at the peak:


My purpose here is to illustrate a means of carrying out this change. It should not be attempted by blindly following my illustrations. FWIW, I measured the actual floor to new joist height before and after cutting the truss' lower cord in two. The roof height did not change (decrease) measurably, using a steel measuring tape. imp