Thread: D2 + Rhino Heavy Duty bars & legs

Thanks Roger, and everyone else who was able to offer up the requested info and pictures.

After getting all my ducks in a row, I ended up going with the RL210 legs (and 2x 10mm spacers per leg), and re-radiused them to suite the roofs curvature. It all came together really well ! 1.8m between front & back bars.

Overall, I can JUST squeeze in under 2.0m if I had to (about 1.99m to top edge of Foxwing + the extra bit the bag ends stick up) ... so we're under 2.1m for carparks ... happy wife, happy life (with room for a 50mm lift in the future and room for a flat tray on he bars), and easily clear my 2.16m in the driveway .... and I get a minimum 1,8m under the Foxwing at the passengers side, with an extra 50mm available by engaging the SLS to offroad height. Don'tcha just love it when a plan comes together ?

Got the Rhino racks from Roof Rack City, Castle Hill, as refurbished items. 6x legs & 3x Bars (1650mm) cost me $360. Wanted black bars but only silver available ... so be it! ... plus an extra $140 for delivery, a second Foxwing mounting kit, extra spacers, longer bolts, etc, etc, etc .... $500 all up. The bars and legs as you'll see in the photo's look new.

So, here's a few pics of the final product .... phase 1 .... the racks and awning will be moved inboard about 3"/75mm so the Foxwing hugs the roof closer, and I'll trim the bars down for phase 2 .... after I've worked out the roof bag & the flat roof tray setup we want to use. Have to fit an Oztent RV-5 up there as well, and I'll need a 1/2 or full width tray of round 2.1m to span the bars. Can't shrink the leg spacings as the Oztent is 2.0m when packed.





At this height with 2x 10mm spacers, the bars will just fit over the roof rails at the B pillar.





The ends of the Foxwing HD brackets will come in to meet the spacers ontop of the legs.











Here's a point for future reference .... you cannot get a spanner onto the bolt that holds the bars to the legs once it's mounted on the roof, as the bolt head sits too close to the roof, and the legs alongside the bolt are to narrow to get any swing with a spanner .... I even tried a ratcheting ring spanner ... nope! AND the back of the roof rails interfere even more with access to this bolt.



And there you have it ! It's extremley sturdy (especially since all the bars are tied together with the Foxwing). Now to find a flat roof tray / mesh platform that will cover all 3 bars.

It all looks easy, but it actually took ages to get it all sized, measured and mounted. To move the rails across, I'll have to dismount the whole assy as there's no access to those 4x back leg bar bolts ... going to look at a lift mech' under the driveway roof so I can undo the 6 legs and lift the whole lot off in 1 go.

Edit ..... I forgot to mention .... so far, at speeds up to 120km/hr, with Foxwing mounted, or not, there is absolutley NO wind noise from the HD bars (even with the end caps not fitted to the bar ends) ... and that's been confirmed by swmbo so you can believe it's true! The front bar is roughly centred between the A & B pillars. I'm really happy about that! No noise!!!

Mal. You're welcome.

It's imperitive that you use the poles & ropes ALL the time. It wouldn't take too much breeze to get under the awning and turn it into a bag of cats! If it was deathly still with NO wind, it would just open out and stay put, but that seems to put alot of force on the hinge assy with 8ft spars hanging out off the hinge.

My Foxwing photo's show 4x poles & 4x ropes ... but look at the shots with the Oztenet attached ... 4x poles & 8x ropes (an extra rope in between each pole). These get added for heavier winds &/or rain to assist with proper run-off. It's quiet stable with just 4x poles & ropes, and solid as a rock with 8x ropes.

Setup time, whilst I didn't time it, isn't very long. Open the poles & ropes/pegs bag. Drop a pole/peg/rope at approx' the 4x pole locations around the vehicle. Unzip the Foxwing cover. Unclip the 4x spars. Walk the awning out around the back of the vehicle and clip the tension strap to your roof rack on the drivers side. Setup 4x poles, ropes & pegs ... 3-4min maybe ? Not very long.

In heavier winds, it takes 2x people. 1 to setup poles/ropes/pegs whilst person 2 holds all the spars/awning material to prevent the wind getting hold of it. I did it in heavier wind single handed using a hockey strap to keep the spars bundled while I put each pole/rope/peg in (with ropes run 45deg out of alignment to keep the awning tensioned until the final spar is tensioned to the vehicle ... then go back and re-set the ropes to be inline with the spars). Maybe 5-6min ?