roof load limit

[dee1]

Hi All

I realise this has most likely been done to death, but is there a definitive figure on how much weight I can put on the roof of a D1? The owners manual states a 50kg limit or 30kg for offroad use which I assumed was for the factory fitted roof rails. I want to put a roof top tent on for a planned Simpson trip which will exceed the weight limit before I even consider putting a tent rack on. I only plan on the putting the tent, and possibly a gear back with clothing or bedding, so not a great deal of weight. Any thoughts?

[Discomark]

I've had a rooftop tent and awning on the top of mine for over 10 years with no drama's. Thats with a heavy duty steel tradesman roofrack that must weigh over 30kgs on its own. The only thing to watch for is increased body roll when cornering, I remember it could be quite bad on the stock suspension but when i went with bilstein shocks and heavy duty springs it was fine. No problem crossing the Simpson with the above and extra stuff on top either.

Cheers

[dee1]

Cheers for that. The car has a good suspension setup so I'm not concerned there. The main reason for my concern was seeing a disco at the panel beaters recently that was getting some crack repairs done where the roof meets the A pillars. Apparently it had a roof rack fitted with not much ever carried on it. Wasn't sure if this was a known week spot or just a case of bad luck / overloading

[Discomark]

Could also depend on the type of roof rack I guess. Mine runs the entire length of the gutter so the load is spread evenly rather than at certain points like with a standard Rhino or Thule style rack.

[waltsd]

legal limit is 50kgs. Unless stated elsewhere in the manual or by LRA you would be in trouble with the law and insurance if you were to have a crash!

If someone can find a source that states otherwise, I would love to see it as 50kg is very low. Other cars like pagero are only 75kgs. Unfortunately landcruiser and Patrol have it over for legal load limits.

[SLOWBOAT]

I have a roof top tent & fast verandah on my D1. I looked for a low weight roof rack but the only decent alloy ones were over a $1000 and weighed 22kgs. The steel ones are from 48kgs to nearly 56kgs.
I ended up mounting my rtt and verandah on 4 alloy roof bars (total 9kgs) to keep the weight to a minimum. There is some extra body roll but once you know how it effects your vehicle you just take it a bit easier. Hope this helps with what you want to do.

[dee1]

Cheers guys, now to find something that wont break or cost the earth!

[Fausto79]

i think the 50kg on road limit and 25kg offroad limit only applies to the factory roof rails. that was my understanding. I have a full length aluminium rack which weighs about 35kg and sits along the gutter. i thought this way you could take a lot more weight. the rack is designed for disco 1 and can hold point loads of 100kg on any part of the rack. when i go camping ive loaded it with about 70kg of gear on it with no problems at all.

ill let you know if my roof ever caves in.

[KevG]

I'm not sure either - but the 25kg/50kg off/on rings a bell.

I have a full length steel RTT rack. Weighs a fair bit when we take it on and off... The rack came from one of the mobs that advertise in that magazine and was less than $500, and it seems well made and isnt noisy.

It has an awning on it all of the time, the Ironman RTT a fair bit of the time and some other stuff when we travel. Never had a problem with the roof/gutters doing anything nasty/unexpected.

[Fausto79]

other thing i was thinking with a full length rack which sits on the gutter, those camel trophy d1 had them and had about what looked to be 20 tonnes of gear on top, going ever so slightly offroad as well. so im assuming they did their calculations and that a full length rack and the roof gutter combination can take a fair wack of weight.

[AustralianMade]

Yeah, the Camel Discos had Safety Devices racks and with their great looks as an added bonus, the build quality is second to very few. I've got damaged gutters from my 'Tradesman' rack which I've overloaded very many times.


Not to mention my ability to clear the trails with it.

[Blknight.aus]

I do remember reading somewhere that the limits are for when the vehicle is in motion, when your stationary the limit was up to something like 150kg.

not that it makes much difference, by the time you get the rack and the tent up there in most peoples cases you can have one person sleep up there before you blow out the static weight limit.

that said
I'm not a big fan of roof racks at the best of times, is there a reason you cant tow a small trailer (and given the $1k+ cost of good light weight ally roof racks its not that far off for finance if you look at second hand trailers)

[dee1]

thanks for all the replies. A trailer would be the most obvious solution, but this is for a planned Simpson desert trip, there will only be two of us in the car so I don't have enough gear to fill a trailer, and not keen on dragging one through the dunes. The rack would only carry a roof top tent if we go down that path or a spare wheel and a couple of jerry cans. My interpretation of the weight limits in the owners manual was for the factory fitted roof rails, detail is a big vague otherwise.
Loving this forum, so much info. I'm like a kid in a candy store!