OPINIONS ON ROOF RACK VS NO ROOF RACK?

[voltron]

I took my Windcheetah roof rack off today because the 110 is going into the paint shop to get the roof resprayed under warranty. The roof rack supports, a large LED light bar,4 single led lights at each corner, Supa Peg Supawing Awning and a alloy table & 2 chairs all the time. I took the car for a drive and noticed immediately how the dynamics of the vehicles CoG changes. Even though it isn't a lot of weight on the roof to what some people carry, but obviously significant to notice an impact.

This I felt swayed me more towards buying a camper trailer, because I realised just how much impact that little weight has on the vehicle when driving on average to poor roads. It's hard to explain what I mean but if the road slightly leans, then the cars lean is exaggerated by the weight on the roof, how much is dependant on how much weight you are carrying I guess. I never really noticed it before but it's most probably because you just get used to it. Sometimes it makes me feel uncomforatble and I adjust my speed accordingly, but at the same time I usually do the speed limit or 10km's under.

I actually think I will enjoy the car on windey rough roads more when driving with zero weight on the roof. Because after a long drive, 3-4hrs it can wear me down and I feel the need to pull over more regularly.

Im doing a trip with the family to Alice Springs in a few weeks and was just chasing peoples thoughts on this. Is it in my head? Or is it that as I get tired I become more sensitive to the vehicles unrefined nature.

Cheers

[Toxic_Avenger]

I put all the recovery gear on my roof racks,
I do notice it a bit more with additional body roll with an extra 50kg up there.
If you are touring, (especially up to Alice), then I'd think the space you gain would be a bigger benefit than losing entry speed into corners. I guess its up to you whether a camper trailer is fit for task given your preferred method of travel.

IMO, driving 'slow and steady' is half the fun of a landy. In my case, I've got other cars to drive if I want to hit the apex at 100km/h on a mountain road. Point is, you cant make a defender 'everything' you want in a car (race car, offroad tourer, trophy truck, mud bogger).

Have you considered changing suspension setup to dial in the handling issues you are experiencing?

[weeds]

My old setup rack and fully loaded came in at 200kg

Have a front runner wind cheater and camper trailer ...... Still have wind cheater, shovel, RV4, event 14 and surf ski when we holiday up the beach or on one of the islands.

Everybody does their own thing...it's whatever you are comfortable with I reckon

[n plus one]

I took my Windcheetah roof rack off today because the 110 is going into the paint shop to get the roof resprayed under warranty. The roof rack supports, a large LED light bar,4 single led lights at each corner, Supa Peg Supawing Awning and a alloy table & 2 chairs all the time. I took the car for a drive and noticed immediately how the dynamics of the vehicles CoG changes. Even though it isn't a lot of weight on the roof to what some people carry, but obviously significant to notice an impact.

This I felt swayed me more towards buying a camper trailer, because I realised just how much impact that little weight has on the vehicle when driving on average to poor roads. It's hard to explain what I mean but if the road slightly leans, then the cars lean is exaggerated by the weight on the roof, how much is dependant on how much weight you are carrying I guess. I never really noticed it before but it's most probably because you just get used to it. Sometimes it makes me feel uncomforatble and I adjust my speed accordingly, but at the same time I usually do the speed limit or 10km's under.

I actually think I will enjoy the car on windey rough roads more when driving with zero weight on the roof. Because after a long drive, 3-4hrs it can wear me down and I feel the need to pull over more regularly.

Im doing a trip with the family to Alice Springs in a few weeks and was just chasing peoples thoughts on this. Is it in my head? Or is it that as I get tired I become more sensitive to the vehicles unrefined nature.

Cheers

Roof weight makes a big difference to a Deefer's body roll and handling dynamics - I pulled my roof rack and noticed the same as you re cornering.

That said, if you need to carry a large load you're handling is going to suffer to some degree (be it with some of the stuff on your roof or towing a trailer).

[voltron]

IMO, driving 'slow and steady' is half the fun of a landy. In my case, I've got other cars to drive if I want to hit the apex at 100km/h on a mountain road. Point is, you cant make a defender 'everything' you want in a car (race car, offroad tourer, trophy truck, mud bogger).

Have you considered changing suspension setup to dial in the handling issues you are experiencing?

I guess your right in that a decision has to be made about what you want out of the truck. I can handle the speed issue, and I realise pushing the Defender beyond its capability does make me more frustrated with it. I have changed to Bilstein shocks which have helped with ride comfort greatly as well as body roll.

I think I will always be trying to get the most out of it, until I find its limits and then pull back a couple of notches as a compromise. Been doing that since I bought it and will probably be doing so till I dont :D

[voltron]

That said, if you need to carry a large load you're handling is going to suffer to some degree (be it with some of the stuff on your roof or towing a trailer).

Absolutely and it was these 2 points which made me think, maybe I need something bigger like the Iveco 4x4 Daily. Then the budget master slapped me in the face. ;)

[steane]

Just back from a trip to Alice on the bitumen then down and across the Simpson and back down the Birdsville tk.

I run 180lb springs in the front and 290lb in the rear, so fairly soft. I also have Koni Raids which I installed without any adjustment to their from the factory setting. By the time I hit the 12th sandhill in the Simpson id pulled the shocks out and adjusted to max rebound. The difference was amazing both on and off road. Handles corrugations really well, handles at speed significantly better and has a lot less body roll. Also stopped bottoming out on the scalloped dunes.:D

A couple of sleepers on the roof made no discernable difference to handling, but its not a sports performance machine so when I say that, I wasn't bouncing off of kerbs trying to get the tightest racing line.

Guess what im saying is that getting the suspension right is a big part of being happy with your defender, or any vehicle really. Can take a bit of stuffing around and even then you find out it could be a lot better than what you have been running.

[BilboBoggles]

One thing with roof racks on a Defender, all that weight is concentrated onto the front wind screen frame, and the rear corners of the tub. There really is not that much of anything holding a Defender roof on. At the front there is literally a few self tapper screws!. I've seen a couple of year old PUMA that had crushed the rear body down onto the chassis by running an overly heavy roof rack on corrugations. I've had the roof on a older TD5 Defender come loose just from a few corrugations on our driveway.

[AndyG]

From memory the manufacturers limit is quite modest, ? ,

I suppose there are two considerations:
Structural integrity and raising the COG, increasing the potential for a rollover.
Comfort is a distant third to me.

From my limited boating experience COG has become very important to me, and the principal is the same, so no front winch mounted and spare fuel and water in the wheel arches. So they should counter balance any light bulky stuff up top.

[weeds]

My old setup rack and fully loaded came in at 200kg

Have a front runner wind cheater and camper trailer ...... Still have wind cheater, shovel, RV4, event 14 and surf ski when we holiday up the beach or on one of the islands.

Everybody does their own thing...it's whatever you are comfortable with I reckon

umm, re-reading my post I must have been half asleep last night

when I crossed the simpson my roof rack weight was >200kg, I did have poly airs in the rear spring and now thinking back I reckon having 15-20 psi in them made the truck steer alright. I was mindful of the weight on top

the home made steel rack (120kg) has been ditched and now run a windcheetah which still gets loaded up for beach trips which is mentioned above. the other change is I am running stiffer front springs and the air were ditched from the rear and now have slightly stiffer springs in the rear as well. I am about to up the springs in the rear a little more.

I guess I might be used to body roll coming from a 2 door rangie.......I now my wife feels the car rolls around to much and tends to drive a bit slower than I

I guess it comes down to how much gear you need for alice......one thing is its not a windy road. If you can do without the lights and awning for the trip than I guess leave it off.

if you are leaving in a few weeks than that doesn't leave much time to find a camper trailer.

[clive22]

Hi


I've never liked 'em much. Which was why a got a 130 (w/out racks) when I needed more space.

The weight in the wrong place, handling, extra fuel to push through air , risk of theft of gear, damage from trees overhead, water ingress into bedding, difficult to access. If you've got a choice no thanks, but if that what you've got that what you've got

What about stiffer spings - really the only way to control the weight (assuming its well packed). Easy to change and in context of modifications to landies quite cheap for the results and if your shocks cant handle it then they needed changing anyway.

For outback touring the 130 lwb truck, well for me, beat either a 110 with rack or towing a camper. Since getting mine I'm a convert.


Clive

[Iain_B]

I had problems with my OEM roof rack with about 100kg load up top, the roof moved such that the front doors would be banging on the A pillar over corrugations going to Cape York, the roof had be reset under warranty when we got back, the advantages of fitting an OEM rack on a new car.

I now have a full SD roll cage / Roof rack support, and that makes a big difference, had over 200kg of tent, gear, outboard, gas bottles etc on top for 20,000km. It took a bit of getting used to at first. When we added 75 litres of diesel for the Anne Beadell highway, that also made a noticeable difference to the handling, but again it was just and hour of so and I was used to it. I transferred fuel down into the tank at each break to minimise the load.

The SD cage made a huge difference to the rigidity, and highly recommend it for a touring set up.

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