Originally Posted by
Mercguy
Here are some thoughts to consider from another persons perspective:
The reason I posted the link was because I did a hell of a lot of research on what was out there (3 years ago) and the melbournian tradesman rack is still THE rack I'd buy.
There are only two negatives.
1. price. It's not the cheapest - BUT I am absolutely a believer that you do get what you pay for (and I should have listened to my own advice and thoughts from the get-go)
2. many options. You can get the rack custom made. I do actually suggest you do this. Mesh floor, low sides and or only a half forward side setup, so you can fit your flip-out Roof top tent setup (if that is the style you're seeking, not the popup type)
1. front bar light - easy.
2. side awning fixed mounts or a batwing style - easy.
3. shovel mounts - accessory available but I'm not a fan of the fixing method.
4. mesh floor - yes, absolutely.
5. extra low HD mounting legs - keep your CofG low as you can, every bit makes a difference, but don't make it impossible to wash the roof without taking it off. (hint - there are some awesome household microfibre cleaning products - like furniture duster/blind cleaners which work awesomely for cleaning under semi-permanently attached roof racks).
6. mounts for rear lights / side lights / reversing camera etc. you can simply request for tabs to be welded to the floor area or between the siderail and base rail, depending on what you like. holes in the tubes can be pre-drilled before powdercoating so you can run your wiring through the rack and avoid cableties etc.
All of this obviously makes the unit more expensive, but you can discuss with them and obviously work out a price.
When I originally enquired, they were asking a tidy sum. about 1500 from memory for all the custom bits on a heavy duty mesh floor setup with extra legs (4).
Then by the fickle finger of fate, an alloy rack for a disco 1 came up on FB literally 20km from me, and I went to see the owner, bought it on the spot for 450 bucks.
In hindsight I was foolish to think I was saving over a grand.... but I also knew I could customize it to my liking and not worry about 'ruining' a brand new powdercoated finish....
Knowing I'd have to cut down the D1 mounting legs to get it how I wanted, I brought it home and set about doing so. Soon discovered it had some quite nasty cracks in the mounting plates on the side of the rack, and set about fixing them - There's no way the owner would have noticed them, because of the weld location and the potential for disaster was only a matter of time if they had kept using it. (hint people - INSPECT your roofrack thoroughly and regularly - at least do it before you load it for a trip)
Alloy is like that - if it is not welded correctly it will immediately form stress risers in the end of the weld puddle that cracks WILL propogate from. Now, if you're going remote or heavily outback, I would absolutely recommend an alloy rack for weight saving, but for robustness, steel IS the way to go, despite the weight penalty. Steel can easily be repaired on the track with a welding rod and a pair of jumper leads - and really get you out of a serious bind if you're "one of those" people who overloaded your rack or you've bought someone elses problems and unbeknown to you that rack has been severely punished in a previous life.
This is a reason I'd never recommend anyone buy a used alloy rack unless they have a tig welder and the necessary skills to properly weld aluminium alloys.
It's OK for me to say this because I have the tools and skills to fix the issues I found, but imagine the poor bloke who thought he was getting a bargain, and ending up with an unusable piece of scrap metal which would cost almost as much to fix in total than a brand new high quality aussie made rack.
I really suggest you forget your frontrunners etc. these modular bolt-together ikea POS is absolutely just that.... bolt together ****. It's only as strong as the fasteners and has no real rigidity until it is completely under tension. Certainly it is not going to withstand the same stress levels longterm as a properly manufactured welded hoop design.
Nearly every "kit assembly" roofrack I have seen has been poorly assembled - either by the agent or the owner, with the fasteners not correctly torqued, no threadlock applied to the threads and no corrosion protection applied to the contact areas of dissimilar metals (e.g. under countersunk heads of socket screws).
The designs with slide-in locating/locking joins are also a salt-corrosion sponge waiting to happen. Every mating face becomes a friction wear surface when under tension and then held in tension with the vehicles natural 'flex' creating a push-pull on every single fastened join, which in a coastal environment will simply accelerate any corrosive action. If you wash your vehicle with say CT-14 and a pressure washer..... look out for accelerated oxidation.
When bare alloy ends of anodized extrusion will corrode within weeks just laying about, what hope does a bolt together rack have, when the joins are subject to tension and friction? The worst part is that one day it will simply fail, either from friction wear of the perpendicular loading or because the fasteners which are not sufficiently protected from galvanic corrosion (passivated zinc HT steel fasteners vs alloy in direct contact) are completely hidden from your view - and let's face it.... how many owners are going to dismantle the rack once a year to check on the state of all those points of contact???
Modular racks are Great idea from a flat-pack shipping warehouse space saving perspective, and that is about it.
You can be baffled with BS about all the T-slot accessories that a particular system offers, but a roofrack is not a bridgeport milling table. It doesn't have any real strength or mass in it's anodized structure to "safely" retain a shifting load like say... a 35" tyre mounted on a rim ( classic example of some numpty putting a huge mass on the roof and retain it on one t-slot fixing through the centre).
Don't get me started on tensile strength versus fatigue strength. If you understand the merits of these properties, you're already buying a steel rack.
The relative merits of stiffness versus weight versus structural rigidity versus the mounting are more or less all points of contention with regards to an RRC.
The fact remains that you have a bailey channel mount, which has it's own inherent weakness, and most roof rack designs whether modular-bolt-together or hoop welded will far exceed the maximum rated load bearing for the roof structure AND the load handling of the bailey channel.
So, back to square one. How do we ensure that the load is evenly distributed? well we have to increase the surface area contact between the rack and the bailey channel for a start.
Ever noticed why there are an increasingly larger number of Defenders with full-length bailey channel mounts? (hint load spreading)
To do this on an RRC requires a bit of effort, but can be achieved without too much stress. All it requires is a level plane reference point (i.e. roofrack) to be placed on the roof, and a reference template made for each side - the straight side mount to the reference plane and the curve to match the bailey channel. A suitable piece of material then cut and fitted to match each side. Weld in-situ with appropriate methods and protection (from heat) and then use an appropriate fastening method from the new 'legs' to the bailey channel.
I can give you a hint: it's not a one-man job, although you can try - but certainly it is far easier with at least an extra pair of hands.
Heck, it's all horses for courses - if you have the skills to pay the bills, then absolutely use them and save yourself some money - or in my particular case, save oneself from haemorraging further cash because the rack you thought was a huge saving ended up costing you more in time and effort to fix.
In this instance, the only rack which I can say would meet my expectations for robustness and quality is the tradesman - and believe me, I should have bought it, because I did spend the balance on my custom modified 'bargain' s/h unit...
FWIW, sandblasting and powdercoating an alloy rack is about ⅓ the cost of a new one. So yes, buy new - it absolutely makes sense in the longterm. You also will not find a used tradesman rack second hand for cheap- because they are the ducks.
The Hannibal rack is probably my second favourite, but it's more expensive again and less practical than the tradesman. Also not customizeable beyond accessory mounts which are bolt-on.
My only suggestion is not be frugal, or purchase someone elses used goods - especially an alloy one. Take my experience as the potential worst-case scenario.
If you're going to put a RTT on, then you would absolutely want a brand new unit and the ability to customize the tradesman rack to fit a RTT and still retain the useage of a front section with 'sides' means you're going to make your life simpler from the get go, and once again, you're not repeatedly pulling out the tig to make modifications to your rack.
Just some thoughts for anyone wanting a roof rack to consider. I'm using the tradesman as the "example" here, but equally you may find someone local who can fabricate you a custom rack in steel or alloy for a price you can palette. Just make sure there is sufficient anchoring along the bailey channel, and ensure you do not overload your rack.
The RRC roof is a flimsy pressed panel bolted to a perimeter frame, so do not think for one second that you are increasing the strength. You're adding mass to the top of the vehicle, therefore there is absolutely no benefit other than the ability to carry cargo outside of the vehicle... something you could just as easily do with a trailer... This is worth serious contemplation.
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