Roof load

**RobA** · 7th March 2017, 07:55 AM

OK having averaged one crossing a year for 17 years a few things to think about

only fill the JC at Birdsville or Oodnadatta so they are empty until the start of the crossing
we put our JC on the roof in heavy duty black plastic food tubs no cheapie they will not last and use decent ratchet straps to tie them down
use the fuel on the roof first and drop a JC in every day
as a planning figure for consumption add 20% if you are an experienced sand driver and >25% if you have never driven the Simpson before
we can do Oodnadatta to Birdsville on around 130l in a Prado and I reckon the D4 would actually use less. But we do have a reasonable amount of experience driving those 1100 dunes and take a much slower approach with relatively lower tyre pressures than most of the folk who spend more time digging up the track and doing recoveries
we have never gone past 19l per 100km and that was towing
if you are going straight across the French Line that is 660km to Dalhousie from Birdsville. But this is certainly the roughest way to go in either direction
keep it light. only take what you really need but remember you are going to need at least 40l of water for the crossing so weight will always be your enemy
diesel fuel inside is fine. Agree with the comments regarding plastic, good quality, JC but put them in a tub JIC
removing the seats behind the driver gives you a huge amount of room
we have a custom made sliding tray in the rear and I have attached a pic. This, for us at least, is the perfect solution
do a sand driving course if you have not had any practice sand driving. It won't make you an expert only time and experience does that but at least you will begin to get a feel for how to drive the car

Kimberley roof basket setup.jpg Tray-empty-open.jpg Tray-LHS-SpaceCase&JC.jpg

**SimmAus** · 7th March 2017, 09:26 PM

Lots of sound advice here.
My experience: Birdsville to Mt Dare - 92L diesel is needed (16L per 100kms)..we did a bit of a longer trek not the straight French line.
Take 3 jerries..as others have said just in case.
Weight on roof should be limited.
Empty jerries as you go to lessen load on roof or risk of smelly car if they leak
Most of all...enjoy the trip.

**Declan** · 8th March 2017, 09:54 AM

RobA
Your custom made sliding tray is excellent, could you tell us where you had it made ? and what weight it can hold, it looks like a fair bit off weight by your picture, and if you don't mind what $ did it cost so I have an idea up here in QLD.

**RobA** · 8th March 2017, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Declan

RobA
Your custom made sliding tray is excellent, could you tell us where you had it made ? and what weight it can hold, it looks like a fair bit off weight by your picture, and if you don't mind what $ did it cost so I have an idea up here in QLD.

Declan hello. The tray was designed by me and made by Paul at Trek Tech. it uses the tie-down bolts, Paul supplies longer SS versions to hold it in. This makes it a very simple process to remove if you really want to. The sliders are 285kgs each side so not cheap. We used it hard on our 4 month trip through the Kimberley last year and I estimate it had around 200kg on it. But fully extended it does not flex or move at all we made it to be bullet proof and it is for sure. We set it up as a flat tray and use nutserts with tie downs to configure it anyway you like. Makes for an incredibly robust and flexible setup. I am wrapped after 20 years of faffing around with drawers which are heavy, immovable so you always carry the weight even if it is down to the shops and removes the flexibility of the cargo area.

Removal of the third row of seats opens up a huge area where we store all our recovery and tyre repair gear. If you go down to the "follow me" section on the forum and find my blog on our Kimberley trip you will get an idea of things with some more information as well

As well it is setup so you are easily able to access the spare wheel winder with no problems and as you can now appreciate the slide out design also means you don't have to empty the back of the car to get to the winder.

Simples?

I reckon it will cost around $1600 delivered but you need to call Paul and have a chat. Just tell him you want the same thing he built for Rob's D4

Rob

**~Rich~** · 9th March 2017, 09:09 AM

My mate made custom runners for his total roll out kitchen!

Works great too.
Gas stove all hooked up ready for gas to be turned on.

**weeds** · 9th March 2017, 09:55 AM

The OP hasn't mentioned Mt Dare therefore may be doing a double crossing without refueling at Mt Dare?? Or

He might not be going straight across.

I had close to 200kg on my roof rack when I crossed....didn't realize until after the trip how heavy the roof rack was that the previous owner built.

Johnno_p · 9th March 2017, 10:44 AM

Rhino state to allow a factor of 1.5 when going off road. So a 75kg rating drops to a 50kg rating less the weight of the actual racks themselves.
You'll possibly already be over this with a rooftop tent and spare wheel and tyre.

**ozscott** · 11th March 2017, 12:29 AM

Yep but honestly forget Rhino because the handbook is where it's at. Cheers

**weeds** · 11th March 2017, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by ozscott

Yep but honestly forget Rhino because the handbook is where it's at. Cheers

Surely the manufacturer stating the design limitation of there product is important..I take it that rhino recommend a lower weight for their rack when used off road.

**ozscott** · 11th March 2017, 08:23 AM

In my experience with Rhino (excellent products) they give weights higher than LR...hence why I make the point. LR recommends a particular lower weight offroad. I would follow whichever is the lower but usually this is LR not Rhino. Just as an example Rhinos Web site allows you to put in your vehicle type and it recommends a system. For the D2 their 3 bar system allows you to carry 100kg (from memory) but the LR handbook stated max roof load on road is 50kg and 30kg offroad...the only place you will see Rhino giving credence to the manufacturer is in the little fitting sheet that comes with the system....where they say it's 100kg or the vehicle manufacturers weight limit whichever is the lesser. A lot of people don't realise this. When I rang Rhino they said their limits were based on their system on the vehicles in their database. Some people think the Rhino max weight must then be OK but it's clearly not.
Cheers

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