Thread: Roof rack too heavy?

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

And block the track to stop everyone else ???

LOL.

However, I would have thought the only thing blocking the track would be a Toymota........

roof racks
i have a 110 defender 1996 and these are my findings
my rack is alloy and stops at the B pillar .i have had some info on rollovers and it points to gear stored over the driver, having caused injuries to drivers compressing the roof on to them further than no roof rack.

My defender has travelled to the cape, simpson, birdsville track, strezlecki track and many more weekend trips i am now having probs with the roof seperating above the A pillars and assume its the constant pounding with the body flexing.

the rack has not been overly loaded 1 x spare wheel, roof bag with tent and 2 chairs.

peter

Well how do they justify roof top tents??? 2 adults got to be around 140kgs

Originally Posted by defender 110

roof racks
i have a 110 defender 1996 and these are my findings
my rack is alloy and stops at the B pillar .i have had some info on rollovers and it points to gear stored over the driver, having caused injuries to drivers compressing the roof on to them further than no roof rack.

My defender has travelled to the cape, simpson, birdsville track, strezlecki track and many more weekend trips i am now having probs with the roof seperating above the A pillars and assume its the constant pounding with the body flexing.

the rack has not been overly loaded 1 x spare wheel, roof bag with tent and 2 chairs.

peter

When I worked for Telstra fleet I heard of this happening to our troopies with roof racks. For this reason I've decided to go for 3 rhino roof rails with the only linkage between them being the luggage itself.

It's probably not quite as usefull as a full roof rack, but it only weights 10kg, will do what I need, and won't cause this type of problem. ... oh and it's cheap too

Originally Posted by defender 110

My defender has travelled to the cape, simpson, birdsville track, strezlecki track and many more weekend trips i am now having probs with the roof seperating above the A pillars and assume its the constant pounding with the body flexing.
peter

I would assume the pillars are designed to handle the weight of the roof, which is obviously a downforce, plus any other weight up to the manufacturers limit. Going over ruts etc stresses the roof attachments upwards which have very little strength in that direction. So start bouncing 200kgs up and down and you are going to get roof separation. Clamping a heavy weight to the gutters, which are part of the roof, is not going to help. A set of external roll bars is the way to go, transferring the weight to the chassis.

Trev.

Originally Posted by Greylandy

A good rack should have it's legs connected together with a solid beam to spread the load across the roof gutter.

Interesting how opinions differ. My recent research indicates this type of rack will cause probs in the long term by resisting body flex.

The suggestion was that 2/3/4 cross bars e.g. Rhino with a basket offered a better solution.

However, notwithstanding all of this I am a great believer in only lightly loading up the roof.

Cheers

Originally Posted by DirtyDawg

Well how do they justify roof top tents??? 2 adults got to be around 140kgs

Unless you're rocking the truck, I doubt that two adults in a tent is going to put the flexing stress on the truck in the way it would when loaded and in motion.



cheers
Simon

i would hate to think how much mine weighes, the previous owner built and has traveled all over the country. since i have owned it it been to the gulf (empty) and across the simpson with two jerries of diesel, one jerry of water, a spare tyre with rim, three swags and two gas cylinders, 4m awning, shovel, solar panel. i cannot not see any sign of damage however i am keen to get a lighter one just two many $$$ new.