Thread: how much weight up top??

My dad used to have a MQ patrol, used to load the roof rack when we went away (think simpson desert). In the end we noticed that all the pillars had big cracks thru them, nearly ended up with a convertible
Be very careful, think about repacking so the heavy stuff goes down low and you only put light stuff up top.

I did lots of touring in the Suby on corrugated roads and tracks (but obviously not to Cape York) with a rhino rack loaded with fuel and stuff. No problems.

But I suppose that each vehicle is different with it's mounting and roof design. The D3 has captive nuts in the roof to attach rails/rack to and the load is designed to be spread along the framing members anyway. With tent, soft stuff, gas bottle and rack, my all up roof load is about 120kg. I wouldn't put too much more up there.

75kg is LR's across the board 'dynamic' roof load, which means its the limit above which roll over risk increases. Which is something else you need to consider when travelling with a loaded roof.

Like the others said, check every so often and have a great trip!

Camel Landy,

That looks like a ripper book, but what a price!!!!! Up to nearly $600 US!!!! The cheapest secondhand book - $175 US!!

Damn, reckon between the lot of us we would know it all anyway.

Cheers,

Paul

Now that Im back from sleeping in the back of IMV's (posts to follow) for the cape trip I would reccomend that the total weight of stuff you put on the roof be 0kg.....

the vibrations caused by corrigations bounce and shake the whole vehicle and the basic laws regarding physings and inertia apply. the vehicle is made to move and the stuff on the roof rack doesnt then vice versa and in the middle of all of this is the flimsy alloy body work of a landrover and the piddly little mounts that hold the roof rack to the gutters...

and rovers are top heavy enough anyway.


but rover says 75 kg should be the limit including the weight of the rack.

Originally Posted by Wilbur

Camel Landy,

That looks like a ripper book, but what a price!!!!! Up to nearly $600 US!!!! The cheapest secondhand book - $175 US!!

IMO - It is THE best book for detailing prep for a trip. Not just vehicle but it also goes through kit, supplies, terrain, techniques, and even personnel. The amount of detail that book goes into is amazing but it's written in such a way so that you can either read a brief (yet detailed) overview or go into a full technical description.

$600US is a bit steep but I never leave on a trip without my copy.

Originally Posted by Wilbur

Damn, reckon between the lot of us we would know it all anyway.

Hmmm...but how would you tell the difference between those that think they know it and those that do know it???

A couple of years ago I downloaded a book from the Royal Geographic Society's web site called Desert Expeditions, by Tom Sheppard. About 80 pages pdf and specializing in Land Rover based expeditions. It's the Desert version of Vehicle Based Expeditions, and it was free. I'll repost if I can find the link, otherwise PM me and I can try to email it to you.