Roof Racks

[erod]

who's got one? how do you like it? what about the roof vent? what was the install like? do you take gear off when you pop up (i know the roof holds at least 1000 lbs)? pics? i am considering a thule with a rocket box and 4 ski holder...anybody got .02 to throw in! cheers!

 

[pvstoy]

Hi Erod,

What ever you put up there you have to push up to pop up. I put a rack on my old camper and a Thule rack and box. There was not much weight in the box, but it still made it hard to pop up. There are people with canoes and such that take them down and then pop up.

How strong do you feel???

 

[erod]

feel great! the camper is so easy to lift right now i think another 100 lbs wouldn't be too bad. where did you get the rack, how did you put it on? still have it? any pics? i think i would store clothes and gear up there mostly, stuff thats not too heavy and that we don't use all the time but still need to bring along.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Two buddies have built racks out of Alluminum recently. both copied the rack that was on my old fleet. I'm getting ready to build one on my Ranger in the next couple of weeks..
I will go and shoot a couple of photos of the racks today. They are very functional and heavy duty. Iwas torn between a thule set up and building the whole alluminum deal. I think the versatility of the full rack set up will suit my needs better..Kayak, surfboards, gear box and 5 gallons of fuel, (and sometimes the old lady)...

PV, did you get a new camper??? is the kestrel yours?? It looks by your avatar that you have stepped up...

 

[erod]

sweet, thanks tomas, love to check out some pics! same camper, 93' ranger II, maybe the angle of the photo. i don't have a welder or the skills to make my own rack unfortunately but would still love to check them out! thanks again

 

[Tomas Tierra]

don't need a welder, some skills are good though..a chop saw with a metal blade on it and some caulk, couple of screws....If I can do it...oops better not jinx myself til mine is done....

 

[simimike]

I've had the factory square tube rack on both of the campers I've owned. The are very handy. I've hauled lumber, mattresses, a canoe and now mostly folding chairs. I highly recommend a rack if you are ordering a camper.

 

[pvstoy]

Hi Tomas,

I own the FWC Ranger on my '83 Toyota. The FWC Kestrel is a friend of mine that I took delivery of and did some work on it. They came last weekend and took it away.

The roof rack...I took aluminun spacers and screwed into the truss on the roof. The cross bars were mounted to the spacers. There was just enought room to put the box bracket around the bar and clear the roof. The new Ranger I decided not to put anything up on the roof.

I too just put extra cloths and spare backpacks up there but was hard to pop up.

You could put some weight up there and strap it down (so it does not slide off) and try poping it up to get a feel for it

 

[erod]

sorry pv, i miss read tomas's last post...thanks for the advice all...keep it comin! anyone know how thick the roof trusses are so i don't mistakenly drill throught the roof if i mount one myself!

 

[Tomas Tierra]

EROD,

I know your going with the thule system, but here are some shots of the home made alluminum racks I was talking about..I bought my materials and will be throwing one on my new Ranger in the next couple of days. I will be re-thinking the basket portion on mine..fyi

Tom

 

[erod]

cool, thanks for the pics tomas. i think i am going yakima, i like the round bars vs. thule's square bars. very sharp rack though, looking forward to seeing your modifications. cheers!

 

[OutbacKamper]

Here you can see the yakima tracks and one cross bar on the camper roof. I said it before and I'll say it again: don't waste your time putting anything heavy on the roof of the camper, you will have to remove it EVERY time you pop the roof up or down.

Cheers
Mark

 

[erod]

thanks mark...i appreciate the advice...so what do you put on the roof rack? clothes? ot just suff you take down everytime you "pop up". trying to figure out if its worth $200. thanks again for the reply and picture!

 

[erod]

couple questions...why go with the 60+" tracks? will the 54" be adequate? i got em' for free so i would be stoked to use em'. what about the roof vent? issues there with opening, amt. of airflow etc. whats a rough weight max, i mean, i know the roof holds 1000lbs but could you keep a hilift and skis and maybe a tow strap in a rocket box on the roof and still lift it. any worries on the support once popped, could to much weight damage the lifting mechanism (duh). lastly, is it worth it...those that have it, are you glad you have the option or could you do without it? oh yea, how do you access your rack? one more, mpg, do you see a big difference, anyone use a fairing? what size? ok i'm done , thanks all!

 

[erod]

bumpin' this since i haven't heard from anyone !

 

[OutbacKamper]

thanks mark...i appreciate the advice...so what do you put on the roof rack? clothes? ot just suff you take down everytime you "pop up". trying to figure out if its worth $200. thanks again for the reply and picture!

Good question, I ended up not using the roof rack on the camper for anything. I left the 0ne Yakima bar on (see previous pic) to act as a brush guard to protect the roof vents and solar panel (not installed in pic).
I had originally planned to mount a Yakima load warrior basket with shovel and spare tire on the camper roof. Once I had installed it all I could not lift the roof an inchl! Even after removing the spare tire it was almost impossible to lift the roof with just 3 yakima bars, the empty basket and a shovel. I quickly realized that there was no way to carry anything in the basket, so went to plan "B" (the rack shown in front of the camper). We loaded this rack with 3 Pelican cases full of clothes and an Action Packer full of spare parts, plus the spare tire and shovel. Bear in mind that this is a Hawk with extended bed, smaller camper roofs would perhaps be able to be lifted with a little more weight on top.

My advice is: Try putting some weight on your roof (protect the roof with a piece of thin plywood or styrofoam) and try to lift it, before you invest any money in a roof rack.

Cheers
Mark

 

[erod]

right on, thanks mark...i will give that a try before i decide whether or not to buy the rack. i would like to put skis/snowboards up there as well as gear that we don't use all the time...but the weight would build up fast i am sure. awsome rig btw! cheers

 

[benburnett]

Most of what you put on the roof, plan on taking off when you want to lift it. I have lifted a roof with a 15' sea kayak on top of it. The weight was distributed obviously but it was hard to lift. I have had a lot of customers in the past that carry a pod on a set of yakima's and they empty the pod before lifting the roof.

We put an 85 watt solar panel on a camper recently and you could tell it was up there when you went to lift the roof.

Lifting the roof with weight on it all depends on your own strength and how the weight is distributed on the roof. The roof will hold just about anything you put on it, it's really a matter of how much can you push up without killing yourself in the process.

 

[erod]

thanks ben...eventually i would like to add a solar panel as well...not really that fond of the idea of taking everything off everytime i pop the camper. i would rather have this gear outta site outta mind. guess i'll think it over a bit more...thanks again for the reply...oh yea, any thoughts on the 54" vs. the 66" rails?

 

[Sam]

Ben or Stan,

Any plans to come up with a better roof lifting system. With all this talk about wanting to use a roof rack but not being able to lift the roof it sure seems like your customers could use a better set up?