Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ive go to the point in my build where I will be epoxying the shell this weekend. I want to add some sort of roof rack for my Kayak. What is the best way for attachment ? Pictures would help. Ive thought about just making two bars out of a 2x3 stud , and then screwing it down and epoxying the roof-adding the bars why epoxy is wet-and then epoxying the bar making it a solid unit...Any thoughts on this method

I'm picturing the rack with mounting flanges like a pipe railing on the deck of a boat. Reinforce the mounting location with wood from underneath; seal the roof (deck) with glass and epoxy; then bed the fasteners and mounting flanges the way my buddy Dale does on his boat.

He drills the bolt holes thru the deck over size. Then he uses epoxy filler to fill the hole sealing the wood. Then he drills thru for the fastener and countersinks the top edge of the hole. Now when he seals the fasteners and base of the flange with 3M 4200 (or 5200?) the chamfer provides a pocket for the sealer to bed into ensuring a positive seal around the fastener. Also, by making the hole oversize to begin with the wood surrounding the hole is fully sealed by the epoxy.

He is a bit obsessive and has all of his deck penetrations on a rotating 5 year schedule; he re-beds 1/5 of his rigging every year, but that is for an ocean going environment.

His June 23, 2013 blog entry http://searay340restoration.blogspot.com/.

I'm not far enough along on my build yet to try it, but I'm leaning toward using Yakima Tracks along the roof which can then take Yakima towers and use normal Yakima attachments. It would also allow some forward/aft adjustment. Because of Yakima's round bars (compared to Thule square bars) I won't have to worry about the curve of the roof causing the bars to be tilted compared to one another. I have many Yakima rack parts and bars, so I could reuse what I have.

See http://www.rei.com/search?search=yakima%20tracks These come in different lengths and with or without their Plusnuts. These are also available at etrialer.com and other places that sell Yakima. It uses Control Towers and their Landing Pads (#1, since other #s are for certain factory racks).

I had these tracks on a minivan about 15 years ago and they worked really well with no problems. Since a van roof construction is different from these trailers, we'd need to have some minimum support and proper fasteners. The thing I am not yet sure of yet is how much the Tracks can be curved to match the shape of the roof. I was thinking of going to a store and see.


These Tracks would have the advantage of having a low profile when not being used. Another approach would be to just fasten down the Landing Pad #1 in 4 places but it wouldn't be adjustable like on the Tracks.

These would allow you to attach a Yakima Roof Rack System to your Tear:

http://www.yakima.com/shop/rack-systems/permanent-installation/bolt-toploader

Do you think that just epoxying a 2x3 stud across the front and back would be good enough. All I will ever have on the roof is a 80lbs Kayak. Ive thought about screwing down the stud why the epoxy is wet and then putting epoxy on the stud and then mount a bracket to the stud. Just trying to do it easy and cheap..LOL. My whole build will be under $400 so I cant justify paying $200-$300 for a rack to just put my Kayak on

Aha! I found your build journal viewtopic.php?t=57433 and see what you are doing and why you'd want to keep it simple. I think your idea of a couple wooden rails epoxied on would work so long as there is enough structure underneath it so it doesn't flex too much and weaken over time. I can't tell how thick your roof material is, but if it is thin you could put the wooden rails above your internal cross members. Another approach might be to use black pipe (essentially similar to Yakima cross bars with no coating) since they are pretty stiff with a couple elbows, flanges and short standoffs for each one if you can find a cheap source (buying these new can add up).

Consider that I am building my first teardrop so I can't speak from experience on how these would hold up over time on a bumpy road, only judgement from the pictures in your build journal.

Prototear wrote:Aha! I found your build journal viewtopic.php?t=57433 and see what you are doing and why you'd want to keep it simple. I think your idea of a couple wooden rails epoxied on would work so long as there is enough structure underneath it so it doesn't flex too much and weaken over time. I can't tell how thick your roof material is, but if it is thin you could put the wooden rails above your internal cross members. Another approach might be to use black pipe (essentially similar to Yakima cross bars with no coating) since they are pretty stiff with a couple elbows, flanges and short standoffs for each one if you can find a cheap source (buying these new can add up).

Consider that I am building my first teardrop so I can't speak from experience on how these would hold up over time on a bumpy road, only judgement from the pictures in your build journal.

My roof in 2x3 spars with 1/2 ply on the outside.. so without the interior panel it is 2" thick

I screwed my homemade rack right into the roof and sealed it with a gasket and 3M 5200. No leaks in 5 years.

Juneaudave wrote:I screwed my homemade rack right into the roof and sealed it with a gasket and 3M 5200. No leaks in 5 years.

Beautiful work, Dave!

Here is my set up on the side wall using 1/2''nutserts, I just did not want holes on the roof.....

A 2x3 sounds right to me for lightweight boats.

Remember that what you need to do is connect the 2x3 to the sidewalls, not just to the roof. If in doubt you could epoxy a piece of plywood (maybe 6" x 6" and maybe 1/2" thick) to the outside of the sidewall and to the end of the 2x3 - that way, the load goes through the plywood not through the end of a roof spar under the 2x3.

It's a question that's been asked before, so I even have a ready-made graphic of the (red) piece of plywood on the end of the (blue) 2x3/roof bar.