TD roof racks...your solutions

[Woodstramp]

Hey all. Long story short....

Planning on a 6'x10' camper....got the frame mostly completed...the sleeper area of my camper will be 6'x7'. the balance will be devoted to galley/storage and electical/plumbing.

I'd like to lug a canoe to the places I want to camp if the mood strikes.

Got to thinking that standard TD constuction would be too roof-flimsy to support a canoe, so I plan to build a small 1" square tube rail frame that will be hidden in the bulkhead wall in back. This will bolt to the frame then transition through the BH wall up to another exterior rack on the roof. The front rack support will be totally exterior and attach to the tongue frame and front wall of the camper.

I still have not finalized this plan and would like to see other builder's solutions to top racks. Thanks.

[Woodstramp]

Slowcowboy. Looks like you sovled the problem by making the roof "bulletproof". Wish I could do that.

I can understand the "Wyoming" factor....my little bro lives up in Gillette. He sent me a pic of his barn....his dogs on the 15' high roof...they just walked up a snow drift to get up there.

My roof (to save weight) will be just strong enough for it's own weight/wind load. I live in Alabama, so insulation will not be nearly as needed as where you live. Thanks for posting though. Nice job on the TD. Looks good.

[prohandyman]

This customer wanted a roof rack for both a changing room and to carry a kayak. It is a 4x8 Kit clone, and the rack is Yakima. I think the side towers are "Rain Gutter" towers. With a few turns of the side knobs the towers unscrew and the bars can be removed. It just leaves a small similated "rain gutter" bracket, , fastened to the 3/4" plywood walls with SS fasteners

[angib]

It just leaves a small similated "rain gutter" bracket, , fastened to the 3/4" plywood walls with SS fasteners

My "twopennyworth" (actually around three cents...) is that for the 99% of teardrops that don't have slowcowboy's bullet-proof roof construction, this is the strong way to attach roof racks.

It seems worth mentioning this as some folks seem to think that it is stronger to attach to the roof but it isn't - any load in the roof has to get into the walls anyway (what holds up the roof?) so it's better to put the load straight there. Spreading out the point load in the walls would be nice - either by using a big attachment point or by adding a big backer inside the wall.

[bobhenry]

Spreading out the point load in the walls would be nice - either by using a big attachment point or by adding a big backer inside the wall.

As an afterthought I added a handicap bar to help pull up to a setting position. It sees a bit of LOAD also. I added 2 additional spars, one on each side of the original and screwed thru to marry them together. They transfer their load thru a solid 3/4 OSB wall. Had it been a sandwiched wall of lighter construction I would suggest a 1x4 vertical built in the wall to transfer the downward load thru it to the floor and then the frame as Andrew has stated.

[kennyrayandersen]

Sandwiches can be really strong – much stronger than some of you are imagining. The way you do it is bury a ‘puck’ (like a hockey puck) in the sandwich (same thickness as the core, covered on both sides by the facesheets). The puck transfers the load into the facesheets through shear. We usually use phenolic (resin with some stuff mixed in), but I’m thinking a good maple plywood plug would be good as well. If you have a corner-type bracket then the vertical loads get transferred directly to the sidewalls as Andrew stated, and the lateral loads are transferred into the roof. So, you can bury a little puck in the roof and one in the wall – there really isn’t a need to put a full-length strip in the wall. We usually use a 1 inch diameter puck, but if using plywood, I’d bump that to 2 inch diameter. In the case that you have several close fasteners, you can just bury a piece of plywood big as you need + 1 inch from the fastener.

[Woodstramp]

Thanks guys for the addition input.

Prohandyman, I like that rig you showed. Had intentions of transitioning through the roof, but I could easily use a bracket like you used on the side instead. Looks strong. Would probably be more watertite, too. I'd just have to add an exterior support in the front (weak end of camper).

I didn't mention that this rack will also be where my pop-up canopy will attach to the camper.

[rowerwet]

1x3" roof spars inside to take the load, glued to the top of 1x2 uprights in the walls, take the load from the canoe blocks, which are my "roof rack" my canvas and porch and floor paint finish doesn't show any wear.

[Forrest747]

Place the attachment point over the walls and one where your galley bulkhaed is and you will be fine. if you find you need a center post but it over a spar or bulkhaed.