Roof Racks and Table Mounting Hardware

[wingnut]

Becky,
Juneaudave made his own roof rack out of EMP. It looks super nice. Check it out in his galley on pags 10 & 11. I don't have any thing I need to carry on the top of my TD, but if I ever do, I'm going to copy the rack Dave made for his SlumberMAX.
Jim

[grant whipp]

Interesting Grant. I wonder if it would mount correctly on my roof. I have a 1/2" radius on the edges because I am laying fiberglass cloth on the roof and overlapping it to the sides.

Hi, Becky!

Depends on what kind of framing you have in the corners, but that 1/2" radius will probably mean that you won't need the 1/2" spacers I mentioned in my PM. These mounts are typically lag-bolted into the trailer framing (with adequate sealant in the holes and under the flanges, of course). And, they can typically take a heavier load than the "clip-ons".

And if it would work, how much would 4 of these bad boys set me back??

Do you want just the "towers" ... or do you want to include the cross-bars, as well? Check your PMs, shortly ...

CHEERS!

[Billy K]

Grant, I would be interested...need to know if the towers will be high enough
to clear the Fantastic fan though...
I have a mostly flat roof line. 12" front radius back to the hatch hinge...

[grant whipp]

Grant, I would be interested...need to know if the towers will be high enough
to clear the Fantastic fan though ...

Hi, Billy!

Sorry to say, these "towers" won't lift the bars high enough to clear your vent ... at least, not without extra hardware and cross-bars. If you look closely at this pic of my personal trailer, you can see where I had to fit the extra hardware to get my basket to clear my roof vent:



Of course, I'm dealing with the taller "Clip-on" towers on a curved-top profile, but the problem is the same. I can get all kinds of extras and hardware for these racks, I just don't stock it. Let me know if I can help further, though, and as always ...

CHEERS!

[Sonoma ZR2]

I'm Building a Weekender and wondered if the bolt on towers would clear a Fantastic vent. When it would be mounted on the flat portion of the roof.

[grant whipp]

Here's the deal with roof racks (at least, from my point of view): generally speaking, for the sake of looks and aerodynamics (not to mention ease of access), you should keep them as close to the roof as reasonably possible ... bike rails, ski racks, kayak carriers and the like can easily be placed on either side of your roof vent to allow it to function properly, and canoes (or similar open-top boats) can be placed up-side-down over it. However, if you plan to ever put a basket (like mine) or a pod of some kind up there, you'll either have to set the assembly to adequately clear the vent (taller towers, different placement of the towers, etc.) or come up with a system to lift said basket or pod high enough to open your vent (again, like I did). How far you need to open your vent depends on where & when you do your camping and how much air flow you need/desire ... I can only open my vent a couple of inches, but I've found that it is plenty for my needs (no, I don't have a fan in my vent, and have found that I don't need one, but if I did, a slow speed setting would be all that was necessary and would be fine with my 2" vent opening).

Mounting the racks higher (ostensibly to clear the open roof vent) works against you in at least a few of ways: it paces the load higher and therefore more difficult to access, not to mention roll-center/center-of-gravity (even on mine, I have to stand on my fenders to access and secure some of the items in the basket) ... it will more adversely effect the aerodynamics and therefore your fuel economy (and I can testify to that!) ... and it just plain looks weird with all that stuff sitting so high above the roof of your trailer.

IMHO, roof racks are a mixed bag of blessings & curses! I like the pure simplicity of minimalist camping and the clean lines of the basic teardrop, but I sometimes liked to take a bicycle along for campground cruising, so at first I mounted a simple bike rack on the tongue of the trailer ... then I started carrying my ice chest up there and needed to move the bike to the roof of the trailer ... then my back issues deleted the bike thing and I was looking at a kayak ... then I added a more-often-than-not camping partner which meant more "stuff" needed to be packed, so the basket got added ... and on & on it goes ... ...! My mileage when towing has gone from being barely affected to as much as 6 mpg less (even more when I add the racks & associated "stuff" to the tow vehicle ... ...!). I used to be able to just pull in to the campsite and pull out the camp-chair and put up the umbrella, but now it can take quite a while to set up camp (and even longer to pack it all up)! In the end, it really all depends on your particular needs and camping style and sense of style & aesthetics. However you approach it, just think it through thoroughly and carefully, and choose the best product(s) to suit your needs/desires ... after all is said & done, you won't regret it ... ...!

Happy Camping, and as always ...

CHEERS!

[Billy K]

Thanks for the reply/ies, Grant.
A plywood canoe is planned to accompany the woody.... sounds like the tow vehicle will be a better option...
Being of average height; that tall stuff ain't my game no-how!

[markhusbands]

I'm planning on doing this using the standard Yakima tracks, "control towers", and bars to support a roof tent. That way you can just screw the tracks right to the top of the roof rather than side mounting. I'm planning a flat roof section for this. Not sure how it would go with the track on a curve...

But hey, I like the retro look of the bolt-on towers. Grant, how is the load capability on those? Think they could handle a roof tent?

[grant whipp]

... I like the retro look of the bolt-on towers. Grant, how is the load capability on those? Think they could handle a roof tent?

Absolutely, Mark! These things are hellforstout, and I've been amazed at how much they can handle (even the "clip-ons")! Like everything else, though, overall capacity depends on the structure supporting the racks/towers and the load placement on the cross-bars ... I always try to get the heaviest parts of the load as close to the towers as possible. I've got some stories I could tell, but I'll save them for around the campfire, sometime ... ...!

CHEERS!

[markhusbands]

Well, then, those are going on the list!