dynamic roof load of Hilux

G'day Andy,
From memory when I had a roof rack on my Hilux the Max loading was specified by the manufacturer of the particular roof rack purchased.

If you are driving on lots of outback roads I would keep well below the Max specified as the corrugations will likely break something. My mate cracked the front pillars on his Troopy up in the Kimberley & he was under the Max weight limit on the roof rack.

Also bear in mind if you travel up in the High country & get on some side angles the extra weight up top will induce a roll over much easier. Trust me I know!

Cheers
Stu

I think it depends on the mounting system , clamp on or track system
I have a Rhino Track mount on my HiLux , think they claim 100kg

I didn't have anywhere near 100kg up top and still managed to break several of the rivet's in the track on the Cape Leveque Road . a couple of ratchet straps got me back to Broome

Bought a Pop Riveter and fixed it in Broome then broke the rest of the std alloy rivets on the Gibb River Rd so replaced them with the steel rivets I got in Broome .

Toyota's claimed maximum is 75kg Toyota Hilux specifications that will include the weight of the racks.

On road this is acceptable,off road I would suggest that it is reduced to half that weight.

Why? Not just corrugations but also any dips, ruts or even slight ups and downs will make the load go light then come down with force, just like jumping up and down with a backpack on.
Simplistically put, anyone can place a 20kg weight on your foot, but drop that weight from even 1 inch on to your foot and something will break.

Andy...forget any notion of toyota ( or anybody else) publishing a "DYNAMIC loading" for any roof rack.

Like most things they will publish a loading and they will be on smooth improved surfaces.

They simply can not account for how rough the contry you will be traveling is.

Now I have a couple of hilixes.....its a very long time since hiluxes have had gutters that you can get a real grip on for a roof rack.

So you either have to fix with pissy little screws into the roof channels or use some sort of friction clamp with rubber feet and hooks on the door frame.

Frankly I have absolutly no confidence in either method.

Most after market roof racks are maxed out at 50Kg per bar...and that is smooth improved surfaces.

If it where me..and only if I realy had no other choice...the only things I would carry up there would be realy light items like a swag or some max traxs

If toyota intended people carrying stuff up there they would have fitted gutters.
Troopies sill have gutters, hiace vans still have gutters.

Look at a lot of the service bodies run by the contracting companies and government utilities...they mostly have the roof racks cantilevered off the, ute tray, canopy or service body.....they avoid the roof of utes these days.


OH and remember the cabin will move independent of the tray....so think twice about sharing loads between the cab mounted roof racks and racks on the tray or canopy.

cheers

Thank you very much for the information and your thoughts.

I had another look at the heavy duty roof racks of Rhino Rack (track and clamp system) and it seems that the roof load of the car is the limiting factor and not so much the 2 roof rack systems..

I did not realize how tiny the rivets are and that they are standard alloy.

@Jackolux was there any corrosion visible when you removed the alloy rivets and are your steel rivets still still in place?

My conclusion is that the maximum load to be carried should be well below 30 kg. This value is below the specifications on rough roads given by Rhino Rack for the track and clamp system.

I still have decide if it is worth while to get the tracksystem installed with steel rivets instead of the cheaper clamp system.

Has any one tell me about their experience with the Rhino Rack clamp system?

Cheers
Andy

There was no sign of any corrosion , I have been thinking of dropping the roof lining and installing stainless bolts and big washers just haven't got around to it yet

I did ask the Rhino Man at a 4x4 show about the alloy rivets , he claims he has never heard of them breaking before , yeah right .

My hilux had the genuine Toyota over centre latching racks (same as camry from memory). They were the dodgy looking ones on rubber feet.
I used them with an ally rack over the 6 years I had the ute and apart from some scuffing of the clear coat they did a surprisingly good job.
They did the cape and various other trips and had a good workout carrying timber etc in the mean time. I'd say 60 odd k.g. would have been somewhere near what we had in the rack, plus the rack and bars to be completely honest.
Best part about them is once they are set up and adjusted, taking them on and off is about a one minute job. My next two utes have both had rhino track systems and although they may seem a little sturdier they are a complete ball ache to use and remove if required. The wind noise from the heavy duty bars is horrendous on the new ranger, but I put up with it because removing the bars is even worse.