Roof bars and basket set up

I have know technical expertise to back up my opinion, but if you were to ask me, I'd be reluctant to rivet anything to my roof. Ideally, you should avoid putting anything heavy up there anyway. Bulky items like swags, a tent, and maybe a long handled shovel etc would be fine on the rack and they should'nt go over 50kg.

Shop around and get varied advice, then decide.

I was advised to do that by a 4wd accessory place with tradesman rhino racks, took their advice and now have a dent on each side of the roof towards the front. We were carrying a tyre carcass (no rim), 2 bags of clothes, 3 sleeping bags, oil filter, fuel filter and spare hoses...nothing of any weight.

Think twice!

Michael

Have track system fitted to my challenger as factory items not suitable to carry variable loads on the roof. ie roof basket, canoe. You can get full step by step instructions from the rhino website on how to fit. Make sure you use a good quality rivet gun as the rivets are quite large and difficult to compress. Tracks are permanent once fitted and barely noticable with bars removed.
Cheers

Hi Martin

Interesting discussion but the advice from the supplier may have missed the point

Need to take a careful look at that 50Kg roof limit because that is what the manufacturer says the roof can carry. It doesn't matter how you attach the weight. It relates to the strength of the roof attachment to the rest of the vehicel not just how well you fit the roof carrier system. Overloading the roof can cause the support pillars to crack. Anyone who is saying they can apply a higher loading with a better mount would also want to be providing a warranty on the vehicel shell to justify the claim. I am sure the vehicle manufacturer wouldn't wear a warranty claim if the roof fell off.

regards

A

Martin,

I've got the track with the rivets. No problems yet, but you never know. See if you can get a longer track so that you can attach 3 cross bars. That will spread the weight a little more. Also make sure you use the closed (waterproof) rivets.

That reminds of a time when we were travelling on a bus in Lao. The was so much baggage on the roof that it bounced like a trampoline everytime we went over a bump. And there were plenty of bumps. Luckily nothing snapped. However after nightfall just as I was dosing off to sleep, and we were travelling about 80 km/h, I heard someone knocking on my window from the outside. WTF!! It was the luggage boy from the roof trying to come in.

R.

I have rola racks and a basket which are rated 40kg off road and 60 kg on.
I looked at the rivett system, but I simply would not trust someone putting permanent holes in the roof. You might want to check, I was told the track system would only allow 80kg, might have changed since then.
Dean