Annex Pole carriers

G'day Rob

The only real problem with mounting underneath, in a north south direction is that if using the traditional plastic tubes they will be smashed to bits by flying rocks if you do any gravel/dirt work.
The same will happen when mounted east west on the draw bar unless protected in some form.
You will probably receive varied opinions but I really prefer a little extra weight on the ball if your tow vehicle is up to it. Helps the dog stop wagging it's tail so to speak.

Cheers
Wal.

Hi Rob,
whichever way you mount it go to clark rubber and buy a couple of pieces of foam to put inside the ends (I got 3" from memory). The first trip i went on punched a hole through the end of tube. Oh and mount it well, spoke to a chap at Innamincka that had lost the lot poles and all, somebody got a bonus if they didnt run over it. Athol

Rob
I think you are playing with fire and as said above stay away from the PVC unless VERY well protected.
Consider an alloy or Stainless Steel tube (???) on the small rear bar but still in a East West setup. (we do one but not cheap)
Under the body you are playing around with clearence levels and also placing weight on a very light body material - I think the rear bar (if you have one) would be an idea.

Hi Rob
Had two under the tray of a GU for 90000klms without any damage to them. I had foam in the end caps and also made sure all the poles were the same lenght, made the tube just long enough so that the poles could not move inside them. They were held to the tray with plumbing clamps.

Not sure what the underside of the camper is like for room and clearance though

Regards Ray

I have two 4" PVC tubes on mine. One on the drawbar and one on the rear bumber bar. They are held on by 'U' bolts and have never given trouble. This way weight is evenly distributed

Yep -whatever way you go, end protection inside is a good move - the pole ends do suffer damage - the pastic fittings (caps and pin inserts etc) all get hammered. I'd go metal underneath - and heavy duty mountings to boot.

All,

Thanks for the advice obviously there are pros and cons for idea but with the right sort of prep I think that the posts indicate its workable. Clearance isn't really an issue as they will be no lower than the water tank, I think.

Alloy and stainless seem a bit excessive, my Silhouette is the on road model and I'm not expecting to tackle anything rougher that a formed track. That said I did do the Beef development road in NQ years ago and my MQ nearly fell apart.

I hear what you are saying about the end caps and protection so will watchout for that.

Cheers

Rob