Roof racks - Suitable system for Mazda or Triton

Hi Everyone,

I have been investigating the possibility of fitting a roof rack to my Mazda BT50 freestyle ute, but have hit a few snags. Initially I have been looking at the Rhino Rack systems, but they do not offer a track mount system for my vehicle and recommend that the multi-fit (2500) do not be used off-road or even on gravel roads! Not much good for a desert trip! Further investigation showed that Rhino do not have a system for the Mazda or Triton Single/Extra cab vehicles that they say can be used on gravel roads. The response from Rhino when I questioned them was as follows:

"The 2500 Multifit roof rack has been developed for people who want to utilise the vehicle’s space more efficiently. It is not designed to be used in unsealed road conditions due to the roof rack not being a heavy duty system made to withstand the added vibrations and added weight that any load being carried on the roof a vehicle in these conditions bring. If you are planning to travel on unsealed roads, you would need to look at a track mount system as this is designed to be used in unsealed road conditions."

"Yes it is correct that we don’t list a track mount system for BT50 Freestyle. I would recommend you take the vehicle to a Rhino Rack Dealer/Fitter to have the roof accessed if it would be strong enough to take a track riveted to the roof. I don’t have any details of one being done, so it would be up to the dealer/fitter to make a decision . The track needs to be fitted to the strongest part of the roof, most of the time this will be as close to the inside edge of the black weather strip or on the outside if enough room. With a lot of these style vehicles the roof is like a oil can and very flexible making it not suitable for a track. If a track system is able to be fitted Rhino Rack cannot advise a load rating or be able to accept any warranty claims against the product as we do not have a listing for it."

My questions -
1. Are there any Mazda/Triton users using the Rhino (or equivalent) clamp system for roof racks and what has been your experiences?
2. Any Mazda/Triton sub/extra cab users installed the track mount system?

I don't want to put anything really heavy on the roof rack - just some of the bulky stuff such as the tent and chairs etc.....

Hope you can help.

Cheers, Geoff