Loading of ARB Roof Rack on Toyota FJ Cruiser

Hi John,

In ARB's documentation they say 150 kg on their roof rack but Toyota do not specify an actually roof loading - I think I will email the Toyota technical department however as per your suggestion. However changing the suspension may alter the Toyota recommendation.

Because there are 3 manufacturers involved (Toyota, ARB and Old Man Emu suspension) getting a definitive answer from them I think is going to be difficult.

Thanks for your reply.
CU
Glenn

Hi John,

That is correct Toyota documentation says 68 Kg loading on their "Genuine Roof Rack" which I have and removed from the vehicle to replace with the larger ARB roof rack. Toyota don't actually specify a roof loading that I can find.

The ARB roof rack is much more robust than the Toyota Genuine one. The Toyota sales guys in Toowoomba are being vague and uncommitted about the roof loading with the ARB rack and new suspension - they won't commit to a load capacity as the products I am adding are not theirs - which is fair enough as I am changing the vehicle with totally new suspension - plus I think they don't really know.

I am thinking Toyota's 68kg plus weight of rack would take into consideration the vehicles standard suspension which is pretty spongy. The new "Old Man Emu" suspension is way more rigid.

I feel pretty certain the roof would not collapse with even 150kg on it supported over 6 points - 25 kg at each point (plus the weight of the ARB rack of course.) But wether the vehicle would be unstable/dangerous is something I would not know. I am a Mechanical Engineer so have a basic understanding of these sorts of issues but theory and practice are often miles apart - plus designers build huge safety factors into their products.

Maybe I am just going to have to do a few local test runs and see how the vehicle handles the loads.

Thanks for your reply.

Glenn.

The OME suspension won't have made any difference to the designed GVM of the vehicle, you need a GVM upgrade to do that so the designed Toyota roof load still remains unchanged.
Aside from stability and braking etc which are addressed as part of the GVM upgrade engineering.

These racks are fitted into the roof itself and not gutter mounted like the older style vehicle systems such as on the 70 series vehicles and have always had a far lower allowable roof load.

I did a quick Google search on this issue for the FJ and it seems like a common complaint.
Unless you can get something from Toyota directly addressing this issue I think you have a problem.

Hi John,
Yeah I Googled this also and am reading all sorts of comments like safe to carry up to 150kg plus ARB rack or as low as 68 kg including rack.

The problem I think is what happens with insurance in the event of an accident and no doubt any claim would be rejected if the roof is loaded above manufacturers recommendation. This would probably apply to most 4x4's that I see around here with big roof rack loads.

I am beginning to think that keeping my roof rack load low as possible is a good idea - or get a trailer :).

Thanks Again.
CU Glenn

Hi Lyn,

Just checked with the ARB guys here in Toowoomba and although their official line is not to exceed the manufacturers recommendations in real life they have experience with loading the roof of the FJ Cruiser to 100kg problem free (that weight includes their aluminium roof rack which is about 25 kg). In their club activities they even have recounted members loading well beyond 150 kg problem free also.

I am inclined to rethink my vehicle loading and stay well under 100 kg on the roof to be on the safe side. The total weight of my vehicle fully laden and fuelled is going to be well under the GVM so no problems there.

Also I spoke to my vehicle insurance broker who said that in his 30 years experience he has never had an insurance claim beginning rejected due to roof rack overloading beyond manufacturers recommendation - but there is always a first time.

I am not going to undertake any rugged off road 4x4 driving with the roof rack heavily loaded and I am a very cautious driver - safe but sure is my motto. As I am new to 4WD then I want to get familiar and confident with the vehicle over a few months on sealed or good dirt roads before I even attempt any off road driving.

The standard Toyota suspension is a bit soft as you say and ARB say the OME gear is going to help stabilising the vehicle - I am being guided by ARB as to what OME gear to fit as I know very little about this topic.

ARB now have a Bull Bar to fit the FJ Cruiser.

We are planning some short weekend outings before we head off and if we find that we need to get a trailer then I have been looking at some alloy trailers which are suitable for off road driving. At the moment I don't want the hassle of a trailer if I safely carry all our gear in the FJ cruiser. We have plenty of room in the vehicle especially when we remove the rear seats and store these at home - the seats come out real easy which is a good Toyota feature i think.

Still like to hear from anyone who has some real life experience with our loading situation. We are not heading off until early next year and trying to do the right thing by planning things out ahead of time.

Thanks a lot.
Glenn

Now you're on the right track. Ditch the rear seats and store all the heavy stuff down on the floor. Forget a trailer - more trouble than they are worth. Changing suspsension does not affect what roof can carry. The less you have up top the better for stability, wind resistance etc. I think that you can easily come up with what suits you in the way of loading with a bit of trial and error. A few short weekend outings will soon get you sorted out.

Hi Kroozalong,

Thanks for the assurance we are on the right track.

We have been trying hard to avoid a trailer but I just weighed all our gear and we would be overloading our vehicle by about 200 kg - which is probably not to good!

I just checked on a light off road style Aluminium camping trailers (no tent) and one to suit us is around $5500 new - which is a small price to pay for a bit of peace of mind knowing that the vehicle is safe. Plus I am sure we would be more comfortable with extra space inside the vehicle. However there are a lot of downsides with towing a trailer like you mention. We can't reduce our gear by 200 kg as it is at a minimum already so think we might be sort of stuck with this trailer option.

The OME suspension may help with the excess weight and I am going to check with ARB on this before we commit

Would love not to have the hassle of towing a trailer!!
CU
Glenn

What the hell are you carting that it could possibly be 200kg over - or does the Cruiser have a very light carrying capacity???

Hi Kooznalong,

That's exactly what I said also!!

The carrying capacity of the cruiser is only 510 kg which includes fuel (72 litres) and passengers (I am 80 wife is 60) so we only got about 300 kg left for gear. Then take off the bull bar 55 kg, roof rack 35 and that leaves 210 kg. The total weight of all our gear, water, food, cloths, cameras, computers is 335kg - weighed each item and added up even triple checked. The main items we have are 2 tents an oztent RV1 and RV4, a small engel refrigerator, a Honda Compressor, camp stretchers, chairs, table, COBB cooker and folding kitchen unit.

Is that a lot? - i don't know but seems pretty basic to me.

It seems the FJ Cruiser on it's own is better suited to short stay style real light weight camping - not long haul stuff but that where the towing option comes in I would imagine.

We could have bought a more robust Land Cruiser but my wife is short and had problems driving this size vehicle - so the compromise was the FJ which also lets gets us out for light weight weekend trips if we liked.

Oh the joys of planning a trip.

CU Glenn.

You and your wife are carrying 2 tents ???

Plus a gennie ??

Still wouldn't get you under the limit, but ditch 1 tent and put in a dual batt system to run the fridge ( unless you intend to stay in the one spot for several days )

But , there is nothing wrong with a trailer.....as you said, you aren't going offroad much, and an aluminium ( good quality ) proper offroad trailer will suit you fine..

Hi Gronk,

Yep 2 tents and no genie!

An oztent RV1 quick to erect for overnight stops - weighs 16kg only.

Plus.......

An Oztent RV4 with all the accessories (side/front panels etc) takes longer to set up with but more room for longer stays.

We have a storage facility set up in Toowoomba to leave one of the tents or any other gear if we know that we won't need either one of these on a certain trip.

Dual battery might be good for us and with extra room in the vehicle (now having a trailer) then we could add this at anytime but want to get some hands on experience before we go to far. We are planning for motels/hotels/overnight vans/cabins along the way. Initially we are not planning any long trip away from civilisation where we could ice up plus we have a small 1000w generator.

I don't think our planning is too flawed but we are only on "P" plates at the moment and appreciate any comments.

Thanks for your reply.
CU
Glenn

Our tent set up.

I am problems getting my head around your vehicle based camping needs..2 tents...why not compromise..and a generator.. I don't know of anyone who vehicle base camps and carts a generator.

I have been travelling and camping for decades, vehicle based, tents, swags, campervan, caravan, Tvan...been to the remotest parts...lived for months away travelling on different trips away for periods...and I have never needed a generator.

Do you have good LED portable lighting..a decent single battery in your vehicle, but 2 would be better and you should be electrically sweet. You may find making camp friends is going to be strained if you pull out a generator every camp.

Isn't travelling/camping about not having the acoutriments of a household?

I think it's wonderful you getting out there, but as said, get some weekends away to sort your needs, learnings, and to cull the unnecessary junk you won't need.

On your roofrack should only be your tent, maybe the campchairs.
You will find as you start to get out and travel, you will gain ideas and hints from other seasoned travellers.

Having a trailer will not make you discipline what you only really need to take away.

Good luck and travels.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your comments and you are obviously very experienced and have your gear choices well sorted to suit your style and circumstances.

It seems you travel very light and that might become a good choice for us also on some occasions. I guess we all have differing views on what gear buy and to take on certain trips but it comes down to what suits our individual circumstances, future objectives, an so on - good job we are all different otherwise life would be dull :).

Definitely not planning to run a generator when it will intrude on others enjoyment, solitude and peace - we are very thoughtful people and consider this is a basic camp site courtesy - however the generator might come in handy for us to charge our mobile devices, computers, charge the car battery etc. along the route during the frequent stops we have in mind. The generator is a Honda 1000w and is super quiet. We know of 2 families who always carry this generator when camping even if they don't use it but it is there for emergencies.

Some weekend trips with our new gear is part of our planning process and any gear surplus to requirement for a particular trip will go into temporary storage. We could even put our trailer into storage if we liked. We have Led lights also.

We have also done a lot of camping over the years also and reckon we have our new gear more than covered for our current, future and the various trips we have planned for ourselves.

We are selling our house and plan to resettle either overseas or on the coast somewhere when we get sick of traveling - so what we take now is our temporary household :) - if get we sick of camping then our budget allows for hotels, trips overseas or what ever we like to do really - but we both love the outdoor lifestyle and want to see Australia before we get any older - I am a retired and healthy 58 years old.

Thanks a lot for your comments and meeting others like yourself, during our trip to get different opinions and tips is something we are really looking forward to.

CU
Glenn

Hi again Andrew,

Although not part of my original roof rack thread yourself and others have mentioned about additional batteries. We have a small 15 ltr Engel refrigerator model MT17F and I am thinking a portable power supply like the Waeco RAPS36 might be suitable for our purposes. I can't find an equivalent engel battery - I would prefer an Engel if one was available. I know I can get a Waeco from the local camp shop here in Toowoomba.

I really don't want a large deep cycle battery in the vehicle - I had one on my boat and they are too heavy for me to cart.

What do you think of this idea? I guess there are pros and cons.

CU
Glenn

Opps Engel do have a battery Pack.

http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/cgi-bin/product.cgi?item_id=battpak28&item_string=&category=Off%20Road%20Accessories&sub_category=Battery%20Packs

CU Glenn

Hi mate, thats a nice little Engle fridge, I would use that as a freezer only if you don't have a large fridge.
Personally, I will only run 1 fridge for freeze and cooling. No point in having 2 inefficiencies running.
The WAECO link is a battery type pack. You might as well have a 2nd battery wired into the car. Your 4wd has it's own generator, called an alternator attached to the engine and runs all day when you are driving.
For recharging batteries for cameras, torches etc etc, have an invertor wired in your vehicle, change then around as you stop for coffee, fuel, lunch, and recharge as you drive during the day... the alternator is there and spinning anyway....and things will be recharged when you pull up at 3-4pm for your evening camp.

You also don't need electricity to defrost the meat when you pull up for camp.



Good luck and new adventures.

G'day Andrew,

That defrosting system is definitely environmentally efficient - good one.

I checked batteries today and discovered like you say the most cost effective and efficient system is exactly as you described. My issue is I have injured both shoulders with rotor cuff injuries and lifting heavy stuff is a problem until this heals up (6 months or more). So I big deep cycle battery is too much for me to handle at the moment.

Been advised to avoid the Waeco battery but the small engel battery although not ideal (and expensive by comparison) would probably get the job done for us at the moment - and be easyish on my injury.

Think we really need to get some experience under our belts with our new vehicle, new gear, trailer and what ever else we got so that like you have done we can refine a system that works for us.

Thanks again for your useful comments.

CU Glenn