Roofracks

[David]

Now I'm going to own a 95 I will be needing a rack for it
I'm thinking ally as most of the steel one's seem way to heavy
It needs to be just over 2m long as I need to get my RV5 Oztent on it the only other stuff we carry on the roof are lightweight kept in Lomo dry bags, roof bars are out as the dry bags fall through them all the time
I have been looking around and seem to like the Rhino Platform the best so far, i like the way it all bolts together with no welds to break


http://www.tbruk.com/pioneer-platform-1585-c.asp
anyone had any experiance with them is my question or have any better ideas
Thanks David

 

[l384580]

Have a look at these guys the do an Aluminium roof rack

http://www.armadillo4x4.co.uk/Armadillo_Flatback_Expedition_Roof_Rack.html

 

[Gav Peter]

To me, best scenario is mount your roof tent on a pair of roof bars & then fit a small crate to suit front or rear of where you position the tent...

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[David]

To me, best scenario is mount your roof tent on a pair of roof bars & then fit a small crate to suit front or rear of where you position the tent...

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I don't have a roof tent it's a Oztent 2m long

 

[Gav Peter]

Sorry dude, bad misread there :-(

Carry on

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[Chris]

Really difficult. Leaders are African Outback, Patriot, Rhino, ARB, add names here really. I think it's more a question of what you want from a rack. Very hard to say. Ally is light yes, but so are some of the tubular ones. Meshed ones are good because stuff doesn't fall through them. Usually not so good to bolt stuff to though.

Good questions, difficult answer.

 

[David]

Looks like the the Armadillo ones are the same as those from direct 4x4 and copies of the ARB, not saying they are bad but the steel one weighs 70+ kg
Looks like West Coast 4x4 do the same range of racks
With a rack weighing 70kg + our Oztent 22kg you are soon up to the max roof load for a 95. but saying that the roof on our Defender is overloaded all of the time

 

[SimonD]

Patriot does Land Cruiser racks http://www.patriotproducts.co.uk/roof-racks.html - lifetime guarantee even if the owner changes. Do some bespoke work too.

 

[David]

Thanks for the link I have seem them before look real quality, but very expensive. I think the way forward is to go down and have a look as I'm not to far from them or TBR

 

[Gary Stockton]

Just a heads-up that African Outback / Big Country (merged a while back) has closed (insolvency) so I wouldn't look at getting one of their - albeit fantastic - racks unless your happy to not have any manufacturer backup. I've a Big Country and am not worried about them being bust - touch wood the rack has been really brilliant for the last 4 years...

You can also consider the Hannibal racks.

I wouldn't look at the FrontRunner stuff as it's very noisy - the load slats run across the width of the roof and make a heck of a racket. Allegedly they flex quite badly too.

Have fun with the shop-around

 

[David]

Just a heads-up that African Outback / Big Country (merged a while back) has closed (insolvency) so I wouldn't look at getting one of their - albeit fantastic - racks unless your happy to not have any manufacturer backup. I've a Big Country and am not worried about them being bust - touch wood the rack has been really brilliant for the last 4 years...

You can also consider the Hannibal racks.

I wouldn't look at the FrontRunner stuff as it's very noisy - the load slats run across the width of the roof and make a heck of a racket. Allegedly they flex quite badly too.

Have fun with the shop-around

Thanks for that don't surppose you know if the Rhino Rack is noisy?

 

[Gary Stockton]

No more so than any of the other 'longitudinal' designs - you can put a diffuser on the front that helps a bit. My BC rack is configured as just the platform (I've taken off the top rail) and it's reasonably quiet - just turn the music up

With the tent on it's a bit quieter, strangely. Must be something to do with the harmonics being absorbed or something ...

There is a hit on fuel consumption too, don't forget. Even with just a 'naked' rack.

Have a think about what accessories you want to bolt on too - awnings, jerry can holders, under-slung table holders (best thing since sliced bread), etc. and see who stocks what you want.

 

[David]

Don't think I have seen a underslung table holder

 

[Gary Stockton]

If you look in the cruiser of the month thread you'll see mine - but here you go:

You can see the slide above the back door under the rack here

And this is the table- you can also see the table slide behind it

 

[AndyCook]

Is that table discontinued Gary?
I have seen a couple of ARB ones like that in flesh this year, but haf no luck finding where to buy one. . .

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[Gary Stockton]

Mine's a Big Country rack and table Andy. You're welcome to borrow it to fab one up, given your drawer-building prowess. It's just some 20mm box aluminium with an aluminium top stuck on it, and some 20mm straps as braces

 

[AndyCook]

Would be good to look at it Gary, but i havent tried welding with aluminium. .

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[David]

, but i havent tried welding with aluminium. .

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Tapatalk 2[/QUOTE]
now that's am art I can weld most stuff but never mastered ally welding, then i can't TIG weld

 

[Gary Stockton]

Pretty sure you can use those plastic inserts to bolt it all together - it's welded probably because that a siesta for them to do in the factory, what with welding up the racks etc.

 

[David]

Done a bit more looking into this today
The Patriot looks a very good bit of kit but reading on some other forums it appears that they use steel setscrews into ally threads and you can not get them apart without a lot of drilling, and I so hate drilling studs out
I then found another brand made not far from me http://www.stormroofracks.co.uk/Design-Features.php anyone seen one
David