Roof rack?

[wheelerfreak]

So, I'm looking at roof racks to mount on my fiberglass shell and came across these: Rack 1 and this Rack 2

The cost on these is nearly cheaper than I can build one given costs of material, supplies and my time. Anyone have any experience with either of these 2 racks?

[rpenner54]

Neither one of those looks like it comes with the hardware needed to mount it to your shell. They just look like the baskets with the brackets made up to mount to an existing rack that is already there.

Not bad prices though.

[wheelerfreak]

Yeah, forgot to mention I already have Yakima mounts and crossbars, used to mount Yak Viper bike racks. I was wanting to just mount the basket to the existing crossbars.

[rpenner54]

That makes much more sense.

How do you like the bars? Whats the most weight you can/have put on the topper? I am eventually going to get a rack to mount on my topper but don't know which kind I want yet.

[wheelerfreak]

I have only put 2 bikes up on the rack so far, maybe 50#'s or so. That load was on the roof while we did a month long trip with about 300 miles of washboard type dirt roads, mild off-roading and several thousand highway miles. I've used it many time for weeklong or shorter camping trips as well and everything held up fine and I like the setup so far. I just need to add a cargo basket to carry our gear on the roof. The bed belongs to the dogs, so I'm limited to the rear seats of the truck and the roof to store gear. I may add a hitch type carrier if I can make one that won't sway too badly while off road.

[Strizzo]

How do you have your towers mounted to the shell? i'm curious because i'm looking into mounting a rooftop tent on yakima crossbars. i'm also not positive that two yak crossbars are enough to support a tent with two people in it.

[wheelerfreak]

I used the Yakima bolt on "top loader" mounts, then regular Yakima Q-towers. I drilled thru the fiberglass shell just inboard from the edge in what I figured would be the strongest point for the mounts, then used big washers on the underside of the shell. I ended up just buying a Yakima mega warrior on sale and mounting it on the 2 existing cross bars. I've put about 150# up there a few times so far on a couple of trips and haven't had any problems. My wife has out her chair up there for star gazing and wildlife watching and it's held up to that....not that she weighs 150#

For a RTT I would use 3 or maybe even 4 crossbars, that's a lot of weight. Figure 150-180# per person plus gear.

[wheelerfreak]

Originally Posted by rpenner54

That makes much more sense.

How do you like the bars? Whats the most weight you can/have put on the topper? I am eventually going to get a rack to mount on my topper but don't know which kind I want yet.

Just to help you out if you mount your bikes up top, use fork type mounts. They are much more solid than any of the types that allow you to leave the front wheel on. It may be more of a PITA to take the wheel off, but the bikes are damn near rock solid up there when off road.

[4x4mike]

I've got this one:
http://www.discountramps.com/rooftop-cargo-rack.htm

It's pretty lightweight but I don't load it too bad. It's mainly for lightweight low profile stuff. We have a baby which means we bring a lot more on out trips. Stuff that folds flat usually goes up there.

It was cheap, low profile and lightweight so it fit my bill. For $80 you're probably not getting your full money's worth but the other baskets were a little big for my liking.