Anthony.V
Observer
Hello all,
I apologize in advance if these questions have been done to death. I've searched and searched, here and online but can't seem to find anything definitive.
So here goes. I have a 12 Xterra with the stock roof rack. I've seen heaps of Xterras, even with the stock rack hauling RTT's seemingly without any trouble, but here are my concerns:
-Weight on the roof/rack. My wife and I are big people. The two of us total almost 500lbs. Most of the folks I've seen using them wouldn't equal our combined weight. I understand that they make them for four and 5+ people, and the tents themselves are designed to take the weight. But add the combined weight of one of those tents and ours and your looking at something like 650-700+lbs on those tubular rails. I also understand you can spread the weight out on crossbars, but distributed evenly or not, thats a lot of weight up there! Does anyone have any experience with this much weight on those stock rails, or just that kind of weight in general? I know the roof is designed to resist collapse in a rollover, but what kind of static weight can be applied before damage?
-Increasing already high CG. I typically would try to bypass any high roll inducing obstacle offroad, especially loaded up. But sometimes there's just no avoiding them. What's been your experience hauling that extra 150+pounds of tent up there on roll inducing obstacles? Am I worried for nothing?
-Fuel economy. The Xterra is a "smiles per gallon" sort of vehicle to begin with. What sort of mpg loss are you folks seeing hauling that square slab through the wind? I know they've got the more aero friendly tents that fold down "bullet shape." But those look to be substantially more expensive. Might be worth the extra cost though if they're substantially less detrimental to "efficiency."
Thanks in advance!
I apologize in advance if these questions have been done to death. I've searched and searched, here and online but can't seem to find anything definitive.
So here goes. I have a 12 Xterra with the stock roof rack. I've seen heaps of Xterras, even with the stock rack hauling RTT's seemingly without any trouble, but here are my concerns:
-Weight on the roof/rack. My wife and I are big people. The two of us total almost 500lbs. Most of the folks I've seen using them wouldn't equal our combined weight. I understand that they make them for four and 5+ people, and the tents themselves are designed to take the weight. But add the combined weight of one of those tents and ours and your looking at something like 650-700+lbs on those tubular rails. I also understand you can spread the weight out on crossbars, but distributed evenly or not, thats a lot of weight up there! Does anyone have any experience with this much weight on those stock rails, or just that kind of weight in general? I know the roof is designed to resist collapse in a rollover, but what kind of static weight can be applied before damage?
-Increasing already high CG. I typically would try to bypass any high roll inducing obstacle offroad, especially loaded up. But sometimes there's just no avoiding them. What's been your experience hauling that extra 150+pounds of tent up there on roll inducing obstacles? Am I worried for nothing?
-Fuel economy. The Xterra is a "smiles per gallon" sort of vehicle to begin with. What sort of mpg loss are you folks seeing hauling that square slab through the wind? I know they've got the more aero friendly tents that fold down "bullet shape." But those look to be substantially more expensive. Might be worth the extra cost though if they're substantially less detrimental to "efficiency."
Thanks in advance!
