Finally got a Cobalt

[SCARDUP]

Well I finally got the fleetwood cobalt of my dreams. It only took a year and a half of surfing craigslist. First shakedown trip will be Feb 7 and 8 at my jeep clubs wilderness first aid class. Big thanks to Bay Area Expeditions for helping us get it setup. Here's a photo in its new home until I get the spot cleared in the garage. It's a little rough but overall in good condition. I'll be looking to you guys for some help with modifications.
Here's the tow vehicle on 39" tires so I'll have to see how high I wanna go with the trailer lift. I don't ever plan on pulling it through the rubicon but I would like to get it to some boondocking sites off the beaten path.

 

[fubar]

Congrats!

 

[SCARDUP]

Roof Rack Question

Can someone provide with some guidance on installing a roof rack on this thing. The roof feels like styrafoam and from what I've gathered in my research, I should not attach anything to the "cosmetic?" drip rails. I have seen racks on top of the evolution series trailers but none on a cobalt???

 

[shfd739]

Yeah there is a particular kit that mounted to the roof edges but Im having trouble finding it now. Ive seen some on the Coleman part sites

 

[SCARDUP]

Not sure if it was here or one of the popup forums but I saw the write up on the rack that flew off on the highway. It seems that the drip rail is just attached with a few screws and some caulk. It doesn't help any that the roof is made of foam and a thin aluminum skin.

 

[SCARDUP]

Hoping to get the rack on soon with some help from the guys on the neon thread. Trailer performed well on the shakedown trip but the tires are just to tiny for any real off road use. Not sure if I should buy slightly larger tires now or just wait till I'm ready to lift and throw on some 28" tires.

 

[brian90744]

Coleman rack

here a picture of a coleman roof rack, just FYI=brian
Note: these brackets are sealed and bolted thru roof.

 

[MountainD]

^^^^^definitely not the way I'll do mine. I'm gonna pull the header, make a backing plate and bolt through the roof. Anything just glued ain't gonna cut on on the trail or highway for me.

 

[SCARDUP]

^^^^^definitely not the way I'll do mine. I'm gonna pull the header, make a backing plate and bolt through the roof. Anything just glued ain't gonna cut on on the trail or highway for me.

By pull the header do you mean the roof liner on the inside? How much weight do you think these roofs can handle. I'm guessing just the rack is similar in weight to an a/c unit. Not sure how comfortable I am going much past 150-200lbs up there.

 

[MountainD]

Yes, I mean headliner. I don't think that loading it too much is a good idea but that said, they did have air conditioners that I have seen installed and those are upwards of 60-100 lbs... When I add my rack, I am also adding a middle latch to keep the top down too---I am worried about the top shifting side to side when coming off rocks. THere is no way I would trust glue--the reason is that aluminum cap is very thin and it would not take much to make it rip right through---the glue will hold, but the aluminum material won't... I think going through the roof and using a backing plate is the only safe way, and the way I will handle it.

 

[SCARDUP]

Thanks for the follow up. I'll be watching your thread. If you can, try to take some pictures of your rack install, you're trailer is coming together very nicely. I wish I could've found a neon as I think I could build a much more capable trailer with the outboard tires. I feel somewhat limited on tire size due to the dramatic affect it would have on the height of the cobalt. But the wife is much happier. I dream about where I could go with a neon on matching pitbulls.

 

[LuckyDan]

Try taking a look at Henry J's experience. The rack part is toward the bottom of the post:

https://sites.google.com/site/bltoffroad/home/evolution

Hope it helps and good luck.

 

[SCARDUP]

Well I took my camper off road for the first time this weekend as is. Learned a lot about what it's capable of. Learned even more about what it's not capable of. I'm ordering new tires and rims this week and then I'll see what it it'll do. I've been following the neon builds and I'm not quite ready to start messing with the suspension yet as I'm not trying to rock crawl with it to much at this point.

 

[SCARDUP]

On a side note....I was very disappointed in the performance of the 07 jk towing ~1600lbs up the sierras. Had to shift into second gear for most of the inclines. Nothing I can do about that except a hemi swap. The trailer handled fine otherwise.

 

[MountainD]

I'm definitely weight conscious and I certainly sacrificed a little weight for added strength. I think fully loaded I'll be about 1800 lbs in the neon but haven't gotten that far yet. Is 1600 your loaded or dry weight?