Roof rack question for truck people.

[Clark White]

I am looking to build my own rack for my Tacoma, and need a fairly large rack. I have two cross bars on the camper top, and was planning on putting another cross bar on the cab, then bring the rack the whole length of my roof, just behind the windshield. My reasoning for this is I sleep on the rack quite often (roof top tent, except I just use a regular one man tent that i put up there, I'll get pic's when I camp next) and still want to have rack to store things with out having to take them off when I stop to camp. Where my question comes in is my friend pointed out that the bed flexes separate from the cab, and if the rack is one solid piece and hard mounted to both the camper and cab, it's going to twist the rack, or more likely destroy my roof. Do you think this is what would happen? Would it be reasonable in cost and rack weight to build a rack strong enough to be free floating above the cab and still hold two 5gal Jerry cans and some personal gear?

Thanks!
Clark

 

[Martinjmpr]

Sounds like an awful lot of weight being put up very high. Here's a dumb question, though: What's in the bed of the truck? Can you not carry your gear there? IMO a roof rack is an absolute last resort for storage because it will move the CG of your vehicle higher. I think the general rule of keeping your gear as low as possible is a good one (especially anything heavy like a full fuel can.)

To answer your question, the bed and the cab will flex independently, but that is determined by what kind of off-road driving you do. Around here in CO where there are lots of rocks and ruts, you would have a problem. OTOH if you do a lot of your off road driving on the beaches of the Outer Banks, you might not have any issues.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Sure, it's possible to make a "floating" rack that overhangs the cab that's strong enough to hold gas cans. You "can" design anything you want, but it will probably weigh a lot.

I do believe that the twisting problem is real. A better solution would be two independent racks with a common floor height, but some small space between them. You could even bridge the gap with some kind of flexible material if you wanted. For example, bridge it with a plastic flooring material that is bolted to one deck, and "free floats" on the opposite deck. It might rub or make noise, but shouldn't cause damage if you design it right.

That's how I'd tackle the problem.

 

[rynosurf]

Buy a ladder rack that wraps around the shell.
Here is an example.http://www.tonneau-covers-etc.com/wpe30693.jpg
If you put too much weight on the shell it can crack.

 

[JJackson]

I was reading about this last night on TTORA, you may want to do a search over there for something like yakima thule roof rack. I did find some that have a roof mounted bar and a bed mounted bar with basket in between.

 

[Clark White]

Ladder rack is an interesting idea. How do they affect the seal on the cab? I've thought about the cg problem, but I'm not too concerned because as a whole I just put light bulky stuff up there, gas cans are the only heavy things. I mostly just need the long rack for the tent. Tent measures 43"x90" (not sure if thats with or w/o fly).

Clark

 

[rickc]

Check this out:
http://www.thuleracks.com/pro/default.asp

I've seen Tacos with these racks on before, including one with a cantilevered overhang over the cabin but I do not know if this was custom or not. They are very expensive but are beautiful.

Some good points made here already. Too much weight up top can distort the roof if the weight is pressing down on a pillar. It all depends on how much weight and how the roof support is designed. I'm with the others; store the heavies as low as you can and keep the top for light stuff or tricky stuff (kayaks!).

Good luck, post pics!