Who uses a roof rack and what for?

[Toyotero]

I have a rack that I designed and built for my 4Runner mostly for hauling my canoe.

I didn't like how most aftermarket racks were very tall and wide. Mine is ~4 inches tall at the top rail. I also didn't want to attach one to the rain gutter, this one bolts through 4 holes in the fiberglass top. The materials cost about $50 and it was a good exercise in fabrication.

It also conveniently swapped over to my 86 4Runner when I sold the 88 :-D

 

[Ray Hyland]

We have the full factory basket rack on our 110. Mainly we use it for hauling bags and gear and camp-chairs when the rover is full of customers, or for canoes and extra bikes when needed.

When it is just the family going camping we usually throw all the sleeping bags, pillows, and other light but bulky stuff into dry-bags and strap them up there. Makes a big difference in the rover, space-wise, and doesn't add much weight up top. If we are going down a heavily overgrown trail I will toss a canvas tarp over the top to protect the dry-bags from rips...

Ray


www.hylandadventures.com

 

[OzX]

Gobi on my 2nd Gen X

2 Wedco Gas, 1 Wedco Water, Firewood, Stove, Tents, Chairs, 10' x 10' EZ Up Canopy, Surfboards, Addition 5 gal Plastic can (empty when in transit). Oh ya and a full length shovel (mounted)

 

[NOMADIC_LJ]

Gobi on my 2nd Gen X

2 Wedco Gas, 1 Wedco Water, Firewood, Stove, Tents, Chairs, 10' x 10' EZ Up Canopy, Surfboards, Addition 5 gal Plastic can (empty when in transit). Oh ya and a full length shovel (mounted)

Great rig! you ever take it up to Big Bear?

 

[OzX]

Great rig! you ever take it up to Big Bear?

Thanks, and yes a few times. Its run Gold Mountain, the complete John Bull (east to west, at night no less), Rattlesnake Canyon a few times (once in a blizzard). Possibly be doing Dishpan this weekend.

 

[Snagger]

I think some of the other guys made a very good point: there are so many clever solutions to all sorts of problems on here that you end up feeling you need that kit too in order to be doing things correctly.

To be honest, I think you may find your van's lateral stability to be too adversely affected if you had much on the roof - it does look fairly narrow, and if it's the same as the extremely similar looking Japanese 4wd vans (I can't remember their manufacturer), then I think the CoG looks fairly high already.

I do have a roof rack, but it only gets used for light stuff like bags of clothing, sleeping bags and pillows, camping chairs and tables and so on. If I'm going on a non-camping holiday, I can sling the bicycles up there by themselves as all baggage will be stowed internally and the fridge would not be required.

 

[spressomon]

I resisted adding a roof rack to my '99 LC ever since buying it many years ago. But I succumbed this year and installed a full length FrontRunner Wind Cheatah on it. I immediately noticed, even with very light loads up there, the difference in sway. It was unnerving at first and to be honest I'm not quite comfortable with the feel especially off-road; but no issues to date with a quite a few thousand miles of travel on/off road so far.

Maybe I need to re-tune my Fox shocks for the additional roof load...dunno. But it was INVALUABLE during our spring Utah explore...a ripped tire/wheel combo along with other large broken parts got strapped up there which would have been a PITA for the interior.

I also like being able to throw campfire wood up there quite easily when needed along with keeping the mess of the bbq out of the interior...

Plusses and minuses with anything...same here.

 

[JCMatthews]

I have had a roof rack on my XJ for over 10 years. It was a lot cheeper to put the tire up there than to buy or build a bumper. Also when I went to a 33" it would not fit in the stock position, and was not worth the loss of space in the cargo area. 99% of the time it is used for a spare tire/ hi lift / shovel carrier. Once in a while I might put something up there like a deer after the hunt, but I have an M416 and all of the gear fits in there. I have never had wind resistance issues with it, or center of balance issues. I have wheeeled my Jeep quite hard and have never felt that it effected my balance.

 

[FLYFISHEXPERT]

I designed ours to serve a couple purposes. First, I wanted to relocated my IPF lights from the bumper to the roof, so the basket needed to offer protection for the lights. Second, we needed a place to store bulky/lightweight items like camp chairs and tables. Third I wanted a place to store the NATO fuel cans, other than inside the vehicle.
We also use it to store items, normally stored inside the 4Runner during travel, when we are sleeping inside.

Here we are at camp with one of our big totes on top while we have the sleeping platform setup inside​

I also have locations to mount the Hi-Lift and a shovel.

I have noticed a small decrease in mpg, perhaps ~1 mpg.

 

[FireGuy]

I love having a roof rack. I started with a Baja Rack. Great rack, just didn't fit my needs. I wanted a flat rack so that I could carry a wide variety of gear, from kayaks to RTT, a queen mattress once, two spare tires, firewood, and all sorts of gear. I have the African Outback rack and love it. Some have had problems with buffeting and wind noise. I have not as of yet, and it has been on close to a year. I never really noticed any difference in sway or lean with the roof loaded up, but I'm a conservative driver as is (due to all the crashes I've been to at work, I can no longer stomach driving fast).

 

[zidaro]

we use ours for everything but the kitchen sink when camping. A kid camping for 5+ days and you need room

 

[Viggen]

Firewood, jerry cans (water and gas), Hi Lift, lamps, three boxes (1) big Zero Industries for tent, vestibule, two chairs, two sleeping bags, two cots, fold up dish washing thing, hammock (2) 20x20x11 Hardigg for camping stove and fuel (3) 18x18x16 Hardigg with nesting cookware set, 3 sizes of cast iron skillets, tongs, spatula, cutlery, dish washing liquid, plates, etc...

 

[mountainsoul]

Yakima rack. SkyBox 16. 2 x Steelheads. Bowdown kayak carrier. Big Powderhound snowboard rack. Thule Atlantis 18. I just mix and match as needed.

 

[Rattler]

I have a Yakima Mega Warrior rack mounted on top of my ARE DCU topper. It has a couple lights on the front, and I have two of the large action packers that fit perfectly on it that will be used to carry all my clothes, sleeping bags, pillows, camp chairs etcetera that are fairly lightweight.

I may put a floor on the rack to make it easier to carry smaller stuff too.

I also have fabricated brackets to carry a shovel, axe, and a hi-lift jack on the other side.

While in camp I will use it to attach my tarp/awning to for shelter.

I know this is a semi-old thread but I am considering getting one of these. Do you think I would have any problems with a RTT on it? I really don't trust the fiberglass ones.

Any pics? I am curious to see one used in an overland setup.

 

[mykdee]

I have one on my Ford E-150 and we are going to use it to carry our zodiac boat and we also have our awning mounted on it. It is 5ft by 9ft!