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Roof Rack Strength

15K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  Monaro 
#1 ·
Hi,

I was thinking of adding a roof rack to carry surf skis and a kayak but looking at the sticker on the windows it seems to imply you cant carry anything with that much wind resistance on the roof (?) Also the local roof rack people in Adelaide hinted that the fixings on the GC are not that strong and you have to be careful what you put up there....

This has made me a bit nervous - whats the real story, are the roof rail fixings that the racks attach to decent and properly secured or not ?

thanks !
 
#2 · (Edited)
The problem is where the rails attach to the roof is quite weak, so if you push down on the rails with any force you will see it deforms quite easily.

Some roof racks move or disperse the mounting point weight to the pinch weld where the roof is stronger. Gobi do a rack like this, and uneek are about to release theirs.

WK2 Grand Cherokee roof rack

edit: I wouldn't have any problem sticking a short kayak or surf board up there, but 4m+ boards could put a bit of pressure on the roof at speed.....
 
#4 ·
The problem is where the rails attach to the roof is quite weak, so if you push down on the rails with any force you will see it deforms quite easily.

Some roof racks move or disperse the mounting point weight to the pinch weld where the roof is stronger. Gobi do a rack like this, and uneek are about to release theirs.

WK2 Grand Cherokee roof rack

edit: I wouldn't have any problem sticking a short kayak or surf board up there, but 4m+ boards could put a bit of pressure on the roof at speed.....
Benno.

It think you may like to take the roof bars off and have a look.

The roof is not weak and you will probably be surprised by what is under the rail.

How do I know?

Well the garage door apparently has a habit of closing itself and apparently did so one day on the roof of the GC whilst I was at work!!

Rola roof Bars were on at the time and are now retired (ended up replacing the foot pack on my previous set of thule bars). One roof rail rail was bent and the roof skin needed a little persuasion to pop back up. Other than that all fine. All four mounting bolts were bent, and one foot was broken. No broken paint and nothing other than cosmetic stuff to fix.

Suffice to say if the roof bars can be pretty much moved and bolts bent, rail bent and the garage door bent etc within minimal damage to the roof, they are not weak IMHO.

Regards

Adrian.
 
#5 ·
But it is still only rated to 68kg, that is weak. And the fact that I can cause the roof to deform with one hand on the rail, that is weak.

While a single impact of say ~50kg wasn't enough to damage it, sustained driving over bumps and through turns with 100kg of downforce likely is. Not in the first few minutes of driving, but over time you are likely to do damage.

Large boats, kayaks, etc aren't particularly heavy, but they are going to catch the wind on the highway, increasing the down force on the roof at speed. I was thinking of using kayak holders to put them on their side, so the impact of the wind is lessened, but for camping I will be close to 100kg static on the roof, and over rough tracks, the roof won't take that with the standard rails.
 
#8 ·
The 150lb/68kg limit goes back to the WJ, I guess the engineers were given a number and they just built what would meet the spec. It is pretty ordinary. I'm ordering a uneek rack.
 
#15 ·
Thanks mate. Looks great.

Are those racks pretty quiet? They're the ones I've been eyeing off for a while now, or the vertex.

What model of tent is that too?
 
#17 ·
#18 ·
I had factory racks on a 2004 Tahoe, a 1997 Explorer and a 1995 4Runner and every single one of them were rated at a max load of 150#.
 
#19 ·
I should add to that that I carried a 17' canoe on every one of them for distances in excess of 1000 miles and had no problem with any of them. The only problem I forsee with the JGC is that there is no flipper glass so it will be difficult to access stuff in the rear when the canoe is mounted.
 
#20 ·
So what's the latest on roof racks (bars) in Oz? I may be up for a pair to carry a small kayak for relatively short trips. I don't need anything aerodynamic necessarily because I won't be leaving them on when not actually carrying something. Second hand is good too. I just want something that is easy to fit on the JGC and won't fall apart after a couple of trips.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Bob, I recently fitted a set of Prorack Tradsman Bars
They were on special at Repco ($249) plus kit for $49


Pretty easy to fit, lay them all out do the measure and set feet, swap out the roof bolts for the threaded bars and check & tighten it all up.

A little dissapointed the "inside" of the mech.
Good news is no noticeable wind noise until 114klm Per Hour

I also bought the PR3014 fitting kit to take the awning bracket bolts.
 

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