rack or bars help me decide

[Jon Wildsmith]

I can't make my mind up wether to keep going with my mkII roof rack or go back to the factory rails so I need help

With rack this morning:

With rails this afternoon:

I hardley ever need a rack. When I do I can just stick some bars on the factory rails. The rack is a bit noisy (remember this is a nice quiet petrol, till tomorrow at least when the custom sports exhaust goes on ).

This build was supposed to be a bit less mad max than my old 80!

Help

 

[Paul_Humphreys]

TBH Jon, if it was me I would stick with the roof bars.

Paul

 

[Crispin]

I've always liked a nice rack......

Without it, it looks like a dirty 4x4. Looks nicer with it on

 

[Paul]

I'll try this again as the last post disappeared

I have 4 thule roof bars which i am bolting some cross members onto for extra strength. This means i can lift it off on my own when not in use.

 

[Crispin]

I'll try this again as the last post disappeared

wasn't admin, I swear We don't do that stuff here...

Did it timeout or was it just a user error?

 

[Paul]

It gave me the message "are you sure you want to post as someone has probably said something more interesting while you were typing" so i clicked submit and it showed me an empty box to fill in again.

Is this because i have ebay in my signature?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

A couple more rail picks from before the bumper went on:

The rack is made up of sections because I knew I'd be undecided about it and didn't want to be stuck with storing a full rack when I took it off!

The mk I was like this:

The mk II just has different side rails.

I think I prefer the simple look i.e. without the rack.

 

[Paul]

Hang on minute.................. my ebay link has dissappeared

has simon broken in here?

 

[Gav Peter]

I like both setups Jon - the rails certainly look much smoother than the rack & a lot less 'Mad Max'...

Can I have the rack if you decide not to use/keep it ;-) Madmaxville here we come!!!

Cheers

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Nearly forgot - this is Ray's fault, I thought I knew what I was doing and foolishly asked what Ray thought thinking he'd say give the rack to the scrap man mate it looks pap

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I like both setups Jon - the rails certainly look much smoother than the rack & a lot less 'Mad Max'...

Can I have the rack if you decide not to use/keep it ;-) Madmaxville here we come!!!

Cheers

I measured up the red car before it went and my 100 rack is much too wide (1400mm) for an 80

 

[Gav Peter]

He's got a lot to answer for that Ray chap ;-)

Don't worry about that, I have an angle grinder ;-) Mind you, the last time I used it, I could have done with stiches...

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I have a tube bender and a few dies now though

 

[Gary Stockton]

umm - what about load rating? I think the OEM bars are only rated to 100kg or so? With tent and you and anything else on top, you'll be well over that, I guess? Whereas with the rack it'll use the A, B, C and D pillar mounts, but be horizontally bound and thus stronger?

Also if you put the cross-bars on then the roof-tent it's going to be quite a bit higher, thus noisier and less aerodynamic (now that's good for a laugh )

I'm sure you could make a low-profile, strong rack that unbolts easily, to be replaced with the roof cover strips from a 100 GS for example??

 

[Chris]

And if Gav doesn't want it can I have it? I need a proper rack. Oh and an 80 to go with it. Really need to get cracking on making something tubular. Might stick one of those egg box tents on like yours Jon. Damn cold in a tent this weekend. it was WELL be low freeing in Dunfries and Galloway. I couldn't tie my laces. They were like stair rods.

C

 

[Gav Peter]

That garage just gets bigger & bigger ;-)

 

[Gary Stockton]

That garage just gets bigger & bigger ;-)

You mean The Tardis, I think??

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Appreciate all the comments.

The OEM rails use 3 cast mountings each side which are pretty sturdy and the rating is for a dynamic load Gary, I won't be going down the road with people in the tent Having said that, it's quite possible the tent won't go on the car again anyway, I prefer the convenience of a popup tent for my laning / camping trips where the roof tent gets in the way really or maybe the RV4 Oz tent for the longer trips like France. I shall probably be building a trailer for the roof tent to live on for short family camping trips, opening up to Oz tent height and have the RV4 stood against it for living space and the fox wing on the other side for an awning Axle should be in the post soon

The OEM rails actually st quite low and even with cross bars on it's about the same height as the rack. I have built in waffle board storage slots on the rack which use up some of the dead space which I lose with the OEM bars.

If I did proper overlanding then I'd have an excuse for a proper roof rack but I don't think I do (have an excuse) other than because I can

Maybe a different style rack is what I need

 

[Rob]

jon could you post some pics of your old mad max 80, and maybe a "brief" description of the mods (maybey in a thread)? I dont think that i have ever seen any pics of it, really curious now

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

My old 80 from 2001-2009

http://www.mudtoys.com/index.php?option ... 6&Itemid=9

And this is what happens to things I'm bored with

Last time on our drive in one piece

Ready to break

Good engine hoist

Even better car hoist

Looking a bit sorry for itself waiting to be filled with scrap and weighed in

Now you might think surely he won't do that to his shiney 100, and you may be right, we'll have to wait and see, but that 80 was just as shiney when I got it and cost 1.6 times as much as the 100