Does anyone have any opinions on roof bars for transporting tents etc? Have been trying to find a cheap roof rack to put our tent on to free up space in the boot but can only come up with roof boxes and expensive safari type racks. Freeing space in the boot at expense of space in the garage is not an option.
Depends on the tent packed length as much as anything.
If it's a short, fat, pack, them you need to be sure the bars will go close enough to support it.
A longer back will sit nicely on bars without any problems.
You can also get a couple of lengths of cable tray to go on top of the bars to make a platform that's easy to store, can be cable tied in place, and will support smaller items easily.
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The bars should go close enough to support our tent with the use of rachet straps for security but I would prefer some sort of deck/basket/tray for stability and piece of mind and maybe put a few other things on there too.
I hadn't even considered cable tray(work with the stuff everyday). A couple of pieces of 24" tray with a side removed and bolted together with roofing bolts, maybe even a lick of black paint should make a convincing roof rack.
I used to have a Paddy Hopkirk rack from Halfords years ago but they seem to have vanished of the face of the planet.
I haven't seen those before, I know Thule do something similar but were expensive for what they were. This could be handy for the other bits and pieces I was going to put up there too.
Have you used one of these before? 360 litres of volume seems reasonable but hard to visualise.
Be careful, I know that the idea of your tent on the bars sounds a great idea, but remember the maximum weight capacity. We've got bars but there's no way on earth we could get our tent on the bars. Perhaps a roofbox to keep bulky items like your sleeping bags etc and then you'll have more space in the boot for the tent.
dezzie has a point about weight alot of car roofs will only take 50kg/70kg and you have to minus the weight of the bars and box from that.with the tent on roof i would leave the poles in the car.as to that bag i posted no i don't have one but my fil uses one and he like it and says it is waterproof.
I have a roof box,when travelling,the heavier stuff like the tent,camping furniture etc goes in the car and the boot.I only ever use the roof box for the lighter gear.I don't think I would trust roof bars alone to carry a tent,or any other items that are not fully rigid.
As other people have advised you,know the roof load capacity of your vehicle,because a roof load changes the stability and handling characteristics of all vehicles,and bad loading compromises safety.
Have you tried looking on E-Bay or Prel-loved etc to see if you can pick up a cheap roof rack or roof box.
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we use a traditional old roof rack, not a box as i can get far more bulky items in the rack, like the porta potti, (split in half!) i don't put the tent on the roof as 1) it's too heavy and 2) it's going to be my home!! so it has pride of place in the car, wouldn't even put it in the trailer!
i would use a box, but it grieves me to loose that much space, i do hate rolling up with our big old roof rack on with everything wrapped in blue tarp!!
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I was confident that a rack or bars would have sufficient capacity to carry our tent and poles, but following Dessie's advice I thought I would double check.
Maximum roof load limit on our jeep is 68kgs, maximum limit of our roof bars is 70Kgs, our monty and poles are just under 40kgs. So even with a rack we should have sufficient capacity. Being a 4x4 driver I'm always aware of the handling characteristics when carrying a roof load.
We don't have any room left in our garage for a roof box. I have been looking for a traditional roof rack. I can only find the expensive safari type racks, the ones I have found are matched to rain gutters on cars and vans.
Because anything up there would be exposed to the weather I thought the tent would go up there. Having seen the roof bag I think this would be the best option. I was worried at first about how water proof it would be, but after a little research I think it should not be a problem.
With the tent and poles in the boot and the light bulky stuff on the roof I would feel happier about the car stability, and the little ones will be happier having more room in the back of the car.
I will have to show the OH this thread so I can have my pocket money early to buy a roof bag!!
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Topic: roof bars v roof rack
