Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 21:25:47 -0700
Reply-To: John Thomas <jthomas@CRUZIO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: John Thomas <jthomas@CRUZIO.COM>
Subject: Re: Racks on a poptop - 86 Westfalia
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>
> I talked to the Yakima Rack support line a couple of weeks ago about
> mounting their racks on the poptop of my 86 Westfalia. They told me which
> brackets would be best for putting the towers on and then went on to tell
> me that the max I should put on the racks is two bicycles or . . . I
> forget what else . . . Anyway I asked if tearout of the brackets from the
> fiberglass was a problem and he said no. The brackets could hold much more
> with no fear of tearout. The problem that Yakima is concerned with is
> lift. They seem to be afraid that lots of stuff on their roofrack, on a
> poptop, could create enough lift to make the poptop latch fail, allowing
> the poptop to "parachute" up while driving down the road. He also said
> that a canoe on the rack was out of the question also due to the lift concern.
>
> Anybody ever hear of anything like this?
>
> I've seen a number of Westfalias with racks mounted to the poptop (not the
> gutters) with a lots of stuff on the rack. Are these disasters waiting to
> happen at hiway speeds?
>
Rich,
I carry a 21 ft 2 person Kayak on my Westfalia with no problems so far. We just
recently took it to the lakes south of Yosemite and last summer to Tahoe. It
was a mixture of freeway driving and curvy mountain roads, even some really bad
dirt roads at times.
I use a standard Yakima gutter rack in the back with a gutter rail that is
bolted to the Poptop hinge. In the front, I use Thule high mounts that attach
to the van gutters mounted above the front doors. The Thule mounts are just a
bit taller than the corresponding Yakima high profile mounts and easily clear
the luggage rack. So the front is not attached to the fiberglass top. The
Kayak sticks out about 3 to 4 ft front and back so I tie it each end down to the
bumper. I also use the Yakima "holy rollers" on the racks to make it easy to
roll the Kayak up onto the van (from the back).
So my advise is to use the Thule high profile gutter racks in the front and then
you don't have to worry about blowing your top.
Interestingly, on both kayak trips, I got slightly higher gas mileage than on a
normal trip (22 mpg vs 20 mpg average) I suspect it is because I drive slightly
slower and the kayak is very aerodynamic. So far I haven't noticed any real
serious side wind problems but that is partly luck, no real windy days, but I do
have 8 ply truck tires on the front (and will put them on the back when I next
need tires)
I don't know what area of the country you are in but I bought the racks at the
"SportsRack" which is a chain in California that carries both Yakima and Thule
and they were willing to sell the mounts as pairs vs 4's with no extra charge.
I hope this helps.
John
84 Westy (Playmobile)
