Date:         Thu, 12 Nov 1998 18:21:57 -0800
Reply-To:     Steve <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Steve <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
Subject:      Roof Racks
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I am preparing for a trip to a fairly remote part of the
desert with my twins (almost 5) over the long thanksgiving
weekend.  In preparation, i am shopping for a roof
rack....something i have long needed...I am looking at the
open metal basket type used by 4wders.  I have looked at but
decided against the enclosed fiberglass missles.  (am i
wrong here?).  I would like something heavy duty so i can
carry things like firewood, shovel, jack, second spare
sometimes, but i do still want to be able to access the
poptop without disassembling the whole thing.   Also, when i
camp with my kids, i have to bring a lot of stuff and junk
too...and the racks i am looking at would hold all of it
pretty easily and distributed over the center of the
van....thereby freeing the interior for us.

Has anyone mounted a Garvin Industries Wilderness Roof rack
on a vanagon, or a Sucro Safari rack?  The Garvin rack is
super heavy duty, but weighs around 50 lbs.
The Sucro rack is not quite as nice, but is made of alumnium
and weighs less than 35 lbs.  Both racks can be mounted on
yakima or thule bars..which i already have.  Weight is the
obvious concern here.  Would having 3 sets of bars under the
rack do anything to increase weight bearing capacity of the
poptop if all 3 were mounted on raingutters bolted to the
poptop...what is the weaker link...the overall weight
bearing capacity of the poptop, or the stress points where
the rain gutters are bolted to the poptop?

One possible solution to increase the weight bearing
capacity (i am also worried about the additional stresses
caused by moderate to mild off-road conditions) might be to
run a third bar under the middle of the rack and have that
bar, but only that bar, mounted on the actual raingutters
with extenders.  This way, a lot of the weight of the loaded
rack can be supported by the rain gutters instead of by the
poptop, plus you do not have to remove the rack (when empty)
to raise the poptop...only the one middle bar.  The middle
bar attached to the gutters would also help prevent
poptop-pop while driving.

Still....50lbs. seems awfully heavy for a roof rack
(although they do mount them on fiberflass pickup shells).
I am afraid my fondness for the Garvin rack is blinding me
to the impracticality of the weight. Has anyone been down
this road before...does anyone know of any instances when a
poptop was cracked or damaged ... either where a bike rack
or something was bolted to the fiberglass...or where the
damage occurred because of carrying too much weight?

Sorry for asking so many questions lately...
thanks
steve
1990 syncro westfalia
san francisco