homemade rooftop rack idea

[daddykirbs]

I've seen a few posts about roof racks.  I looked at my camper and think this simple design would work.  There would be no drilling in the rooftop, but there would be some drilling in the rooftop sides.

I'm thinking this would be rectangular steel and welded.  The "feet" would be angle iron.  The bottoms of the "feet" could even have some rubber glued to it so it didn't dig into the top (if it would).

Notice that the bar could be hig enough to clear an AC unit.

I'd love to hear ideas on why or why not this would work.  I've only had my camper a few days and haven't actually gone camping in it yet.  When I do go, I want to carry some kayaks and would love to do it on the camper.

Forgive the image, it is not to scale.

[wavery]

I think that I would make 2 changes, if I were doing it.

1. I would use 1" square aluminum tubing for the legs and 1 1/2" aluminum channel for the top (weight consideration).

2. I would add an additional 1 1/2" aluminum channel across the bottom, parallel to the top channel, have it attach to the side legs and have the center leg sit in it with a brace on either side of the center leg, coming down at a 45 degree angle. This would help better distribute the load on the center of the rack. I would put a slight bow in the lower channel to keep it off of the roof. That would give it more structural strength, sorta like a bridge.

Personally, I wouldn't want my rack that high. If I did, that's how I would do it.

[Recumbentman]

Very nice  idea, the problem for most of us, is that we are not fabricators and have to work with what is out there. You also need to keep in mind that the roof structure on PU's are basically foam filled, so there is not alot of strength there. also remember about the interference of the sidling beds. On Fleetwood PU's with AC, they have a crossbrace that attaches to the side as you show. if you could use those existing screws that would really help your design/idea.
Also having the attachment screws on the side, being side-by-side, instead of top-to-bottom might work. that way you can drill right into the framing strip at the top inside corner of the roof for the other attachment point.
if you could work out the details, you could be the next great American Inventors

[daddykirbs]

I adjusted the attachment brackets and added the support braces, eliminating the center "foot".

Did I understand you correctly?

As far as the height thing goes... you would at least want it high enough to clear the AC, right?

[wavery]

That looks better and should keep the weight off of the center of the roof.

I would simply use the area on either side of the A/C to put my toys. I have my kayak on one side of my A/C.

The basic philosophy of the PU camper is to keep it low profile. The wind resistance from stuff on top of your PU may be a lot more than you think. For instance, do you know that a motorcycle has more wind resistance than the modern, mid-sized passenger car?

[daddykirbs]

I have 4 kakaks.  I felt like I needed the entire width to load them.  Even still I may have to carry one or two of them on the TV.

I hear ya about the wind resistance, but I figured the resistance on the camper top would still be minimal since it's lower than the pickup that it's behind.  I could be wrong.

That's the beauty of forums... you get to hear all the opinions before you make final fabrication decisions.  I do appreciate the input.

I'm toying with some other ideas, but that one is currently on the top of my list.

[wavery]

If you need that much room, that design would be good. Now, have you considered the weight factor. I don't know what your kayaks weigh but mine is 70#. If you have 4 of them, that could be 280# plus the weight of your A/C and the weight of the rack. You may be pushing your limits.

That's also 70# per leg on the rack. There is a lot of impact pressure while towing. You may have a load factor of 4 to 10 times that 70# when you hit a pot hole in the road. Just something to consider. The sides of your top just aren't designed to handle anything like those kind of forces.

[daddykirbs]

hmmmm.... yes, I did not consider all that, but that's why I'm here.

I'll have to explore some of the other ideas I have.  Maybe I'll have to put two on the camper and two on the TV.  I was just hoping to keep all of that drag behind the truck, not on top of it.

I've pulled all four kayaks on a modified boat trailer before and it makes traveling with the kayaks a dream, but now I'll have the camper to tow instead.

I'll keep dreaming and reading... I'll come up with something.

Thanks for your input.

[lmack]

Maybe not exactly what you have in mind, but I have a cargo carrier on my camper that was very easy to put on and costs less than $75.   Check it out at

http://www.lmack.org/cargo.htm