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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2012 19:45:01 GMT 2
This feels like one of those stories that should begin with once upon a time, so here goes. Once upon a time I decided to build a roof rack: Although it was a little heavier than I would have liked, it had all the features I wanted. Space for the solar panels, gas bottle and lights in all the right places: Sadly that's where the fairy tale ends. On the way home from my recent camping trip I hit a fairly large pot hole and bend one of my rims. I was so focused on checking the wheel and suspension for damage that I never even thought about the roof rack.A few kilometers later, I heard a sickening crack and saw the roof rack bouncing down the road behind me. I'm just very grateful there were no cars behind me at the time. Upon closer inspection it appears that the roof rack had worked itself partly loose due to off-road driving, there was also hidden rust in the gutters which broke when I hit the pot hole. I guess the moral of the story is that you should check that your roof rack hasn't come loose periodically if you drive off-road, and more importantly check your gutters for rust before you install one. One other lesson I learned along the way is that if you have xenon headlights fitted you don't need spotlights. The only way I could tell the spotlights were working is that i could see every spec of dust on my bonnet, but the road ahead looked exactly the same as it did before I switched the spots on.
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Post by Charles on Oct 2, 2012 20:48:29 GMT 2
Pity about the rack breaking loose.
Charles
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spikes
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Post by spikes on Oct 2, 2012 21:09:20 GMT 2
As you say, fortunately no one behind you. Did you fix the rim before travelling on?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 5:56:53 GMT 2
Hi Spikes,
Yes knocked the lip of the rim back down so that it no longer leaked and was able to travel on.
I'm also very impressed by the Nankangs, there is no hint of a sidewall bulge and the tire never blew out.
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spikes
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Post by spikes on Oct 3, 2012 6:16:46 GMT 2
That is the biggest advantage of the steel rims! One can do "roadside repairs" and continue the trip
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lincslada
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Post by lincslada on Oct 3, 2012 8:07:06 GMT 2
Thats been my fear of building anything for the roof and it breaking.Lovely built roof rack looks the business..
Cheers Gav
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Post by marius on Oct 3, 2012 9:05:57 GMT 2
Pity about the roof rack Conrad - you did a pretty good welding job from what I can see. I would never trade the steel rims on any off road trip - just remember to take a hammer along Marius
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butasteve
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Post by butasteve on Oct 3, 2012 15:06:17 GMT 2
Hi Conrad
Glad everthing's still OK. Looks like you've got a Week-End Project coming up. When you build the new Rack, add two (2) more Brackets.
Regards Stephen
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 20:16:23 GMT 2
I agree about the steel rims, if i had mags on, there is no way I could have done a roadside repair.
Thanks for the compliments, but my welding isn't great. I have to rely on the grinder to make it look neat.
I don't see me building another roof rack anytime soon though. I don't trust the rusty gutters and I'm not sure how to go about fixing them either?
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Post by ronnie on Oct 3, 2012 20:50:42 GMT 2
Hi Conrad I am glad your roof rack did not cause damage to anything when you LOST it. It reminds me of the day my partner and I loaded one of the Landy`s with 250 lengths of Unistrat we needed urgently at one of our sites in Bloemfontein. We loaded up tied everything nice and tight and set off. everything was fine until we were passing through Sandton when Brian had to brake hard for idiots in front. I still remember seeing length after length of Unistrut flying off the rack and doing cartwheels down the road between BM`S, Mercs etc and by some miracle not one vehicle was hit. How I will never know. Now we had to try and load everything as quick as possible before we had a traffic cop trying to give us a ticket for an insecure load. The first thing we did when we got back was to order a trailer with high sides for future loads. Sometimes you can be lucky. Ronnie
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ladanivabelgium
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Post by ladanivabelgium on Oct 4, 2012 6:02:12 GMT 2
Some tips for DIYS roof racks: - when you build a large roof rack make sure it's attached on 6 spots (you did that, but i think they are to small.) Mine are 120 mm in the gutter - don't use flat metal strips, make sure they are bended for extra strength - put the spots WAY further to the back. That way they won't blind you (reflection in wind shield) some pics: supports for the spots (way back on the roof rack, +- in the middle of the door) been offroading a lot whit this thing on my roof and never had any problems with it
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Post by ronnie on Oct 4, 2012 8:01:46 GMT 2
Hi Jan
You can strengthen the roof rack fixings by joining the "feet" with flat bar. This way the bent feet are joined inside the gutter spreading the load.
Ronnie
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2012 19:18:39 GMT 2
Thanks Jan, those are some really good tips.
After what happened to me I would now add that you should also secure it using nylock nuts as well.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2012 20:36:02 GMT 2
I finally got round to taking a picture of the rust in the gutter, and the damage from loosing the roof rack:
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