Roof Top Tinny - Viable for Paj Sport?

[Greg Grey Grumbly]

I'm now at the stage of having PS set up for camping and caravaning and have completed a couple of trips - very happy with the PS performance towing, it really is a surprise package.

The next step is investigating if a roof top tinny can be carried as it would be fantastic to be able to fish some of the places we go to with the caravan.

According to the MM manual, the max load on the roof is 80kg, so a carefully selected tinny of say up to 70 kg will in theory go on top on the Rhino Roof bars. As an aside, I don't want to go to one of the complex auto loading devices as this will push the weight out of limits and anyway, just adds to bulk and wind resistance on the roof.

Has anyone attempted this project yet and if so thoughts and advice?

[old Jack]

Hi Greg,

Have you looked at folding boats? light weight and compact.

https://www.porta-bote.com.au/

OJ.

[Dicko1]

I have a 2014 Pajero NW.

I have a 3.7 QUINNIE EXPLORER OUTBACK. It weighs about 80 kg. I put it on top of my camper. Without a decent solidly built roofrack that also incorporates a winch you will be asking for trouble. My camper is about 700mm lower than the roof height of the Pajero and even this can be a struggle at times (by myself). The reason I have the camper is because a van is too high for the boat and a decent side wind would create havoc trying to control the car with a tinnie of top. Fuel usage would also go up accordingly. I,ve seen a few car top set ups but they really are only for smaller, lighter tinnies. 80kg is pushing it too much for safety. Corrugated dirt roads would soon see damage of some sort..

[Greg Grey Grumbly]

Thanks for the feedback OJ and Dicko.

Tend to agree that getting it up and down and the overall weight could be an issue. Perhaps limiting it to a 3.5 m tinny/70kg will keep it within sensible limits. I tow a full sized van so the PS roof is the only real estate available.

As for getting it up and down, I’m thinking of fabricating a couple of removable side slides which might be achieveable with a smaller tinny. Still thinking it through, I really do not want to have to consider a 200 Series as IMO they are way too big for everyday use around town. I was hoping that someone might have already solved this problem

Greg

[old Jack]

If going for a tinny, Rhino Rack do a tinny side loader, not cheap but takes the load of your back.

http://www.rhinorack.com.au/products/roof/water/boat-loaders/side-boat-loader_rsbl

This is an interesting article that has some good info.

https://www.caravancampingsales.com.au/editorial/details/the-lowdown-on-car-toppers-58092/

OJ.

[Greg Grey Grumbly]

Thanks for the information OJ, very interesting indeed. The problem I still have is that the Rhino side loader weighs 35kg, which with boat will put the total roof load over the 80kg limit. I do note however that even the Landcruiser has a 100kg limit - I’ve seen many Landcruisers with way over that weight on top but of course that doesn’t help when the insurance assessor are investigating so it must be legal.

I’ll do some more measurements on the PS, at this stage the tinny can be no more than 3.4m long and should weigh in at about 70kg. But my thinking is around the feasibility of fabricating a manual side loader with the removeable slide bars stored on the caravan,TBD.

I’ll keep posting on this untilI get to a go/no go situation.

[old Jack]

https://www.karitek.co.uk/shop/roof-racks-rails/all-roof-racks-rails

OJ.

[silverbull]

Greg, in the Pajero Sport facebook group we have seen several members now have the roof rack mounts fail when having full load on the roof and doing rough work like corrugations. I don't mean the roof rack rails that traverse the length of the roof rather the metal brackets that mitsi build on to the roof itself then mount those rails to. Have needed repairs by panel beaters to fix. They are pretty flimsy so certainly wouldn't recommend going over the 80 and when doing rough stuff keep the weight up there down lower than 80.

[ron2503]

Greg, in the Pajero Sport facebook group we have seen several members now have the roof rack mounts fail when having full load on the roof and doing rough work like corrugations. I don't mean the roof rack rails that traverse the length of the roof rather the metal brackets that mitsi build on to the roof itself then mount those rails to. Have needed repairs by panel beaters to fix. They are pretty flimsy so certainly wouldn't recommend going over the 80 and when doing rough stuff keep the weight up there down lower than 80.

On almost every occasion the roof mounts failed it was a "Backbone" type roofrack that was installed.

[old Jack]

On almost every occasion the roof mounts failed it was a "Backbone" type roofrack that was installed.

Do you have more details of the “backbone” systems failing?

In theory if they are designed and installed correctly the should be much stronger than the factory fitted system.

Is it a problem that those with these systems are overloading and traveling off the bitumen?

OJ.

[ron2503]

Do you have more details of the “backbone” systems failing?

In theory if they are designed and installed correctly the should be much stronger than the factory fitted system.

Is it a problem that those with these systems are overloading and traveling off the bitumen?

OJ.

OJ this is only a theory ,but, i believe that the original resin "roof rails" soak up a fair bit of lateral movement before it reaches the mounting points. The Backbone mounts directly to the brackets on the roof therefore all of the lateral movement goes straight through the mounts. Like I said, and I am no engineer, this is only a theory.

[old Jack]

OJ this is only a theory ,but, i believe that the original resin "roof fails" soak up a fair bit of lateral movement before it reaches the mounting points. The Backbone mounts directly to the brackets on the roof therefore all of the lateral movement goes straight through the mounts. Like I said, and I am no engineer, this is only a theory.

So is it the actual backbone mount failing or the roof structure where it attaches?

OJ.

[ron2503]

The actual roof mounts. On all of the instances I've read about the roof rack manufacturer has repaired any damage.

[old Jack]

The actual roof mounts. On all of the instances I've read about the roof rack manufacturer has repaired any damage.

Hi Ron,

Can you please post the links, hopefully there will be some photos that may give an idea of the cause of the problem.

It is quite common for aftermarket accessories to cause failures of vehicle structures because the accessories are over engineered and do not work in harmony with the factory structures. Winch bars, dual battery trays, towbars, roof racks, long range fuel tanks and even suspension systems have all been known to cause failures of vehicle structures.

OJ.

[Greg Grey Grumbly]

Just to update progress on the PS Tinny on the roof question, I’ve progressed to buying a new 3.1 Tinny that weighs in at 63 kg. An added benefit of the smaller 3.1 m is that a 26 kg, 10 hp outboard is all that’s required which is easily handled.

I’m using standard Rhino PS roof bars, but I’ve replaced the usual bars with wider 1375 mm long bars to provide better tie down side clearance for the tinny, these fit and look fine. Then I’ll be fitting the Rhino tie down eyes to the bars which solidly locate within the bar’s upper track. The other modification planned is addition of a third bar to provide better fore and aft stability as the standard racks seem to be placed very close together, a part of the trial will be to determine the best place for it. I’m assuming that I can drill the roof bar to allow the bracket clamps to properly engage.

We’re heading to S.A at the moment, I would have loved to just throw it all together and go but I want to thoroughly trial the system before heading out. But if it works out I’ll be well under the 80kg limit with the smaller 3.1 m tinny and at that weight two people should be easily able to manually load it on.