Pajero NT Roof Racks full length

[Alexey2357]

Hi Everyone,

For a long time I was ok with 2 metal bars on the roof and 360L box on those.
But many times was thinking to buy full length roof racks.
I saw on 4wdsupacentre great prices for full length, but as Pajero NT doesn't have rain gators as older pajero models or lancruisers have the attaching those is a pain.

I saw ocam racks which are more expensive 600+. I kinda ready to spend that money, but
I seriously do not like the size. I'd like it to be wider. I do not like that they have 125cm in width.
I have made my bars 129cm, and now I think I should have made them 140cm.

From the other side I think 125cm in most cases will be fine. So I'm not sure if 125cm is a really something I should worry about, but seems it could be in certain situations when I need it.

I just wanted to ask you guys who have had experience with racks. What do you think about 125cm? Was it often when you had a situation that 125 cm is a something cousing problems.
Any advice? Have you had any issues? Would you do anything differently?

If I was in my country I most likely would go with the option to ask someone to weld from alluminium custom size it would be comparable in cost with manufactured one, but the dimensions would be the ones I need. Here're in Australia it would be more expensive to build your own.

What I need to carry on the roof
- bicycles
- 360l box
- RV5 tent
- camping chairs and some camping stuff

I do understand many of you may say why you're not looking bike racks? The answer is that I do not like bike racks which obstract access to the rear door. They increase car length, so you have problems with car parking. Same can be told regarding roof you can't park in a shoppping centers having hight more than 2.1m, but I already live with it having 360L box on the roof. So, Im gonna use roof as much as possible.

Actually I was dreaming to buy a welder which can weld alluminium and make my own racks. The things stopping me is that it will be expensive considering time required for that. Especially I'm not a welder. When I was a teenager at school I used to weld steel. But at the same time this learning might be useful to do some other things of aluminiun for the car or anything else.
Anyone tried to weld alluminum roof racks?

[Two Emms]

Seems like a lot to carry up there, just be careful of the total weight. I think about 80 kgs is the limit.

But anyway an easy solution might be to draw the size of the rack on your driveway with chalk and see if all your stuff fits. If so, buy the rack. If not, it's cost you nothing to find out.

[traktor]

One problem with aluminum is that it does not have fatigue limit, which means it will eventually fail from even from small stress amplitudes. More likely it will fail in welds as unlike steel, a weld in an aluminum alloy is weaker, often to a significant degree, than the alloy being welded.
Commercial aluminum roof racks, like rhino ones, are bolted and riveted.



Also check this out for maximum carrying capacity

https://assets.rhinorack.com/Instructions/Parts/FittingApplications/RMPB1.pdf

[willneill]

I went with the full length ARB alloy mesh rack. The size is 2200x1250mm, you would not want anything bigger. It's expensive, though not as much as some other options. For me it was an important accessory so I went high end and have compromised in other areas. I'm very happy with my decision.

If you're replacing the factory rails which is a no brainer if you're carrying a lot of stuff up top you also need to factor in dropping the headliner to install, it's a fairly big job. What ARB charged for fitment to be honest was pretty reasonable and in my opinion worth it.

As mentioned weight is a very important factor to consider. From another post:

"100kg is max on-road including the weight of the rack. Off road the allowance goes down to around 67kg. Allow around 25kg for an alloy rack. So for long off-road touring you're left with 42kg for gear, give or take. I do trips with heavy loads up top, as I combine camping with surfing and carry a bunch of boards. I've done trips with up to 80kg including the weight of my ARB alloy rack, I do go off road with this weight but keep it to gravel roads, I drive slow and have never had any issues. Proper overlanding though, I would be stripping this back."

[old Jack]

Hi Alexxy,

The factory roof rails are only strong enough for 80Kg off the bitumen and serious extended offroad I would be limiting it to 60kg including the weight of the rack.

If you replace the roof rails with a backbone/rail system then you can could get an extra 20kg of weight but these are expensive at $2000+ +fitting.

One of the strongest and lightest full length alloy load platforms is from Frontrunner it is 2166mm long x 1255mm wide, weighs 34kgs and cost $2160 +fitting.
https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.co...xoCkqMQAvD_BwE

So let say you splash the cash and get 80kg off road roof capacity. Lets look at the weights;

80kg capacity Minus;
34kg Rack weight
25Kg RV5 Tent
20kg 2x lightweight mountain bikes
--------------------------------------------
1 kg total of extra payload and that is without your empty 360 litre storage which might weight another 10kg to 15kg!

Fitting a smaller lighter rack will give you more payload. Any height carried on the roff should be centralised and kept as low as possible to ensure the dynamic centre of gravity is as low as possible.

You need to consider the dynamic forces that such a high and heavy load places on the roof structure and the effect this has on the handling of the vehicle, particularly off the bitumen.

Is the vehicles suspension and tyres capable of handle not only the extra weight but also the dynamic forces of location of the weight?

Too often I see travellers from Australia and overseas that overload their 4wds and particularly their roof racks and then have all sorts of failures on their trips. Worse case is when this top heavy load contributes to a vehicle rollover. This is common in the outback, contributing factors are always speed, overloading and or incorrect loading and lack of correct vehicle preparation.

Have a read of this thread as this subject has been discussed several times before.
https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum...463#post308463

Only thing worse than rounding a bend on a dirt track or road to see the aftermath of a rollover is the rollover happening and it takes your vehicle out at the same time!

Rollovers kill people on a all too regular basis.

OJ.

[Alexey2357]

Guys, where 80-100kg limit is coming from? Is that coming from Pajero? I saw an ARB roof racks have limit 200kg.
If this is the case then I really not sure if it worth spending the money just to karry 67kg(off road limit).
Right now I easily can carry these 70kg in a box + 2 metal bars I have.

[willneill]

The limits are based on the model of vehicle and it's allowance. It's a lot of money to spend for not that much weight, agreed. For some occupying the roof makes travel a whole lot easier but if you cut corners and don't do it correctly, as OJ has mentioned, it's all too easy for things to go horribly wrong.

[BruceandBobbi]

Guys, where 80-100kg limit is coming from? Is that coming from Pajero? I saw an ARB roof racks have limit 200kg.
If this is the case then I really not sure if it worth spending the money just to karry 67kg(off road limit).
Right now I easily can carry these 70kg in a box + 2 metal bars I have.

100kg is the limit on the Pajero roof.

Landcruiser 200 claims to have a 200kg roof load. No way I would do that.

[Alexey2357]

100kg is the limit on the Pajero roof.

Landcruiser 200 claims to have a 200kg roof load. No way I would do that.

Why you think you can't do 200kg if manufacture claims that? I saw car accident. The Honda CRV was lying on its roof just on its part next to the windscreen. The whole car was lying on a single line. I believe this 100kg is a way way under the real capacity. The manufacture just to avoid cases and to be on safe side specified some number 3-5 times less then it actually can carry.
I'm not saying that you should put more than manufacture is saying. I just wanna say if manufacture claims something then mostlikely this is the case with 3-5 times actually more than it was tested.

[Alexey2357]

The limits are based on the model of vehicle and it's allowance. It's a lot of money to spend for not that much weight, agreed. For some occupying the roof makes travel a whole lot easier but if you cut corners and don't do it correctly, as OJ has mentioned, it's all too easy for things to go horribly wrong.

Yeah that's a lot, compare to my current setup. I went to bunnings and bought 3m steel bar 20x20mm and u shaped holders. Cut 2 pieces 129cm and put it on the roof and atached using u shaped holder to the manufacturers rails. I carry easily 70kg right now. Start to think to forget about racks.

BTW a friend of mine told me that I should not put steel bars on the roof that it is dangerous in case of an accident. He said that roof racks made of aluminium for a safety reason. He said steel bar can make harm to people inside of a car in case of car rolling. I tried to find some information and did not find any. Is that really something I should not do?

[old Jack]

Why you think you can't do 200kg if manufacture claims that? I saw car accident. The Honda CRV was lying on its roof just on its part next to the windscreen. The whole car was lying on a single line. I believe this 100kg is a way way under the real capacity. The manufacture just to avoid cases and to be on safe side specified some number 3-5 times less then it actually can carry.
I'm not saying that you should put more than manufacture is saying. I just wanna say if manufacture claims something then mostlikely this is the case with 3-5 times actually more than it was tested.

Hi Alexey,

Landcruiser 200 has a payload of 600kg to 710kg so if you put 200kg on the roof then that only leaves 400kg to 510kg for aftermarket accessories, occupants, fuel and other gear. This residual payload will get consumed very quickly.

The problem with having 200kg on the roof rather than in the rear cargo area is the significant increase of the static centre of gravity, and this in turn has a compounding massive increase to the dynamic centre of gravity.

To give you an idea of the really affect of the change in the centre of gravity, get a 10kg weight and hold out at waist level and close to your body, lean forward, side wards and backward, then run for a few metres and stop quickly, remember how this all feels.
Now do exactly the same but this time hold the 10kg above your head, lean forward, sidewards and backwards, then run for a few metres and stop quickly.

You will feel and see the change in both the static and dynamic forces associated with just the change in location of the weight.

As the saying goes "You can't Phuck with Fysics"

OJ.

[BruceandBobbi]

Why you think you can't do 200kg if manufacture claims that?than it was tested.

As old Jack says...The problem with having 200kg on the roof rather than in the rear cargo area is the significant increase of the static centre of gravity, and this in turn has a compounding massive increase to the dynamic centre of gravity.

[insect_eater]

......I just wanted to ask you guys who have had experience with racks. ......
.......So, Im gonna use roof as much as possible.....

Having been through the same thinking myself, and after reading much on this forum and elsewhere, the consistent advice seems to be to carry as little on the roof as possible. For me it meant seriously upgrading my camping gear to ultra-light versions or going without.

I try to keep the total of my roof platform and its load to less than 80kg - pioneer platform, RV4 oztent, maxtrax, recovery gear, shovel, sleeping mats, and tie-downs.

As OJ says, you've hit the limit before the box and it's contents, especially noting that the bike mounts might weight 4kg each.

As you say, roof rails and a platform are very expensive ways of managing payload given their very low weight capacity. The money may be better spent on investing in smaller and lighter equipment and minimising the need for roof carry. If you have light and bulky equipment, then it may be worth the cost.

It was a disappointing realisation for me to find that I really couldn't safely carry much weight on the roof.

[old Jack]

It was a disappointing realisation for me to find that I really couldn't safely carry much weight on the roof.

Roof load limits, towing limits, towball limits, axle load limits and real pay loads are never clearly discussed in a combined context in the marketing hype from vehicle manufacturers. Individually the specs look good but start putting them altogether and you soon see there are serious limitations that are not openly disclosed.

OJ.

[willneill]

For me it meant seriously upgrading my camping gear to ultra-light versions or going without.

100%. We can learn a lot from hikers.