Roof Rack Load Ratings

[Tim Barrett]

Warning: I'm a newbie!

I've been researching roof racks and I've noticed they have load ratings that vary wildly. Specifically, Eezi-Awn K9 claims 500lbs dynamic and 1000 lbs static, which seems sufficient to put a roof top tent with my wife and I in it and maybe a kid or two (I have four!) And some misc gear, however this is substantially higher than those claimed by others. The Gobi, which I really like as well claims 300 dynamic and 600 static, which seems tight. Others I've seen are even less. Does this not mean what I think it does?

 

[HKLover]

Each roof rack manufacturer has different ratings for their racks because they make them with different materials and use different designs. A roof rack made by one manufacturer that can fit multiple vehicles using different mounting systems may also have different weight ratings depending on how and where it mounts on a specific vehicle. There are many variables that companies use when placing or stating a rating for a given system. Not all will or should be the same.

Good luck in your search.

 

[Jeff B]

You are right with your thoughts. The racks do have varying weight limits and many people do overload those weight limits. As long as you stay in the gvwr and the load capacity for the vehicle and the load capacity for any racks added to it you should be ok. Now this doesn't mean it won't make a vehicle top heavy, which it could.

 

[bmwguru]

Warning: I'm a newbie!

I've been researching roof racks and I've noticed they have load ratings that vary wildly. Specifically, Eezi-Awn K9 claims 500lbs dynamic and 1000 lbs static, which seems sufficient to put a roof top tent with my wife and I in it and maybe a kid or two (I have four!) And some misc gear, however this is substantially higher than those claimed by others. The Gobi, which I really like as well claims 300 dynamic and 600 static, which seems tight. Others I've seen are even less. Does this not mean what I think it does?

What vehicle are you driving and what are you planning on putting up top?

 

[Tim Barrett]

What vehicle are you driving and what are you planning on putting up top?

I just bought a 1999 Lexus LX470 weekend camping toy I'm working on. I have fair size family (wife + 4) so butts take up most of the space inside, gear needs to go on top.

I'm mostly surprised at how low most of the ratings are. The Gobi and the Eezi-Awn K9 were the highest load ratings I've been able to find by a fair amount. For example, even ARB's roof rack says it's rated for 165lbs... If ever I put a roof top tent on top (100-200 lbs), I'm 200 lbs and my wife is about 135... That's close to maxed out for even the Gobi before any other recovery or misc gear goes up.

Am I thinking about this wrong?

 

[GeoCampers #4771]

I just bought a 1999 Lexus LX470 weekend camping toy I'm working on. I have fair size family (wife + 4) so butts take up most of the space inside, gear needs to go on top.

I'm mostly surprised at how low most of the ratings are. The Gobi and the Eezi-Awn K9 were the highest load ratings I've been able to find by a fair amount. For example, even ARB's roof rack says it's rated for 165lbs... If ever I put a roof top tent on top (100-200 lbs), I'm 200 lbs and my wife is about 135... That's close to maxed out for even the Gobi before any other recovery or misc gear goes up.

Am I thinking about this wrong?

Almost all ratings are dynemic ratings. The question is would you load more than say the ARB's 165lbs on your roof? The vehicle than becomes very top heavy and unsafe on and off raod. And most probably your vehicles max roof load is less than the 165lbs.
Ofcourse you could load more, no problem for the car at all, but be carefull, when in an acident, the insurance might not pay out.

 

[Jeff B]

Guys. Do you really believe this nonsense? Those numbers are put there by LAWYERS not ENGINEERS!
Think about it would they sell you a car that in a rollover where it landed on it's roof would collapse and decapitate occupants? NO, therefore the roof has to hold the weight of the CAR upside down!
Think it through.

What they are really saying is the higher your make your center of gravity the less stable the vehicle so when a dumb ass places 500lb on the roof drives off then tries and evasive maneuver and rolls the car it's on YOU not them. Umm, no shit!

Cars are not required to have roofs that can hold the weight of the vehicle, the only vehicle that has that requirement is a school bus.

 

[GeoCampers #4771]

Guys. Do you really believe this nonsense? Those numbers are put there by LAWYERS not ENGINEERS!
Think about it would they sell you a car that in a rollover where it landed on it's roof would collapse and decapitate occupants? NO, therefore the roof has to hold the weight of the CAR upside down!
Think it through.

What they are really saying is the higher your make your center of gravity the less stable the vehicle so when a dumb ass places 500lb on the roof drives off then tries and evasive maneuver and rolls the car it's on YOU not them. Umm, no shit!

That is what i said, the numbers are there for the insurance,. You can sertanly load more, BUT, when in an accindent, you insurance will be the first to say you loaded to much and therefore they refuse to pay. But you are right, structualy the car can have many times more than rated.

 

[MidOH]

Buddy wanted Thule (I think) or Yakima mounts over the bed of his pick up. He used 6 uprights, and three cross bars, instead of the usual 4/2. For extra load carrying capacity.

I think something similar can be dome with many suv's.

 

[madcratebuilder]

If you check with the manufacturers you may find that the published weights are reduced by 50% or more when in a "Off Road" environment. I have no problem with 250lbs on my Rhino platform on road but off road I want it no more that 100lbs. Check your tie downs every stop.

 

[Nick - Overland Pro Shop]

Many rack systems with weight ratings are tested to failure. Some companies are really great about taking responsibility for their products, others don't want to. As I work for a business selling and installing rack systems as well as RTTs I won't sell a rack system and tent to a customer if the rack doesn't have a sufficient weight rating. This protects us as a business as well as the customer and their family and other potential bystanders if there was an accident. Rhino Rack, Gobi, Leitner Designs are all great companies providing rack systems. The common denominator is almost always the factory roof rails though. Thule makes some nice crossbars rated for 220lbs but if the factory rails are only rated for 160lbs, 160lbs is your weight limit. Gobi fixes this by producing racks that replace the factory rails, Rhino-Rack has their Backbone system, etc. Honestly, most companies have super helpful customer support that can steer you in the right direction with your vehicle. If you guys have questions as well feel free to message me I'd be glad to help.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Warning: I'm a newbie!

I've been researching roof racks and I've noticed they have load ratings that vary wildly. Specifically, Eezi-Awn K9 claims 500lbs dynamic and 1000 lbs static, which seems sufficient to put a roof top tent with my wife and I in it and maybe a kid or two (I have four!) And some misc gear, however this is substantially higher than those claimed by others. The Gobi, which I really like as well claims 300 dynamic and 600 static, which seems tight. Others I've seen are even less. Does this not mean what I think it does?

RTT's are a fad and a waste of money IMO. They are glamorous if that is what you want. Keep you kids on the ground and in a good tent or trailer (home build's are easy to build and will do just as good a job on getting off the ground. Nothing worse to drive than a top heavy rig either. Bad gas mileage is another factor, wind noise, but if your rich or can afford a 3500 series vehicle, go for it. Do you happen to have a chain fall and a high ceiling or A frame devise to remove the thing when you don't want it up on your roof. Are your garage doors tall enough to drive into the garage without ripping the unit off your roof and doing unsurmountable damage to your garage door etc. I hope you check these things out before you waste your money on a RTT.
Lanlubber

 

[Tim Barrett]

RTT's are a fad and a waste of money IMO. They are glamorous if that is what you want. Keep you kids on the ground and in a good tent or trailer (home build's are easy to build and will do just as good a job on getting off the ground. Nothing worse to drive than a top heavy rig either. Bad gas mileage is another factor, wind noise, but if your rich or can afford a 3500 series vehicle, go for it. Do you happen to have a chain fall and a high ceiling or A frame devise to remove the thing when you don't want it up on your roof. Are your garage doors tall enough to drive into the garage without ripping the unit off your roof and doing unsurmountable damage to your garage door etc. I hope you check these things out before you waste your money on a RTT.
Lanlubber

Great points. I don't have one yet and just got back from a trip this weekend with our old faithful ground tent. If I had a RTT I would have had to be stuck on the road instead of in the beautiful meadow 100 yards away (Forest ranger kicked the vehicles out). After that, I'm leaning toward forgoing the RTT at this point. Also like the idea of less weight up top.

 

[Tim Barrett]

Come to Florida where the ground begins to crawls once the sun goes down. Oh, also gators, snakes, wild pigs, bears, panthers, and shit we don’t even know about yet...

Ha! Not for me... I think you just changed my mind on considering RTT's again!

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Come to Florida where the ground begins to crawls once the sun goes down. Oh, also gators, snakes, wild pigs, bears, panthers, and shit we don’t even know about yet...

I think I mentioned a trailer rig for those kind of hazards.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Ha! Not for me... I think you just changed my mind on considering RTT's again!

Don't listen, there are other ways go get off the ground.

 

[RetiredNotDead]

I just bought a 1999 Lexus LX470 weekend camping toy I'm working on. I have fair size family (wife + 4) so butts take up most of the space inside, gear needs to go on top.

I'm mostly surprised at how low most of the ratings are. The Gobi and the Eezi-Awn K9 were the highest load ratings I've been able to find by a fair amount. For example, even ARB's roof rack says it's rated for 165lbs... If ever I put a roof top tent on top (100-200 lbs), I'm 200 lbs and my wife is about 135... That's close to maxed out for even the Gobi before any other recovery or misc gear goes up.

Am I thinking about this wrong?

Dynamic Rating: (165lbs for typical car/SUV) - Amount of weight in motion (eg: weight of the tent stowed ); Static Weight Rating: Vehicle, parked, tent deployed and occupied. Just don't travel down the trail with Aunt Edna catching ZZZs in the tent

 

[Viking1204]

RTT's are a fad and a waste of money IMO. They are glamorous if that is what you want. Keep you kids on the ground and in a good tent or trailer (home build's are easy to build and will do just as good a job on getting off the ground. Nothing worse to drive than a top heavy rig either. Bad gas mileage is another factor, wind noise, but if your rich or can afford a 3500 series vehicle, go for it. Do you happen to have a chain fall and a high ceiling or A frame devise to remove the thing when you don't want it up on your roof. Are your garage doors tall enough to drive into the garage without ripping the unit off your roof and doing unsurmountable damage to your garage door etc. I hope you check these things out before you waste your money on a RTT.
Lanlubber

I have to disagree. For approximately $1,200 I purchased and installed a RTT on my truck on a rack I built out of Superstrut supports. I have a Supercrew F-150 4x4 and it maybe dropped my mileage .5 mph, with it over the bed of the truck most of the wind goes up and over it being deflected by the windshield. My truck weighs 6000 pounds so putting a RTT on it that weighs less than 150lbs doesn't make it top heavy at all. Before I had my RTT I hardly ever went camping due to the hassle of setting everything up including the ground tent. Also where I hunt I'm not going to camp on the ground due to the scorpions and bears that are prevalent where I hunt. Now I can pull into a camp spot and have my RTT deployed in under 10 minutes. I've built a bed slide that I now have setup to hold my fridge, kitchen totes and gas grill. Once the bed slide is pulled out I have access to my fridge, kitchen supplies and I'm ready to grill once I connect the propane up! I think everyone has to look at their situation and build a setup that suits them. My RTT and bed slide setup have opened up a world of camping more often for me and now I can travel and have a place to stay without having to pay for a hotel. Also I can now hunt for more than a day or two without worry of the scorpions or bears getting into my tent which is all good! The attached pic of the bears is a few hundred yards from where the camp site is where I hunt! BTW, I considered a trailer but the cost was more than I currently could afford.

 

[Boostpowered]

Dont think for a second a bear, mountain lion or most anything else aside from hogs cant get up into a rtt if it wanted to. If it can climb a tree it can get into your rtt, even a coyote can jump up to 8 ft vertical, a few years back i had a coyote that was jumping my 8ft fence and killing my goats then jumping right back out. Took me a while to figure out what was happening i had to sit in a deer blind at night for a week before i finally got him.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I have to disagree. For approximately $1,200 I purchased and installed a RTT on my truck on a rack I built out of Superstrut supports. I have a Supercrew F-150 4x4 and it maybe dropped my mileage .5 mph, with it over the bed of the truck most of the wind goes up and over it being deflected by the windshield. My truck weighs 6000 pounds so putting a RTT on it that weighs less than 150lbs doesn't make it top heavy at all. Before I had my RTT I hardly ever went camping due to the hassle of setting everything up including the ground tent. Also where I hunt I'm not going to camp on the ground due to the scorpions and bears that are prevalent where I hunt. Now I can pull into a camp spot and have my RTT deployed in under 10 minutes. I've built a bed slide that I now have setup to hold my fridge, kitchen totes and gas grill. Once the bed slide is pulled out I have access to my fridge, kitchen supplies and I'm ready to grill once I connect the propane up! I think everyone has to look at their situation and build a setup that suits them. My RTT and bed slide setup have opened up a world of camping more often for me and now I can travel and have a place to stay without having to pay for a hotel. Also I can now hunt for more than a day or two without worry of the scorpions or bears getting into my tent which is all good! The attached pic of the bears is a few hundred yards from where the camp site is where I hunt! BTW, I considered a trailer but the cost was more than I currently could afford.

View attachment 133304

How many people can you sleep comfortably in your RTT ? I think 2 is about all. Does your wife go with you ? If not all's well but if she goes with you where do you put your kids or kid ? Single guys or couples may do fine with an RTT if your young enough to get up on the roof. I still think that for most people (not hunters) they are a fad that will go away with the older generation in favor of some kind of trailer rig (home built or otherwise) . Personally I could build a nice trailer rig for about the same as your spending on the RTT.
Because I am older than you and single, I prefer either sleeping in my rig if I'm hunting, in a tent when I'm boon docking, or in my small trailer when traveling or camping or fishing. It takes all kinds of ways to do everything. A trailer will haul all you goodies safely and securely, where an open bed truck leaves your stuff vulnerable to theft.