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Questions About Roof Racks / Carriers / Bicycle Carriers I have never used a roof rack personally on any of my cars.
- I consider them to be unsafe especially at highway speeds.
- The thought of load shift on a roof rack under heavy braking scares me.
- I hate to worry about losing luggage from a roof rack and not knowing about it.
- I would be anxious about the extra load on the roof making the car unstable on high-speed turns, and ruining its aerodynamics to a large extent. Driving in the mountains, instability at turns could prove fatal. In reality, how dangerous are roof racks in this respect?
- What would a roof rack do to my FE?
- Installing, removing and storing roof racks looks to be a pain, not to speak of placing luggage on the roof rack of a tall SUV. And no, I certainly do not intend to install those weird ladders on the rear hatch!
- Ambys had heavy-duty rain-gutters on the roof to clamp roof racks to. After 2 monsoons, those rain gutters rusted through. The last thing I would want my car roof to rust.
- How strong are the clamps to mount roof racks on modern cars? Are roofs of modern cars really designed to take roof rack load? I have my doubts about this.
Yet, there comes a time when installing a roof rack seems like a good idea despite all the negatives I perceive - and I am talking about long-distance road trips, not your short drive to the airport or railway station. How valid are my negative perceptions?
Different cars have different designs of roof, where installing racks / carriers pose a variety of issues and difficulties. Again, different cars have different ratings about how much load can be carried safely on a roof rack. What are the weights that different cars can carry? I don't seem to be able to find any relevant data for Indian cars on the internet.
Then there are different designs of roof racks, carriers and boxes available in the market. What is a good option to install? How much weight can each type carry? What are the pros and cons? Costs?
I look forward to replies from people who have used roof racks / carriers / boxes, and even those who have not used them, with answers to at least some of the questions that have occurred to me.
And while we discuss roof racks, could we also have some feedback, recommendations and costs, regarding bicycle carriers that either attach to the roof or to the rear hatch / boot of cars & SUVs?
Last edited by SS-Traveller : 11th May at
20:55.
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Re: Questions About Roof Racks / Carriers / Bicycle Carriers Roof racks are used extensively used by many motorist in most of Western Europe and none of them would ever and I mean ever consider any of your considerations/ apprehensions.
I've used roof racks when I took the whole family on a trip. I've used a roof rack extensively for carrying my bicycles. In Europe many people will now use a ski-box rather than a classic roof rack. Roof racks are a bit of a pain aerodynamically speaking. As long as you mount them properly and tie up properly whatever you put on it properly you'll be fine.
Sure, roof racks are a big aerodynamic challenge, but so you carry a roof rack for a few days of the whole year?? That's not going to break the bank on the total yearly fuel consumption.
Does it affect the car handling. Not if you drive normally, but if you're the kind that drifts through every corner you might want to rethink. I've never ever heard of anybody in Europe even considering car handling when they strap on a roof rack or a ski box.
Can you loose your luggage?? Oh yes, if not strapped on properly. When I was a little boy we once lost the whole roof rack because my dad forget to tighten the tensioners. All of our lugage on the German Autobahn. Quite an experience.
I'd say, if you drive normally, even somewhat heavy footed, don't worry at all about a roof rack as long as you've loaded it up properly. Not sure about India, but most car manufacturers will specify how much you can carry on a roof rack. It;s typically somewhere in the 40-50 kg range. So just a few big suitcases.
I've carried much heavier stuff on top, notably the various dinghy's I owned. You want to drive a bit carefull when you got a 95 kg sailing dinghy strapped to your roof rack, of course.
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Re: Questions About Roof Racks / Carriers / Bicycle Carriers At times it becomes essential to use a roof rack. One issue with a market roof rack is the potential invitation for pilferage while being in a public parking without an attendant in the car. The solution? A roof cargo box. But its expensive and does it make sense to buy and install one when you will probably use it just once in a year maybe? The way out. Go the DIY way. For my use I have designed a simple light weight aluminium bars to hold my custom designed and fabricated canvas roof bag. Initially i was using 5 bars to form the base of my bag but clamping 10 nuts to the roof rails was a major headache so now a days I use 2 bars and a light weight square sheet to form a base. Have been using it for quite a lot of long trips and recently when I shifted from Mohali to Jorhat it came in very handy and carried a lot of luggage on the roof to free up vital space inside the car for the long trip.
Effects on mileage: Almost nil. Normally my car gives a range of about 550 kms on a tankful. This time the range varied from 510 to 530 kms on a tankful, but it may be due to the full load being carried and the roads being traveled upon.
Effects on driving: Since due to the covered bag the aerodynamics are still better than an open roof rack and the CMG also stays low, hence no issues even with an occasional high speed side drift.
Even my brother is using a similar set up on his Scorpio albeit with a off market roof rack forming the base for his cross country trips with no issues.
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