Roof Rack Loading

[Lassen]

Hey, all! Have what may seem like an unimportant question, but I just want to make certain I am thinking of things right. I am just wrapping up building my own roof rack and wanted to obtain a bit of advice from anyone who is willing to share. The rack I have is 5.5 feet long by 4 feet wide. As this is a totally custom job my next step is determining where on the rack I want to strap down my 4 totes -- I went with four as they are easier to lift down off my Jeep WK. I'm 6'5" and have quite a reach, but sometimes after a long day driving, my back begins to tell me to stop everything! At any rate, the totes don't weigh too much, the heaviest being maybe 20 - 25 pounds. For the sake of this discussion, we'll just say that all weigh 25 pounds. They'll be strapped down two forward and two aft. Also going up on the roof is my tent, cot (which is a heavy beast!) and my camp chair. My question is this: Should I load tent/cot/chair forward with totes following behind, or should I load totes forward with tent/cot/chair on the back end?

Here's a couple images of what I am looking at.
Front is to the left in both.





Thanks in advance!

 

[Tim]

From my experience you need to keep weight between the axles or probably as far forward as possible. But then again you don't want too much weight only over one leg of the rack. Does either option feel different when driving? Does one introduce more wind noise?

If you are building the rack, can you introduce more legs to spread the load on the roof?


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[Glenn]

Keep all heavy stuff low and light stuff high. When you have everything in a pile that gets loaded just spread the weight as evenly as you can and you will have no issues. Every vehicle is different from size , suspension , rack , gear weight etc so there is no set answer.

 

[TerryD]

Park the rig on a level surface and start loading. You want to wind up with the load spread evenly over the whole vehicle, with neither end squatting more than the other and sitting even side to side. Make sure to have somewhere between a 1/2 to whole tank of fuel to account for that weight as well. Then move the load around till you are happy with how it sits and take it for a drive. Then adjust if needed. This is just general good loading practice, no matter if we're talking roof racks, truck needs or trailers.

Humans are generally good at figuring the center of mass if we take a minute to consider the situation, so go with instinct in the beginning.

 

[F4T XJ]

Calculate the weight per Sq Ft of each item then work the best way to store you might find you need your tent at one end and the cot the other. My rear springs have a higher load than the front so I tend to put the heavier load at the rear of the rack. That said it doesn't look as if you are putting huge amounts up top, unless your tent is very heavy that is.

 

[4xFar Adventures]

The slight difference in your load setup from those pics won't really impact handling and weight distribution. There are other things to consider when loading a roof rack; wind noise, and what you off load first.

Some cases can howl at highway speeds. Usually re-positioning, or rotating, the case(s) so there's a different leading edge against the wind can fix that. The part of the ratchet strap between the hook and edge of the case can flutter or howl in the wind as well. This can be harder to get rid of since there's one sweet point for the strap to really hold the load. Sometimes an extra click to tighten the strap pulls enough tension so the wind doesn't make a sound. Same thing if it hits against the case. All of those situations become very annoying if you have hours of driving ahead. It doesn't take long for wind noise to develop, so keep an ear out for the first few miles on the highway. If a sound develops later, chances are good that a strap has slipped or come undone.

If all of the cases will come down every night, then it's not a big deal which order you load them. But if you just want to sit and relax first, you probably want the camp chair at the back of the rack where it's easy to get. You could also sandwich them between the four cases. Loading the chair and tent in front of the rack will make a partial wind deflector for the cases, that's good! That also means the soft bags are in full force of the wind and will wear holes in them much faster, that's bad!

Something else to consider for whatever you put at the front of the rack... bugs. You will get smashed bug guts on the gear at the front. I pack my camp kitchen at the front of my rack and it's covered in bugs. The last thing you want when you setup the kitchen is to get bug guts on your hands when opening the case. I turn it around on the rack, so the front of the case faces the back of the truck. Only the hinge side gets covered with bugs and the latches and handle just get covered in trail dust:)

 

[Lassen]

The last thing you want when you setup the kitchen is to get bug guts on your hands when opening the case.

Depending on how long that first day is, squished bugs may be my protein for dinner that first night![emoji15]

 

[F4T XJ]

The slight difference in your load setup from those pics won't really impact handling and weight distribution. There are other things to consider when loading a roof rack; wind noise, and what you off load first.

Some cases can howl at highway speeds. Usually re-positioning, or rotating, the case(s) so there's a different leading edge against the wind can fix that. The part of the ratchet strap between the hook and edge of the case can flutter or howl in the wind as well. This can be harder to get rid of since there's one sweet point for the strap to really hold the load. Sometimes an extra click to tighten the strap pulls enough tension so the wind doesn't make a sound. Same thing if it hits against the case. All of those situations become very annoying if you have hours of driving ahead. It doesn't take long for wind noise to develop, so keep an ear out for the first few miles on the highway. If a sound develops later, chances are good that a strap has slipped or come undone.

If all of the cases will come down every night, then it's not a big deal which order you load them. But if you just want to sit and relax first, you probably want the camp chair at the back of the rack where it's easy to get. You could also sandwich them between the four cases. Loading the chair and tent in front of the rack will make a partial wind deflector for the cases, that's good! That also means the soft bags are in full force of the wind and will wear holes in them much faster, that's bad!

Something else to consider for whatever you put at the front of the rack... bugs. You will get smashed bug guts on the gear at the front. I pack my camp kitchen at the front of my rack and it's covered in bugs. The last thing you want when you setup the kitchen is to get bug guts on your hands when opening the case. I turn it around on the rack, so the front of the case faces the back of the truck. Only the hinge side gets covered with bugs and the latches and handle just get covered in trail dust:)

Great response

 

[TnK1]

Since the rack is costum you can put your soft goods up front and the fab up a wind deflector for over the front of them maybe on a hinge so it could fully cover everything and then be folded back totawrds the hood for access


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[4xFar Adventures]

The last thing you want when you setup the kitchen is to get bug guts on your hands when opening the case.

Depending on how long that first day is, squished bugs may be my protein for dinner that first night![emoji15]

Or a trail snack. I just reach up with my index finger and wipe it around. Then just rub the finger in my mouth like a toothbrush! Oh, that's a big bug... I'll save that one for later:)

 

[Lassen]

Since the rack is costum you can put your soft goods up front and the fab up a wind deflector for over the front of them maybe on a hinge so it could fully cover everything and then be folded back totawrds the hood for access


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Interesting idea!