Carrying loads directly on landy roof

Hi all,

I've been watching ebay for a few months now for a bargain 110 roof rack to come up close by. Nothing yet, so I've been doing some thinking:

The two major drawbacks of a normal type roof rack are the cost considering they're rarely used, and the height, which makes access difficult to car parks etc.

I saw that there are foam, temporary roof racks on ebay. Mostly they're designed for people carrying surfboards, or canoes, but they're in essence, just a bit of foam, held to the roof with a webbing strap. I guess they're for people who don't want to scratch their roof. Initially I thought these would make a good cheap and temporary alternative, but then I realised that I couldn't care less if the roof gets scratched, so the idea dawned on me of just putting things ON the roof, and then holding them in place with a few ratchet straps hooking onto the roof gutter.

The kind of stuff I'd be carrying up there is tents, a bag of fire wood etc. If I wanted to make my items more secure, I figured I could rivnut and seal some of these onto the roof as tie down points:


Am I barking up the wrong tree, or is this a good idea for somebody who might want to carry stuff on the roof very occasionally? (Say once a month).

What do you want to carry, and for what distance?

i love my roof rack, you can pick up galved ones for 50quid.

but you can't go carrying a load of heavy stuff on it, it'll roll like a bus.

75kg is the lr spec when moving iirc.

Is it a flat roof or a ribbed roof, never had a flat roof defender but with all my series trucks ( ribbed roof ) and my current 90 ( ribbed roof ) if i carry anything on the roof i either keep a pair of skids in the garage to put on the roof for when carrying anything or if its light i will just carry it on the roof, last summer i carried x 5, 6' x 7' fence panels stacked on top of each other and i used just one ratchet strap as i only have one hook on each side of the 90 just below the side windows but i plan to get some disco1 towing hooks and have 3-4 on each side for lashing down onto

I regularly carry stuff directly on the roof of my 110. Long pieces of wood or plywood sheets, plasterboard etc. Stuff that spreads the weight over a wide area is fine. I wouldn't put too much weight up there any more than I wouldn't on a roof rack.

Where's close by? Somebody is selling one on here for £50.

Not a bad idea, just remember that if you don't have a ribbed roof, the roof panels will dent very easily - they are thin alloy.

I'm in Hereford, so a 50 or 60 mile radius is reasonable. I just looked at that one on here for 50 quid, but it's in Lockerbie, so far too far for me

I think my roof is the flat type, (92 2000tdi csw). I only would need to carry stuff up there once a month, for camping trips etc. and I'd only put light stuff up there anyway so I think using the roof is the way to go.

ReadySalted said:

I'm in Hereford, so a 50 or 60 mile radius is reasonable. I just looked at that one on here for 50 quid, but it's in Lockerbie, so far too far for me

I think my roof is the flat type, (92 2000tdi csw). I only would need to carry stuff up there once a month, for camping trips etc. and I'd only put light stuff up there anyway so I think using the roof is the way to go.

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From my experience the external ribbed roof is a lot stronger than the flat roof later variant . Particularly if you have alpine lights fitted .

I always thought that the flat roof's have the ribs on the inside the roof

They do , but for some structural reason , they aren't the same , and therefore the difference.

I have a full length roof rack on my Defender which I thought I didn't use very much. I took it off twice as I thought I would save a bit of fuel. Sods law each time I took it off I needed it. So now it just stays on there. Plus the fact I think it makes the Defender look better.

It's a bit like a towbar, I don't see the point in a 110 without either. The roofrack is a major tool, I have seriously overloaded it, most recently 12x 3m X 15cm steel shuttering boards. The ability to pop to the builders merchants and throwb8'x4' sheets on, fence panels is excellent. Sometimes weekends are busier than works days 😯, God bless swambo.

Yes, the height is frustrating. I have a height 2.3m sticker on my dash to remind me.. Likewise, reinforced wing tops on my td5 are a must for when you are tying down at the front.

I recommend getting a galvanised, my 110 came with an official Land Rover one and all the powder coating has blistered off the front. When it needs replacement I will definitely get galvanised again

killajoules said:

it's a bit like a towbar, i don't see the point in a 110 without either. The roofrack is a major tool, i have seriously overloaded it, most recently 12x 3m x 15cm steel shuttering boards. The ability to pop to the builders merchants and throwb8'x4' sheets on, fence panels is excellent. Sometimes weekends are busier than works days 😯, god bless swambo.

Yes, the height is frustrating. I have a height 2.3m sticker on my dash to remind me.. Likewise, reinforced wing tops on my td5 are a must for when you are tying down at the front.

I recommend getting a galvanised, my 110 came with an official land rover one and all the powder coating has blistered off the front. When it needs replacement i will definitely get galvanised again

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+1

Took mine off and could have done with it several times!

jai_landrover said:

Took mine off and could have done with it several times!

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Thought that was the tree at great Brickhill. FYI the tree was still there today matw

KillaJoules said:

Thought that was the tree at great Brickhill. FYI the tree was still there today matw

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Haha!

I can still see the "modified" section of roof rack. I double booked today with the gun show but Rach was taken into hosp Friday (all good now) so I was planning on popping up today but plans latley seem to not go to plan!!

Although I may have my car transporter to sell soon as I may have a newer one coming.

J

Elvis on the roof assessing laughing at the damage. At least I didn't break my old mans beacon. Tree 1 roof rack 0!

i have the next one up to this as i have a tube carrier and ladders but there good value and galv LANDROVER - National Autorax