Factory Roof Rack ... Fail!

Factory Roof Rack ... Fail!

Yup, we busted a factory rook rack on our recent Kodiak trip.

http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/gear-guide/91-new-kayak-gear/1964-factory-roof-rack-fail.html

-Allen

Those were not designed as load-bearing cross bars; they were more for prevent the load from shifting forward/backward on top the vehicle...

Those were not designed as load-bearing cross bars; they were more for prevent the load from shifting forward/backward on top the vehicle...

No shit.   

-Allen

Those were not designed as load-bearing cross bars; they were more for prevent the load from shifting forward/backward on top the vehicle...

No shit.   

-Allen

 

Any damage to the roof?

Hopefully better than this guy...

Any damage to the roof?

Other than the rack, I don't think so.  It sort of just settled in.  We heard it when it buster, although didn't realize it at the time.  Circled back to see what fell off, at at that point, noticed the break.

-Allen

My original one on the Subaru bent too. Went to aftermarket and never looked back.

Those were not designed as load-bearing cross bars; they were more for prevent the load from shifting forward/backward on top the vehicle...

No shit.   

-Allen

 

Me too!

Somehow I thought that the max working load for a set of factory cross bars is like 150#.  I bet the two yaks had a little something to do with that.

Somehow I thought that the max working load for a set of factory cross bars is like 150#.  I bet the two yaks had a little something to do with that.

Some can, but most are not designed too...  It's not only the actual weight of the object, but also the amount of force/pressure that the wind puts on the bars; both downward and upwards....

Somehow I thought that the max working load for a set of factory cross bars is like 150#.  I bet the two yaks had a little something to do with that.

I think for this particular rack, the max spec is more like 100#.  Yes, we exceeded it.

-Allen

We did some extensive testing of roof racks for a company at the last engineering firm I worked for.  The assembly bolted to it was only like 20# but on a bumpy road, windage, etc. it exceeded the operating strength of factory AND aftermarket racks when put into "testing" mode with g-force, etc....  The aftermarket rack companies, per calls to them, stated no higher than 150# but wouldn't expand if that was static weight or ????

The residual damage. Just the paint. Better order the other foot. Argh... 

The residual damage. Just the paint. Better order the other foot. Argh... 

And that likely happened because we left it as is, other than moving the other factory rack forward and re-securing the kayaks.  The  broken rack just rubbed on the roof as we continued down the road!

-Allen