84 fleet bent roof... Yakima roof rack!

[Nearlyroadready]

Just started a 3 month road trip Andive got all the toys with me for some fun. All I have in the roof box is a pair of skis and some empty backpacks. It seems that the outer roof rails are bending under the weight. I followed and on installing a yakima rack to the roof on the outside and figured it would be fine since people have detailed putting way more weight up there than me.
It seems my options are: ditch the rack, support it from the inside every time I pop it up, or put hard foam supports under the bars on each roof member to try and defray the weight over the whole roof. Has anyone dealt with this? Suggestions? Thanks!
Luke

 

[CALIcamperdad]

The FWC roof is bending or the cross bars on the rack are bending? My first thought is that you may want to get some flat track, then mount the feet for the cross bars on that, the flat track widens the surface area to carry the load and also makes your positioning of the rack bars easy you can slide them fore and aft for your various needs etc. The typical Yakima bars are rated for a standard 150lb static load.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Picture for reference
https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcYDDIu5UUZIAI3WJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIzYTZvajZ2BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAMzMmE0MWJjNDU2ZWZiODc4MjVhOTdiY2RiODhlYjA5NARncG9zAzE5BGl0A2Jpbmc-?.origin=&back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DYakima%2Broof%2Brack%2Bflat%2Btrack%26fr%3Dyfp-t-901%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D19&w=500&h=500&imgurl=ep.yimg.com%2Fca%2FI%2Forsracksdirect_2267_46654138&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.orsracksdirect.com%2Fyakima-truck-rack-tracks-60inch.html&size=72.0KB&name=%3Cb%3EYakima%3C%2Fb%3E+%3Cb%3ERoof%3C%2Fb%3E+Tracks-Truck+%3Cb%3ERacks%3C%2Fb%3E+|+8001135+%3Cb%3EYakima%3C%2Fb%3E+Tracks%2C+Fiberglass+...&p=Yakima+roof+rack+flat+track&oid=32a41bc456efb87825a97bcdb88eb094&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t-901&tt=%3Cb%3EYakima%3C%2Fb%3E+%3Cb%3ERoof%3C%2Fb%3E+Tracks-Truck+%3Cb%3ERacks%3C%2Fb%3E+|+8001135+%3Cb%3EYakima%3C%2Fb%3E+Tracks%2C+Fiberglass+...&b=0&ni=21&no=19&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=122bee0ea&sigb=13mntts63&sigi=11dd5ok9m&sigt=132gbknvk&sign=132gbknvk&.crumb=X.qnqDUWu3g&fr=yfp-t-901&fr2=piv-web

 

[Nearlyroadready]

The roof is bending, not the bars. I thought about going that way but didn't have the budget and all the weight would still be focused on just two of the roof's inner aluminum tubes.

 

[lqhikers]

nearlyroadready.

maybe the way i built a roof rack would end your problem.
i used 1" thin wall steel tubing as 3 cross bars .
cross bars were mounted to the edge of roof with 1"flat stock approx 6" for each
mounting point (6 total),t shaped with single t pointing up,to this the cross bars were wielded.
brackets were then screwed to roof edge with 4 screws for each bracket.
carried kayak (double 90# at least)

never had any failures.

pictures might give you ideas.

Les,lqhikers

 

[CALIcamperdad]

The roof is bending, not the bars. I thought about going that way but didn't have the budget and all the weight would still be focused on just two of the roof's inner aluminum tubes.

Sounds like you need to spread the load out over a larger foot print along the edge of the roof so your getting less load in a very small area. The flat track idea run along the outer edge of the roof frame should do the same thing regarding spreading the load out vs a small foot print etc. The flat track would also let you add a cross bar if you wanted too.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Any pics?

 

[bike4mee]

sure would like to see what "Les,lqhikers" is doing with a closeup pic. I use yakima towers to side mounts and long crossbars. I have had no problems even carrying 4 kayaks except a sag in the middle. This can be supported with a foam block. Many a pickup camper shell employs this same technology, look around a parking lot. I wonder what part of the roof is bending?

 

[lqhikers]

bike4me,

as many know i have a hard time with posting,just got back into being able to post pictures,so what i posted is the best i can do.
took me a while to figure out before just clicking on thumbnail makes it bigger!
do not know if it works for you.

you can tell how they mount do not really close up to figure out,just basic wielding skills! ha.ha.

the cradles for the kayak just bolt onto cross bars.

Les,lqhiker

 

[Nearlyroadready]

Here's a picture of the roof up. Harder to tell, but it is bent under the minimal weight of 1 pair of skis and a few empty packs. Nothing substantial at all.

 

[Nearlyroadready]

And one of the roof dropped down for perspective
My idea is to cut 4 pieces of wood to the right height and just prop them up inside the camper to help the roof not bend under the weight and provide support. Not what I thought I'd have to do, but something has to solve this problem!

 

[lqhikers]

you need to rethink your roof rack.

it seems to me that you need to fab a rack that will spread the weight
out more evenly front to rear.
the rack i had to carry the double kayak was built to have the weight transfer at the front and rear cross
bars and not the center then with your storage pod mounted it would spread weight out.

as far as bike mounts i would mount then towards the front and the pod near the rear.

this would keep the weight off the center.

should be a easy mod using 1" square tubing the length of your top on both sides mounted to the
edge of the roof as i did.

let us know if you do build a new mounting system.

Les,lqhikes

 

[Dusty Roads]

Looks to me like your Rocket Box is pulling the top up to it. Shim the Rocket Box as needed and I bet your problem goes away.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

That bend is just plain weird. I am having a hard time seeing how the roof load could do that, unless there are some broken frames in the roof itself.

Does it bend to any degree with the box removed? Can you push it back into shape from below? Any noise when pushing (creaks, groans, metallic crunches)?

 

[ckent323]

The wind passing over the front of the camper and under the box and lifting the box may be large. The sloped shape of the box only helps if the bottom of the box is level to the ground or pointing slightly down in the front. Once the box starts pitching up less air is going over the tapered front and more air is getting under the box (even if it is parallel to the camper roof - the whole roof is pitched up).

My guess is this was barely noticeable early on then got progressively got worse with faster change as time went on because more and more air got under the box and the forces pushing up on it kept increasing as the bend angle increased.

With the racks attached directly to the sides of the top without the use of rails there is nothing to prevent the box from pivoting on one of the crossbars and lifting up on the the other (which appears to me to be what is happening - it appears to be pivoting on the back crossbar).

If the rails were in place that load would be distributed along the length of the rails making this less likely.

If it were my camper I would remove the racks and install rails and make sure they are securely fastened to the roof framing and then make sure that the roof is flat when you are done. Once that is done you can put the towers on the racks and put the crossbars back on.

I would also try to put long rails on and try to put the crossbars and the box as far back from the front of the camper as possible.

Hopefully the bend is not permanent but my guess is that it may be which will make getting the roof flat again a bit of a trick. Long rails will help with that.

Regards,
Craig

 

[Nearlyroadready]

Thanks for the replies. The truck's ride height is such that the box is definitely tipped down when driving. Also, the roof does straighten out when clamped down and only begins to show sagging after an hour or 2 of being popped up. Just picked up a job for the next month and a half so I won't be traveling around in the camper for a while so I have some time to figure it out.
Also, it is important to note that only the perimeter of the roof is sagging. The inside roof bars are still right where they should be. Anybody thinking about doing this type of modification should be aware of possible roof sag/bending.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Luke

 

[bike4mee]

sure seems to me like you have broken roof framework. At some time there may have been a large snow load that cracked a few of the long run aluminium pieces. Tough to find unless you take the roof off. I would cut 2 pieces of wood to help support the middle when you have it popped up. Good luck