I know this is old news...but if you load up the roof of a FWC with heavy items it becomes at a minimum problematic to raise or lower it...plus with too much weight if you torque [lose of control or uneven pressure] the roof raising or lowering it you can damage the roof frame, top sheet and seal.
We have the YakTraks and the FWC 160w Zamp solar panel...a few realities became apparent after using the Hawk with this configuration:
#1 Anymore weight and I would pop a hernia putting up top or lowering it.
#2 Add snow load and forget about it.
#3 Removing snow or any item on the roof would require a ladder and significant effort placing or removing stored items each time you raised or lowered the top.
#4 More weight high up on our Tundra/Hawk combo was not good off road; raising CG is not a good thing.
#5 Space is precious and adding more weight anywhere is not the best idea; so a ladder and or speaker jack not a good idea for us.
These are only our observations for our intended use off road and on ski trips. Our bottom line is to stick with the light weight limited space design and constraints of a Hawk.
Phil
We have the YakTraks and the FWC 160w Zamp solar panel...a few realities became apparent after using the Hawk with this configuration:
#1 Anymore weight and I would pop a hernia putting up top or lowering it.
#2 Add snow load and forget about it.
#3 Removing snow or any item on the roof would require a ladder and significant effort placing or removing stored items each time you raised or lowered the top.
#4 More weight high up on our Tundra/Hawk combo was not good off road; raising CG is not a good thing.
#5 Space is precious and adding more weight anywhere is not the best idea; so a ladder and or speaker jack not a good idea for us.
These are only our observations for our intended use off road and on ski trips. Our bottom line is to stick with the light weight limited space design and constraints of a Hawk.
Phil