New owner

[Eabmoto]

Just bought a FWC Kestrel. Really excited. I need to be able to carry some gear on the outside of the rig. How much weight can be put on the roof racks? Is that determined more by how much I want to lift or Is it not advised to put too much up there? Is the roof an aluminum frame also?

 

[wuck]

Welcome to the forum!

You can probably find a manual for your camper here. Although, I browsed thru a couple and didn't see the capacity listed. Your best bet is to call the factory (530) 666-1442 and ask for your particular model.

The roof frame is aluminum, there are a couple of roof construction photos here in Poky's build thread.

In this post, PaulT claims 300 lbs! Certainly more than most can lift. The key is to unload before lifting and even distribution. Think of the load on a camper roof covered in a foot of snow.

Stan Kennedy (long-time Four Wheel Camper employee) posted in this thread years ago pictures of several campers with loads on the roof - one shows two yakima boxes along with a canoe

 

[Eabmoto]

Thanks for the info. I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’ll probably be no more than 100-150lbs. And most likely less.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the group.
For many years I carried a 60# canoe on the roof of our ATC Bobcat
and with the 40# roof lifters I didn't have any problem lifting the roof.
Frank

 

[Eabmoto]

Ok. It sounds like it’s mostly about how much I want to lift. I was concerned about the load on the roof when it’s up.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Ok. It sounds like it’s mostly about how much I want to lift. I was concerned about the load on the roof when it’s up.

It's been said that the roof will carry a 1000# snow load. Don't think I would want to try that much though.
Frank

 

[camper rich]

We carry two 60 lb sea kayaks plus the weight of Yakima Racks and saddles (20+ lbs) on our Granby. We have the 40# optional gas struts to help, but use an "On Stage" music speaker stand to raise the load. Having read about failure of the lift panels, I'm convinced that by using the speaker stand jack it takes the stress off the lift panels. I raise it all the way up with the speaker stand and only push on the lift panels for the last little bit to lock them in place. This has been discussed here:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/15030-speaker-stand/

 

[Eabmoto]

It sounds like I’ll be able to do what I need on the roof. How about mounting things on the back. I’d like to mount a double gerry can rack on the back. From pictures, it looks like these kinds of things can be done but maybe only using the mounts used by the jacks, if they’re removed. Am I seeing correctly?

 

[wuck]

Found this on the FWC website FAQ




How much weight will the roof hold?



The lightweight aluminum roof will hold 1,000 pounds of evenly distributed weight in the raised position (example: snow load of 1000 lbs.). If you plan to carry luggage, coolers, kayaks, canoes, etc. on the roof, we usually recommend keeping the weight to approx. 100 lbs. (+ or -). The roof has a very strong design, but does have some basic limitations. We offer an aluminum roof rack and also Yakima roof racks for customers that want to carry larger items on the roof that might not fit inside the camper while they are traveling.