I am retrofitting a mid-90's Hawk. Removed the old square tube aluminum racks to install tracks for Yakima or Thule bars. I got the longest tracks I could find which are 72". This is just about the length of the main body without the over cab section. I see from photos that FWC and most of the posts show butting two pieces of track so that the tracks go all the way end to end. The old racks were installed on the very back and very front.
I'm trying to figure out if this is a strength issue, or is it just about the convenience of having more room to adjust the bars and put stuff? Would ending the track a couple feet short of either end of the top somehow put more weight on the center of the roof, keeping in mind that the track would be 'broken' somewhere in there anyway, so would not be actually continuous. And how would that be significantly different than having a full length track, but placing the bars, and hence the load, in the middle. I guess the track itself adds some strength and rigidity but how would that improve with it going end to end? Or another way to think of it, is the roof framing itself adequate to hold the racks and their loads, or should it be more like a bridge, spanning from end to end (again, though broken in the middle).
Thoughts?
I'm trying to figure out if this is a strength issue, or is it just about the convenience of having more room to adjust the bars and put stuff? Would ending the track a couple feet short of either end of the top somehow put more weight on the center of the roof, keeping in mind that the track would be 'broken' somewhere in there anyway, so would not be actually continuous. And how would that be significantly different than having a full length track, but placing the bars, and hence the load, in the middle. I guess the track itself adds some strength and rigidity but how would that improve with it going end to end? Or another way to think of it, is the roof framing itself adequate to hold the racks and their loads, or should it be more like a bridge, spanning from end to end (again, though broken in the middle).
Thoughts?