Jump to content

Roof Strength?


DarekG
 Share

Recommended Posts

Lately I've been toying with the idea of a roof top tent, or forcing one to fit anyways since nobody makes them specifically for the Pathfinder.

 

I know the stock rails on the roof are only rated for 150Lbs, I'm wondering if I got stronger rails if I could just plop a tent on and go, or if they need some sort of re-enforcement?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have my roof rack spare tire hi lift jack and shovel on my roof and have no issues...I've also thought about one of these

 

 

Sent from Yeti!

 

 

Yeah I'm just a bit worried because I weigh 200Lbs myself... Plus the tents are generally around 60-90Lbs, and ideally I'd want something that could sleep 2 people if needed. I know the tents are designed to handle it, just not sure about the Pathfinder at this point!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure I've ever seen a rating, but the I would imagine the weakest link is the cross bars, not the rails themselves. The roof in general should be very capable of supporting several hundred pounds (thinking in terms of a vehicle rollover), and the rails are also quite rigid. It also depends on which roof rack and cross bars came with your truck.

 

That said, if you can make a suitable platform to mount the tent to that distributes the weight along the rails, and also isn't a risk for ripping off from wind/drag, I don't think you'd have a problem. If you've seen any of the posts about mounting a roof basket lower to the roof using steel channel nuts and strut channels, that'd probably be where I'd start in terms of mounting a tent.

 

FWIW, I have the newer style roof rack (full upper rails, thick oval cross bars) and I've carried 280 lbs of Ikea 8' countertops on it. I've also carried lumber up there (16 8' 2x4s is about where I've limited myself, and that's about 200 lbs)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im pretty sure the rails alont the truck will hold up just not the cross beams of course.if you look at my pic i built a steel roof rack from the very front of the truck to the very end.it weights roughly about 90lbs, i have gotten on it while bolted up there and walked around it no proble, i weight in at 255 lbs,it currently just holds my spare and light bar and high lift arb canopy on the way.i am trying to load more pic of my set up but time is of the essence.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a tepui kukenam camo bolted to my two factory crossbars that are rated at 80lbs each. I also added two more crossbars that I got from the scrapyard just to be safe on weight distribution. The tent weighs 130lbs and my girlfriend and I combined are 320. We just spent a month sleeping in it and driving 10,000kms with no problems whatsoever. I was unsure at first but it worked out great and kept the tent nice and low to the roof.

 

I gotta recommend getting a tepui as well. The materials and quality is top notch. Well worth the price IMO. lots of headroom, comfy mattress, all bedding blankets, sleeping bag and pillow fold up in it, and it performed very well in the 3 day downpour we had in the Yukon.

 

Hope this all helps. I'll try and post a pic tomorrow for everyone to have a look, cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Not sure I've ever seen a rating, but the I would imagine the weakest link is the cross bars, not the rails themselves. The roof in general should be very capable of supporting several hundred pounds (thinking in terms of a vehicle rollover), and the rails are also quite rigid. It also depends on which roof rack and cross bars came with your truck.

 

That said, if you can make a suitable platform to mount the tent to that distributes the weight along the rails, and also isn't a risk for ripping off from wind/drag, I don't think you'd have a problem. If you've seen any of the posts about mounting a roof basket lower to the roof using steel channel nuts and strut channels, that'd probably be where I'd start in terms of mounting a tent.

 

FWIW, I have the newer style roof rack (full upper rails, thick oval cross bars) and I've carried 280 lbs of Ikea 8' countertops on it. I've also carried lumber up there (16 8' 2x4s is about where I've limited myself, and that's about 200 lbs)

 

 

Are the newer style roof racks the ones that say pathfinder along the rails?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...

Anything resembling progress on this topic.  I've been running a roof rack with a fair amount of weight on it for years with no issues.  However I've now added a RTT and I'm deciding which equipment to put back on the rack. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, silverhorn said:

Anything resembling progress on this topic.  I've been running a roof rack with a fair amount of weight on it for years with no issues.  However I've now added a RTT and I'm deciding which equipment to put back on the rack. 

I'm currently running nearly 300lbs on the roof between 120lbs for the garvin wilderness sport rack, 160lbs for tuff stuff 3 person RTT, and some miscellaneous lights and a solar panel.  I'm considering putting my hi-lift jack, traction boards, shovel/axe, and awning back on.  All told it's probably less than 400lbs, but I"m worried that's too much.  I'm unsure realistically what weight should go up there for dynamic loading (stopping, turning accelerating).  I think I remember discussing this years ago and deciding to try to keep it under 200 dynamic, 400 static, but now I"m looking at doubling those numbers and I want to see what information I can find. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...