Roof Bar Strength / Failures

[me3@neuralfibre.com]

Has anyone seen any failures of the Rhino or Rola roof bars (aero styles) on outback roads?

Further, has anyone seen any of the pods fail?

I'm basically thinking for strength compared to the one piece ARB etc roof racks. I know the bars / basket combo aren't as strong, but the real question is are the strong enough?

Thanx
Paul

[patro1]

A guy I work with has the heavy duty rola racks on his Jackeroo carrying a wire basket. When he travelled the simpson last year one of the bar mounts broke and the bar dented and scraped his roof.

[Cossie]

They are not as strong as a well made full steel rack like ARB etc. I'm not too sure on the Rola ones but Rhino are very good.
Dont forget that for harsh conditions you are supposed to use a safety factor of 1.5 for the weight. ie if they are rated at 150kg, you should only load them to 100kg.

[guzzla]

I made my own custom roof rack basket using the rino racks as a method of fixing / support. I had 5 bars in total and the basket weighed almost 100kg dry. It measured 2.3m x 1.5m x .25m plus it had a tool box and steel support frame on the front that held a heap of work tools.

I travelled over 20,000km including heaps of sand driving, outback roads and some tracks you shouldnt do by yourself without incident. I allowed a reasonable saftey factor and positioned all rack supports over the pillers and not in the centre of the doors as some do.