karenf
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Roof rack
Sept 20, 2017 4:17:52 GMT -8
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Post by karenf on Sept 20, 2017 4:17:52 GMT -8
Hi, we just purchased a 68 Loflyte. Its in pretty good shape but I think we are going to take the skin off, look for problems, and repaint. The roof is going to be replaced. The previous owners punctured it with a roof rake. They caught it before much internal damage was done but we will be looking into it closely. Luckily my hubby is a carpenter. We want to put kayaks on the roof. So we need to construct a rack, strengthen the roof, and the walls. We also want to put in a fan. We did consider having the rack mounting start on the side of the trailer and looping over the roof edge. Two kayaks and a roof fan. What's nice is this trailer is low enough to get the yaks up there without a lot of effort. Any thoughts?
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Sept 20, 2017 9:11:09 GMT -8
Welcome! You will definitely needed to re-frame to handle the weight. Most campers have 1by pine as framing. I've never done it, but I'd focus on the weight being handled by strengthened walls. You can see a few examples of Shasta framing at cannedhamtrailers.com The videos were done by a member. Shasta was notorious for having very flimsy framing. This is factory framing (which is actually heavier than I expected) on a 64 Shasta: 
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datac
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1957 Cardinal
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Post by datac on Sept 20, 2017 9:58:18 GMT -8
I'd strongly, strongly recommend keeping the rack on the tow vehicle. Besides the weight, that's a bunch of extra wind load torquing stuff that was barely engineered to support itself in the first place. Having seen a few flying kayaks on the freeway from failed racks and/or tiedowns, they clearly make an efficient sail at speed.
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karenf
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Roof rack
Sept 20, 2017 9:59:00 GMT -8
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Post by karenf on Sept 20, 2017 9:59:00 GMT -8
Thanks! I was thinking a little bracing for the forward and backward motion also. I never see much in the way of racks on these old campers. I'm hoping we will have the skin off in a week. I've never seen so many screws.
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karenf
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Roof rack
Sept 20, 2017 10:01:41 GMT -8
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Post by karenf on Sept 20, 2017 10:01:41 GMT -8
Well the kayaks are 15ft.it's something to consider. I'll do some measuring.
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Sept 20, 2017 10:42:57 GMT -8
I agree with Datac, Putting anything on top of a vintage camper is risky business. That simply weren't designed for it.
Even on my Forester with 1 1/2" wood framing I don't think I'd do it.
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mobiltec
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1954 Jewel In Progress...
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Post by mobiltec on Sept 20, 2017 18:08:35 GMT -8
Let's consider another force besides gravity. Wind. Those things are going to want to be flying so they will be moving around up and down a lot. At least the forces will be there. And it will happen whether you place them upright or upside down. The shear vibration will tear your roof apart because it is flexible. So are the walls. The entire trailer is flexible. I'd put them on the roof of the tow vehicle.
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Post by bigbill on Sept 21, 2017 2:21:36 GMT -8
Years ago people hauled aluminum boats upside down on top of their trailers by building a rack that came up the back of the trailer from the frame to a few inches above the roof then went forward to a front support that came up from the tongue. This put the forces on the trailer frame instead of the cabin. they were usually made from steel tube. I always thought they would be a pain in the rear but some people liked them. If I remember correctly they also had a couple of braces that fastened to the side walls to help control side oscillation. In fact one company even made a rig that you fastened the transom on the boat to then picked up the front and swiveled it around to the front then fastened it down, supposed to make loading easier. Maybe someone else remembers these rigs better than I do. Seems like there was plans in a magazine maybe Popular Mechanics not sure.
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karenf
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Roof rack
Sept 21, 2017 4:12:30 GMT -8
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Post by karenf on Sept 21, 2017 4:12:30 GMT -8
I guess I was figuring on a lot of bracing like you were saying. But then it occurred to me, if I have the kayaks on top of the trailer, what am I going to use to get them down to the water. Duh
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ckz72reddale
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Post by ckz72reddale on Oct 3, 2017 7:45:26 GMT -8
This makes 2 summers that we have traveled over 600 miles with the camper, loaded Honda Pilot and fiberglass canoe on the top of the Pilot. What's crazy is we get @ 15-20% better gas mileage with the canoe on the roof of the Pilot. It seems to act as a wind foil, creating less drag with the camper behind us. So much so that my husband has been experimenting with various attachments for our roof rack on the pilot to create the same air disturbance that the canoe does. We've had some success, but the canoe is the hands down winner so far.
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Post by bigbill on Oct 3, 2017 15:55:29 GMT -8
This makes 2 summers that we have traveled over 600 miles with the camper, loaded Honda Pilot and fiberglass canoe on the top of the Pilot. What's crazy is we get @ 15-20% better gas mileage with the canoe on the roof of the Pilot. It seems to act as a wind foil, creating less drag with the camper behind us. So much so that my husband has been experimenting with various attachments for our roof rack on the pilot to create the same air disturbance that the canoe does. We've had some success, but the canoe is the hands down winner so far. That makes sense to me the canoe would split the air with a very small amount of front surface then continue that air flow on back as the canoe gets wider creating a wide hole in the air flow for the front of the trailer. Pulling one of these trailers is like having a flat wall catching the wind behind you, so anything that creates better airflow has to help. We must remember that when these trailers were new most were not towed much over 50mph. In those days we didn't have the interstate system so traveling was on two lane highways that today we consider back roads. |
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