Expedition over-bonnet roof rack

[Dieselhen]

Thought it might be better to post this separately, rather than confusing the "gas bottle cage" thread any further
I've taken photos of my roof rack and for sake of folks who may be interested, annotated them for what bits fit where - I hope it's legible. It looks a bit weird and unbalanced because it's sitting in the garden, not on a dormobile and I put marker tape on it so that the scrapman knew not to uplift it! I'm also trying to do a proper diagram of it with all the dimensions - I've measured it all up but haven't yet scanned it in.

[DrivingDutchman]

Love the yello tape.... lol

Michiel

[Marque]

PM Sent
Kindest regards
Mark

[jerryd]

It seems your rack is more heavy duty with deeper sides than the one fitted to my dormobile, must be a bit heavier too. I like the "jerry can" section and the sand ladder, I might have to copy this idea Are there two of these ?? Do they fix to the rack ??
I note the front legs are the same and must have been a standard item, the little bar sticking out on the left leg is used to stand on when climbing up in case anybody is curious.

[Marque]

Thank you for the comparison Jerry. Much appreciated.

I thought that "stirrup" was for gaining access - but not sure. Now I know.

The question have (more broadly) was protecting a roof rack from corrosion. I appreciate they could be regalvanised & in doing so there should be vent holes to allow hot air to exit. To that end, does you rack have any holes Jerry?

However it cannot be too "new" to pass the SWMBO "Divorce now or later" challenge on presentation. I think she would notice it...

Either way I am very curious & interested.
Kindest regards
Mark

[Dieselhen]

Yes, there are two sand ladders. They hang on a pair of angled hooks on either side of the rack - one hook is visible in the 4th photo down and in the 7th down (with the ranging pole balanced on it. Just realised I missed putting the front view of the rack on. Also one of our poor old S3 dormobile with the rack in situ. (Ignore the scaffolding pole at the far side of the rack in that pic - it was being used as a derrick) The bloke we bought that dormobile from had the rack specially built and also did a lot of one-off mods to the vehicle itself (and got Dormobile to do a lot too) as he was driving overland to Capetown via Istanbul and coming back across the Sahara to I think Tangier across to Spain - basically taking a full year out. Problem was, between his modifications and Norman's, the beast became so one-off that it was a pain to work on and no one else was capable of driving the darn thing!

[Marque]

May I purchase the roof rack please Sheila?
PMs sent.

Kindest regards
Mark

[jerryd]

Hi Mark, The box sections on my roof rack are solid steel not hollow, I found this out when drilling some holes in it to attach the awning. It's also galvanised which I assume "Brownchurch" did when they made it, mine has no rust on it after nearly 40 years so I wouldn't worry too much about them rusting.

We did hit a very large red kangaroo which bounced off the front support on the driver's side, luckily it's only slightly bent the upright and dented the mesh. Normally they would write the front of your car off.

[Calum]

That is almost Certainly a Brownchurch item and is utterly brilliant!! My roof rack is also a Brownchurch and started out as this:


It was bought locally and it too has the Jerry can rack for the front. The locking bar was misplaced by the PO (I need to find his contact details, though I can remember where he lived thankfully!) but the rear ladder was intact, as was the removable Jerry can bar/separator with the triangle pieces on it (I hope that makes sense!). Apparently this rack was purchased byt he PO from Manchester Uni - they had originally bought it and used it on a expedition through Africa in the 70s.

I have since cut it down for the Carawagon, welding bits in and modifying to fit as necessary. Re-galvanised it should prove to be much more useful than the standard wooden item.



The rest was welded up and re-galvanised also and put on the 88" to give me a full 8 foot roof rack!

[Marque]

Thank you Ladies & Gents. I just now need to get the bulkhead fixed up. Hopefully this July / August. I am thinking I would be available to trundle up on Thursday 23rd July for arrival Saturday 25th July. Trundling back down (via Mick) over the weekend...

Assuming I am successful that is. No rush my end.
Sheila /Dieselhen - does that sound reasonable / workable for you?
Kindest regards
Mark