Fitting a Rooftop Tent??!!!

[Ammarg Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ammarg]

Gday fellas, im new to 4wding scene and have a couple of questions.. hope you can take the time to answer..
1st off.. i want to start going camping and overnight fishing trips in the prado, ive looked around to get some ideas on whats better i.e the reliable swag, a tent or a roottop tent.. now i no RTT are great way to get off the ground away from snakes and all that but how are they mounted onto the roof.. i mean im not a small bloke, how can the roof and the racks hold the weight?? Ive asked on different pages on FB and that but the guys just "lol" and dont answer me.. please give a guy a break and give me a simple answer??
Cheers and hope you can answer my query!!!

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Ever seen a car after a slow rollover sitting on its roof and the pillars relatively undamaged?

They bolt to the roof racks/roof bar cross rails.

Your roof racks/bars will be rated to 80kg or 100kg depending on if you have the roof side rails fitted or not. BUT this is weight when car is moving only. Manufacturers specify a maximum roof load to maintain handling characteristics and ensure the increased rollover risk is kept within reasonable limits. However, they never tell you how much you can carry on the roof when it is carrying static load. I'd guess its up to 500kg or even more.

Also once the ladder is down, that will support some of the weight too. (Probably 1/3 if I remember my high-school physics correctly, so that's only 2/3 of the weight on the car roof. But I could be wrong.

If in doubt, don't do it, but keep the RTT weight below the car manufacturers weight recommendations and you'll be fine. They're all around 50kg unless you go really big like the Hannibal RT20 which is 95kg. IF you are really worried remove the side rails and attach the racks directly to the roof. Just remember you are raising your centre of gravity by putting 50-100kg on the roof.

Wicked Campers are fitting them to Corolla's and advertising them as 3 person campers. http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/aust...-camper-3.html

[Ammarg Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ammarg]

I understand what you mean.. is there any specific website or place i can ge tthe amount of weight the roof can carry? Jut to be on the safe side y'know.. moreso for the missus than anything.. thanks heaps for your reply mate..

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Manufacturers won't tell you static load rating. Only the dynamic (the amount you can safely carry when moving) - 120 series with factory side rails = 80kg. Without side rails = 100kg

Really, I wouldn't worry. Every fifth 4x4 has them. Take your roof rails off, mount the rack directly to the roof and off you go. I think you are being overly concerned about this... Heaps of Hilux's have them and their roof is rated at 70kg.

In any case its going to probably be at least 1.7 times the weight of the car. - "Although there is no Australian Design Rule for roof strength, it is likely that all cars marketed in Australia would meet the requirements of US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 (FMVSS 216). Henderson et al. [4] found that there was little point introducing an ADR based on FMVSS 216 - mainly because most cars already complied with the FMVSS. - source: http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/rsr/RSR2009/RS090093.pdf

FMVSS 216, introduced in 1973, "requires the front corner of the roof to withstand a quasi static force equal to at least 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle, up to 127mm of deflection". This is known as a strength-to-weigh ratio. So if the Prado weighs 2300kg it would need to withstand a peak load of 3450kg at a minimum to pass. ANCAP has required a roof strength rating of Marginal (2.5) rating to get a 5 star rating since 2014. The Prado is a 5 star so you are looking at more like 5750kg

https://www.engineersaustralia.org.a...-25jul2013.pdf

The roof bars/rack or the tent is more likely to break before the roof will.

[Ammarg Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ammarg]

Cheers mate!! Any brands youd recommend??

[Guest Close Guest]

Cheers mate!! Any brands youd recommend??

Rhinorack.