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How can I carry 3 kayaks with no roof rails?
- Thread starter StephRedux
- Start date
Stick em out the back? You can get one of those hitch mounted extenders if you need some room inside. People usually use them with trucks so I dunno that running around with the hatch open is your cup of tea but it's an option.
IIf the factory rails only hold 75 pounds I'd get a Thule system anyways. That's simply not enough for any real use. Empty cargo boxes weigh almost that much.
IIf the factory rails only hold 75 pounds I'd get a Thule system anyways. That's simply not enough for any real use. Empty cargo boxes weigh almost that much.
So this whole thing got me curious, so I did some researching.
It appears that most of the time, the weight limit is from the crossbars. They build them semi weak because they've specified a weight limit that is overall low, out of concern for top loading.
If you look at what people do on overland builds, etc, more often than not they are retaining the factory rails, but not the cross bars, and if anything, they add more cross rails. I suspect it's a mixture of CYA legally and they have tonrate things with the biggest moron on the planet driving as aggressively as possible now.
I suspect as long as you're not running mountain roads with kayaks on the roof and hitting corners at max speed, you'll be fine.
It appears that most of the time, the weight limit is from the crossbars. They build them semi weak because they've specified a weight limit that is overall low, out of concern for top loading.
If you look at what people do on overland builds, etc, more often than not they are retaining the factory rails, but not the cross bars, and if anything, they add more cross rails. I suspect it's a mixture of CYA legally and they have tonrate things with the biggest moron on the planet driving as aggressively as possible now.
I suspect as long as you're not running mountain roads with kayaks on the roof and hitting corners at max speed, you'll be fine.
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Possibly, or the extra weight if the moonroof is already factored in to their top loading calculations. Basically the extra weight up top from the moonroof already is included in the "we thi k the vehicle won't roll over with this much weight on it".
Of note, that applies to all explorers. So a base with whatever the cheapest fleet spec suspension parts they could find is rated the same as a lowered and stiffened ST.
To be honest the whole thing is strange to me. Why build an "suv" with a roof rail that can't really even hold a pair of decent kayaks? What's going to be the point of a timberline model for off road adventures if you can't really use a roof basket or anything like that?
Of note, that applies to all explorers. So a base with whatever the cheapest fleet spec suspension parts they could find is rated the same as a lowered and stiffened ST.
To be honest the whole thing is strange to me. Why build an "suv" with a roof rail that can't really even hold a pair of decent kayaks? What's going to be the point of a timberline model for off road adventures if you can't really use a roof basket or anything like that?
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Crossmembers can be done differently, instead of a bunch of little Crossmembers, you can do a smaller number of larger ones. There's a photo somewhere comparing the Crossmembers on the moonroof vs non moonroof explorers. While yes, the non moonroof cars have a few more smaller Crossmembers where the moonroof would be, but the moonroof models have a large boxed in area around the moonroof with larger Crossmembers. Think of a load beam if you remove a weight bearing wall in your house, you just require a substantially larger beam to support it over the opening vs a larger number of 2x4s.
Keep in mind, Ford has the same roof strength for a moonroof vs non moonroof model. That means their engineers designed and calculated them to have the same roof strength, and the roof can support the whole weight of the car in a rollover. If the roof can support the car, barring some sort of fastener issue (ex, the rails screw into factory installed nutserts that have a pullout force limit), the roof should hold whatever weight you need.
FWIW, I am an engineer. You might not be getting the validity of my points, and that's fine. That said, I think there's still some element of fear about explorers at Ford from the whole rollover thing in the 90s. I wouldn't be surprised if they went intentionally cautiousnfor anything rollover related as a result. Hell, as of a few years ago, uhaul wouldn't even rent trailers to explorers.
Keep in mind, Ford has the same roof strength for a moonroof vs non moonroof model. That means their engineers designed and calculated them to have the same roof strength, and the roof can support the whole weight of the car in a rollover. If the roof can support the car, barring some sort of fastener issue (ex, the rails screw into factory installed nutserts that have a pullout force limit), the roof should hold whatever weight you need.
FWIW, I am an engineer. You might not be getting the validity of my points, and that's fine. That said, I think there's still some element of fear about explorers at Ford from the whole rollover thing in the 90s. I wouldn't be surprised if they went intentionally cautiousnfor anything rollover related as a result. Hell, as of a few years ago, uhaul wouldn't even rent trailers to explorers.
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