Mounting roof rack on fiberglass top

[winddude]

I recently acquired a 87 roadtrek with a fiberglass top. rather then stuffing the inside with gear or modifying the interior heavily, I want to mount a roof rack. Anyone have something similar for ideas or advice on mounting a roof rack to a fiberglass roof?

[redbaron]

Years ago, I mounted roof racks to my canopy for the old danger Ranger. I went to the auto wreckers in Langford and salvaged the rack system from an old mini van. Paid $40. Then used (8 )1/4" stainless bolts with big washers on the under side to mount it. The rack was super solid. Big washers and lots of anchor points would be my advice.

[GWIND]

Big plates are the best. Spread the load. Side racks are awesome too. Check out the Laws van.

[rvanderbyl]

Not sure about your van but some of the older raised roof or fiberglass topped vans have a double layer of glass fiberglass with foam insulation between the layers. However if there is cabinets to be mounted on either side of the raised roof there could be a layer of plywood between instead of foam. This of course is ideal for mounting roof racks and you would not need to bolt right through the roof making for an unsightly installation.

[KUS]

Racks are a drag..literally. And noisy. I've used marine stainless eyelets with just size 12 thread stainless screws for years on all my vehicles. When not in use no ugly rack! if u have sandwiched fiberglass u can use bolts with oversized stainless washers and fiberloc nuts to make it ultra bomber :arrow:b also having no rack = no weaving of endless straps around bars, way faster on and off! No dicking around missing those precious killer best conditions 10 minutes

[rvanderbyl]

That is exactly why I would never buy a van without the raised portion of the roof being in the front of the van to deflect airflow over the racks. My current and last van were ideal for this. But that doesn't help winddude. Having the welded rectangle to slip the nose of your board into means no tie downs needed for the front rack also means you can load and tie down your gear from the ladder. Make the rectangle for board carrying removable so you don''t need to drag it around all the time. I have spots for three boards on my rack but can add more by just climbing on the racks (not the roof) to tie them on in the oldfashioned way. Kus's method would be good just make sure your roof can handle the added strain of pressing the boards into your roof and don't forget to bring a step ladder to tie down the front if you can't walk on your roof.

[winddude]

Yea don't think I can walk on it, caulking some of the windows the other day it was making a creaking noise putting about 50% of my weight on it. Never had a noisy rack just the flapping of board bags.

There are cabinets mounted in the top, so hopefully there's plywood up there.

Having the welded rectangle to slip the nose of your board into means no tie downs needed for the front rack also means you can load and tie down your gear from the ladder. Make the rectangle for board carrying removable so you don''t need to drag it around all the time.

Sounds interesting, any pics of the setup?

[downwind dave]

do you have roof gutters?

[winddude]

do you have roof gutters?

There are roof gutter, but one side 80% is blocked by an awning, which I want to keep in case of san carlos or la ventana trips. So I would have to run a roof rack the entire length, because of the roof design(pictured below, not my van, but the same setup) would require some custom fabrication.

[rvanderbyl]

Here is one of the racks empty.

[winddude]

Neat, thanks. Are they sized for different boards, and how do you stop the board from having any movement?

[rvanderbyl]

They are sized slightly different for the different boards. I have changed boards many times over the years and the only issue would be a board with a thicker nose might not slide in as far. Once the back of the board is tied down there is no movement. I have had no issues with board damage either as the board bags seem to provide enough padding. I designed each rack out of wood first to meet my own needs then had aluminum welder make them to my specs. You don't want to pay a welder to figure anything out including placement of mounting brackets and how you screw down to roof. Current racks cost me between $400-500. I also designed a costum area for a Thule box.