How much weight can the roof hold? - no rack

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:41 pm

I recently got a 15.5' long 2 person kayak. Total weight is about 70lbs, maybe 75. I don't have a rack and don't want to shell out the money for one so I'm exploring my options before I rush into anything. For the time being I have been using 5 sets of folded up beach towels on the roof and a total of 2 straps attached to the roof rails and then reserve bow and stern lines to keep everything in place.

So for the most part I have the weight distributed at the back of the jeep in a 2'x2' section of towels and just behind the sun roof in another 2'x'2 section. I keep one more towel on the very front of the roof between the windshield and the sunroof to protect the roof from scratches when going over bumps - there is almost no weight loaded onto that section.

So call it a total of 75 lbs on the roof broken up into two sections of 37.5 lbs. Factor in the force from the straps and I'm sure it's more like 40-43 lbs front and back for a total of 80 - 86lbs. I know it's not going to fall off. My concern is the structural integrity of the roof and after that just surface dents/damage.

EDIT...

So I ordered a Thule rack system from Rack Attack. At the end of the day it'll make life a lot easier and I won't have to worry about damaging my roof or sun roof. Here's what I got and what it worked out to.

Thule 450R Rapid Crossroad
Thule RB53 53" Rapid Load Bars
Thule 544 4-Pack Lock Cores
Thule 883 Glide and Set (Kayak Rack)

Total was $441 from Rack Attack. I have the kayak rack already, I'm waiting for the bars to get here. On a side note the guy at Rack Attack told me Thule is phasing out their square bars in about a year or two. Maybe he was trying to push the hard sale, maybe it was the truth. I got the Rapid load bars b/c I've been in a car with square bars and they make way too much noise at anything over 45 mph. My hope is the Rapid Load bars will be much quieter and I won't need to get the wind deflector. The price difference was only $40. The wind deflector was $65.

bugnout · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:48 pm

There is at least one $30 rack in the fabrication section you can build with hand tools. Its just a length of electrical strut cut in half. You can use that plan and use ratchet straps to tie it to the strut. The roof bars are rated to well over 75 lbs.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:50 pm

I've had a tandem kayak (65 lbs) mounted on top of a roof rack (30 lbs by itself) and the roof held

The roof rack has since come off and I am mounting the kayak on a Thule j-mount on their crossbar (negligible weight). I've been driving at highway speed with this setup and there's no problem with stress, high wind, etc.

Of course the force is pretty much localized to the rail mounting points.

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:16 pm

I'm not worried about loading things on cross bars since that's what they're designed to do (I think manual says 150 lbs for the side rails?) I'm talking about just directly on roof. Is it just meant for a small suite case of can you really load some stuff up there? Since I have a sun roof do I need to be concerned about ruining the tracks for the window to retract? Those are my big concerns.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:07 pm

Dude ... putting a kayak on a roof lined with towels is just ... well ... really bad idea you know. I was hoping you'd get the nudge from the two posts and would consider something a little more ... sturdy ... for other people's sake if not your own.

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:32 pm

I agree 100% that it's not a good idea for the jeep and probably worse for the kayak. However, as far as safety for others I'm certain that it's fine, I wouldn't drive with it on if I had the slightest concern about other people's safety. It held in place by two ratchet straps to the point that I'm bending the mold in the plastic floor (more than I'd like to do.) Those two straps hold it in place firmly and are looped through the side roof rail holes where they connect to the jeep so the straps won't slide forward or back. Then I have a stern line looped around the kayak so the line is coming down from the center of the bottom (not to the side) and tide off to the rear receiver. On the front I have two bow lines that get tied off to the front tow hooks. I've tried shaking it left to right and front to back. It might move an half inch side to side and not at all front to back. On trips I'll stop after 10 min of driving to see if things need to be adjusted. Once on the highway I'll stop after getting up to 55 to check things again and after that I stop every 50 miles or so just to be sure the lines are all in place. Also, having a sunroof I can see if it's moved left or right and since it hangs past the front bumper I can tell in an instant if it's moved forward or backwards. As for the towels sliding around, there's enough force from the straps that I haven't seen them move at all. So far I haven't traveled any faster than 65 when I have it on the roof. In my mind it's the same as putting a mattress right up on the roof and strapping that down.

With all that said I'd still appreciate your thoughts. If I'm "that guy" that people see on the highway who thinks his one arm is going to hold down the stuff on the roof I'd like to know so I can take that into consideration. I respect everyone's opinion and want to be sure I'm not being blind to what I think is otherwise safe.

So I guess in addition to the question how much weight can the roof hold (which I'd still like to know,) the only other question I'm now asking is, do you think the way I have been carrying my kayak up there is unsafe to other drivers after reading how I'm doing it? And just to clarify, I know getting a rack is easier, I'm just trying to avoid the money and I haven't had any time to try and build one, that might be my next step.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:52 pm

My wife's 2003 Renegade came with OEM "integrated roof box" which is basically just plastic pieces surrounding the top of the Jeep. The "bottom" of the box is actually the roof itself.

According to Jeep's literature, the "box" (no bottom

) is rated for 65 pounds. I guess that is the answer to your question ...

The real acid test of your setup will be in panic stop ... what happens when you had to slam on the brakes with weight of the kayak on top. This will tell you if your rigging is worthy or not.

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:02 pm

Yup, I did that on a side road just to be sure I'd be OK on the highway. 40mph full brakes with EBS kicking in and it was fine. But the obvious thing is that I'm now over the 65 lbs limit. I'm also shocked to hear that the "roof basket" doesn't have a bottom.

OK, well, I guess I'm a 50/50 idiot. The kayak is not a risk to others but I'm over the weight limit and now only a risk to myself. Well that's just great! Looks like I'm scraping together some cash or building my own rack.

daspes · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:05 pm

Well an unofficial answer to the weight question... I spent several hours standing and walking around on my roof this weekend, and it never even buckled. I weigh in at 145 lbs.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:48 pm

scoobysnax wrote:

I recently got a 15.5' long 2 person kayak. Total weight is about 70lbs, maybe 75. I don't have a rack and don't want to shell out the money for one so I'm exploring my options before I rush into anything. For the time being I have been using 5 sets of folded up beach towels on the roof and a total of 2 straps attached to the roof rails and then reserve bow and stern lines to keep everything in place.

So for the most part I have the weight distributed at the back of the jeep in a 2'x2' section of towels and just behind the sun roof in another 2'x'2 section. I keep one more towel on the very front of the roof between the windshield and the sunroof to protect the roof from scratches when going over bumps - there is almost no weight loaded onto that section.

So call it a total of 75 lbs on the roof broken up into two sections of 37.5 lbs. Factor in the force from the straps and I'm sure it's more like 40-43 lbs front and back for a total of 80 - 86lbs. I know it's not going to fall off. My concern is the structural integrity of the roof and after that just surface dents/damage.

I dunno, how much does the liberty weigh?

LIV42DY · **Posted:** Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:41 am

the 2002 sport and the 2003 Reni came in at 4115lbs

spoonplugger1 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:03 pm

Sir Sam,
Where did you find that rare wheel? They look great on the Lib, don't see the 16 inch versions much.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:18 pm

spoonplugger1 wrote:

Sir Sam,
Where did you find that rare wheel? They look great on the Lib, don't see the 16 inch versions much.

Thats called the "silver star" they originally come on the 5.9 ZJs in 98, then on the Freedom XJ or SE XJ with 16" wheel package in 2000, and then on the 60th AE XJs in 2001. They were also offered on TJ Saharas with 16" wheel package. They are a pretty rare wheel, and also my favorite, they make the Jeep look 100000x better.

Its one of the reasons I love the freedom package so much:

Can you tell I really like the sliverstars?

How much weight can the roof hold? - no rack

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