roof rack on Trooper

I'm wanting to put a roof rack on my trooper pop top to hold a kayak.  I have found a bit of dialogue about this, and some people have done it successfully for surf boards.  My trooper is 20 years old and as I live in New Zealand she has to cope with strong sun and UV rays on her roof.  Has anyone had a bad experience in putting roof racks on, or any info or advice to share?
Many thanks,
Kim:think_smiley_4

we put a 2 bar roof rack on a Trooper using something called a Truckman to fit it.  Then we added tie-down posts to the main van for the front bar on both sides and tied it down very firmly. Has to be untied to lift the roof of course. The boat is also tied down at the front using the metal eye under the front bumper - the cord running down the front doesn't bother the driver or affect the view.  We have carried kayaks, an open boat and a sitontop on different occasions and never had a problem.  I know Autosleepers don't endorse this but we think the key is to fix everything really well, check and recheck your fittings and tiedowns.  If you carry kayaks you have to do this anyway.  Our van is 20 years old and the roof is still sound and can cope with the boats (plus we load a playboat inside the van and two bikes on the back.  Great little workhorse!)

Hi, Thanks for your reply, its reassuring as I have gone ahead and done it, although I hadn’t any response to my post.  The guy who runs the kayak club and shop also fits roof racks and thought it would be fine, so has put false gutters and two bars on the pop top.  I got four clips fitted yesterday, one in each corner, clipping the upper part of the pop top to the lower, which gives a bit more security, along with tiedowns fore and aft from the kayak to the tow hooks on the van.  I was pondering using tie downs from the roof bars down the side of the van but the only place I could see was possibly just hooking them underneath the body.  I am curious about the posts you have used - what and where they are, and how they are attached.  Also what a Truckman is.
I'm off on my first proper trip tomorrow, with two weeks off, my sea kayak on the roof and my sit on top inside (yes, Vera my trooper is a work horse too).  I will pick up a friend, and we will camp and kayak some of the awesome places of this country.

My biggest challenge is getting my boat on top - I live with a drive that slopes in all directions, and am a small and not very strong woman.  However, so far there has been no damage to either the boat or Vera.


  Kim

Hi there, yes, getting boat on top is hard work, we stand at the front of the van, lift the front of the boat and then sort of slide it across the front roof rack bar lifting as we go.  But there are two of us both tall and the other one is very strong.  I'm not, and I'm also not much of a kayaker - he is a kayak instructor so has spent his whole life tying down boats and has told me to tell you that it's the front tie that matters most, get that really good and tight.  A Truckman is just a bit of kit that stops you needing the false gutters.  If I can find a photo I'll post it for you later.  Enjoy your trip - he is off tomorrow taking the open boat on the river Usk, but back in the evening, it's winter here so not the right time for long trips - enjoy yours!  btw we call our van Huey, it's definitely a bloke.

Hi again, thanks for the advice about the tying, I will be up at 7.30 getting the boat on and those ties right.  I tried to post a photo of Vera (full name is Vera d'Kimbi) with kayak up, but couldn't manage it - will have another go when I get back from my hols.  I wold love to see a photo of Huey and the Truckman and the posts.
Depending which part of the shared drive I'm parked on its either easier to put the boat on frontwards as you do, or to do it from the side using the swing out bar.  Neither is easy (yet) and I need a step ladder, but have only done it a couple of times so hope to improve.
Hope the other one enjoys the Usk - seems like UK is suffering from too much water at the moment and I imaging the rivers are full and fast.  I'm looking forward to my first camping (tent style) and kayaking trip in March, but good now to be off with the van and having a bit of freedom,

Cheers,
Kim

You have a swing out bar?  wow, we would love one of those.  Ours are fixed.  I'll try and attach a photo, without a boat though. We take a little stool with us to stand on in case we don't have easy access for unloading at the other end.  Yes we have water everywhere in the UK, the open boat trip has been cancelled twice as various rivers they chose were in flood - him and a friend are practicing ahead of their assessment for Open Boat, er, 4 Star?  Or something.  I really am not much of a kayak/canoe person.  Here goes with the pic... nope. hopeless, could email it to you but can't get it into this message.

The easiest way to post photos is via Photobucket - and it really is pretty easy once you get used to it:

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I think the Photobucket user interface has changed since that how-to was created, but the principles are the same. Once you've uploaded the photo to Photobucket all you need to do is click the Image URL link, and paste it into your post here...

OK thanks for this, I'll look into it but suspect it ain't gonna happen because 1) I am chasing my tail at the moment trying to catch up with stuff and 2) my laptop is nearly as old as Huey and already has more stuffed on it than any reasonable person would attempt - it only keeps going thanks to an IT expert in the family (if we only had a doctor and a lawyer and a builder in the family we'd be sorted).  Never mind, we both know what a Trooper looks like and both have a roof rack that works for each of us.  I just went outside and washed ours, it's winter here and they put a lot of salt on the roads.  Have a great trip!

Hi we are trying to work out the best way to carry our kayaks and have seen lots of different options. Tried looking up a Truckman but couldn't find one. Could you post a link please so I could see what this looks like. Thanks.

Hi - it's just a kit for fitting roof bars when there isn't any gutter, we screwed through the elevating roof sides to fit the little false gutters and then added the bars.  I think you can get it in Halfords even if they call it something else.  We also added cleats that are screwed to the bodywork above the windows at the front, we tie down from the actual bars to the cleats - the ties have to be released to raise the roof but it only takes a moment.  We also tie the boats down at the front using the eye below the front bumper - this is probably the most important bit.  We've carried kayaks, sea kayaks, a double sit on top and an open boat at various times over a number of years and never had any problems - but we do take great care over the ties and knots.

Thanks for that we will look into it. We have been kayaking for years too and know what you mean about ensuring boats are tied on correctly it's amazing how many people don't take that into account. Previous vehicles haven't been this tall so it's presenting a few challenges.

I'm getting the hang of getting my boat up on the Trooper, fortunately it is only 17kg, but still a bit of a mission.  The sidebar is no help at all as I have to load from the front due to where i have to park and the slope of the drive.  Also my saddles don't swivel, though that is something I could splash out yet more cash to change!  I will get another practice in the morning if this wind dies down as it is forecast to do, and it looks like the planned paddle will happen.

I guess the false gutters I have on Vera are similar to the truckman, and I have added cleats both front and back to help keep the roof on.  They aren't the type I could tie to though - shame I didn't think of that when I got them put on.  But good tying fore and aft to the tow hooks (and something else that looks robust under the front) is something I'm aiming for and still practicing.  The whole process of getting the boat on and tied takes about an hour - I have to start with putting the roof racks on as they don't fit under the car port where I have to park.  I hope to reduce that time by half by the end of summer and get much quicker with knots.

I would still like to see photos of how you have set yours up (and to show of my photo of Vera and our amazingly blue sky).  I'm happy to give you an email address if that isn't against the forum guidelines or rules, but think posting pic's on the site is beyond me.

Happy driving/boating

Kim have sent you a pm

Hi, I've got a V-reg Trooper and a 13 foot canoe that I want to transport, but after speaking to the AUtoSleeper Service Centre I was told I couldn't fit roof bars/rack.
Obviously others have, but I wondered about using one of the soft rooof racks that are out there (eg [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) but not sure how it would work with the rear windows. Anyone tried this?

Cheers
Dan

My personal view is that - having owned two solid-sided A-S pop-tops - I wouldn't do it. I suspect that when you pull something like that down hard enough to stop a load from moving around on top, you will be exerting a large amount of pressure on the pop-top "skirts" and I don't think it will do anything any good. One of the weaknesses on those roofs are the hinges, which I always considered to be under-sized. You really don't want to be damaging those hinges...

Hi Dan,
My Trooper has been fine with my kayak on the pop top (once I've got it up there).  It weighs 17 kilo and is 4.9 meters. I think thats about 16ft.  I don't think I would want to take anything heavier though.  Apart from securing it well to the roofrqcks I tie it bow and stern to the tow rings under the van, but not to tightly.  Taut is enough to stop wind uplift taking the whole lot off.  To tight and you risk bending the boat like a banana.  I also have catches front and back of the pop top that give me more confidence in the roof not blowing off.

How  heavy is your kayak?

Kim

Hi Kim,

Sorry didn't see your reply until today.
It's 32kg, so quite a bit heavier than yours - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Do you have a photo of your roofrack? And the canoe on it?
cheers
Dan

Hi Dan,

32 kg seems quite heavy, though the guy who fitted my false gutters thought I would be fine with two kayaks up.  They would be that heavy, but the weight would be spread more.  I had a go at getting a photo on, but this was all I could do:

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I'm not sure if that actually brings anything up you can see.  I will persevere though, as its a good shot of 'Vera", and also of out wonderful blue sky.

Best wishes,
Kim

Hi Dan,

Well, I've managed to put a photo of Vera with the kayak up on my profile.  In that photo I hadn't put tiedowns bow and stern as I was just going a couple of kilometres to the harbour.  In bad weather I put a cockpit cover on to protect against the kayak filling with rain, or wind.  Would you carry your canoe upside down?

Cheers,
Kim