Roof racks

Can anyone recommend a roof rack for my pop top bay? I have looked at the JK and VW Heritage racks but would prefer a stainless rack to one of those powder coated ones - even though they are cheaper.

Hi,
I bought a stainless steel 'bow' type rack from heritage a couple of years ago when we got our van. I paid £200 for it, Danbury are now selling the same thing for about £400!
It's a good rack, I did re varnish it this winter and it is still looking good.

You need to be carefull with roofracks for brazilians Stoney, as the roof's of our van's are a different shape to other vw. The rack can end up sitting on the roof and damaging it. There has been discussion on roof racks on this site before, it might be worth looking at the past threads. Some new racks do fit brizilians but they are very expensive.

Denni wrote:

We have a stainless steel 2 bow rack from Heritage, expensive at £300 but this one is a newer design specifically for Brazilian buses.

Not on their site as far as I can see, give them a buzz. We searched high and low for ages and this is the best of the bunch.

Denni is the site's roof rack guru.

Thanks for the rack info. I do prefer stainless, so will be phoning VW Heritage.

Have today fitted my new VW Heritage 2 bow stainless steel roof rack - one nice rack indeed! VW Heritage should though change their plastic bags holding bolts etc., as they had split open during transit and were rolling about loose in the cardboard box - one nut had escaped through a hole in the box caused by the bow sections punching through. A rough UPS journey I guess.

Let's see a pic of your new toy then please stoneyuk?

Pic as requested by TimV

Very smart. Don't go near any low bridges now.

Very nice, it is the deffinate must have accessory

Having a roof rack is going to make attaching your Bay to an awning difficult though isn't it?. My Khyam needs to make use of the entire gutter and even if you cut the 8 shaped trim around the roof rack legs, it's going to make it a weaker attachment.

Worth thinking about if you're looking into buying a rack.

My awning is a bit smaller and starts at the back of the front door where the back of the roof rack is, so you might be able to get away with a smaller one.

Hi from the Lizard, Cornwall. Used awning with roof rack and no problem with fit. Awning (Campershop.co.uk Bandit) fits just behind drivers door and clear of rear rack support. Used pole and clamps rather than figure 8 profile tubing.

PS Love driving the van and getting lots of waves from other Bays... and the occasional 'splitty' too!

Hey stoneyuk - great to hear from you way down there!

I think I may go back to using the pole and clamps I had with the JK Spacemaker - purely as it is "locked" to the van. Just means I'll need to put a run of white gaffer tape along the gutter for the season though to protect the paint. What to do what to do .......

Will test out the gutter bulk strip as mentioned in the 'Holidays 2010' thread next week. It does seem to hold the figure 8 bar really well.

Keep us posted on that please kiteman

Splitty drivers waving at you .......... heaven forbid what next.....speaking to us Brazillian's?????

Irishman

Ah ha, a splitty owner - Dan from Romford Essex and his missus, Leah - also staying at Damage Barton recently, came over to view Eva and said and I quote... 'cor, I'm going to get one of these.' Leah was particularly impressed with the Danbury Rio layout. Dan liked the fact that our van did not leak - well not as much as his splitty did.

Ah, Damage Barton, our favorite site. Back there next week for 3 nights sun and surf. Always a couple of vans there, 2 other danburys last time

Has anybody ever tried a roof rack from TimeTravellers UK before?

The seem really cheap, especially as they do a specific Brazilian Bay one, and powder coated as well.

£110 seems a bargain.

If nobody's had one from here I will ask for a picture from them.

I like my stainless/hard wood VW Heritage 2-bow roof rack - especially made for Brazilians although twice the price +.

I prefer the larger curved stainless steel roof rack (see the thread in the 'gallery' section Mark Schwarzer's T2)

All about how much you want to spend at the end of the day.

When you say the Time Traveller ones don't fit Denni - in what way? Have you seen one close up? I'm just curious how a company can offer a product if it doesn't actually fit the job it's designed for.

Handy tip for your roof rack. If the bows on the roof rack fit in the gutter, use some plastic push fit pipe. Cut it to size then cut along the pipe and slide it over the end of the bows, fits in the gutter perfect and the rain flow under it and it protects your paint.. simples init!