Problem with roof basket

[piyeguyo]

A few weeks ago, I bought a roof basket from a fellow Delica owner and I finally finished installing it yesterday. Putting this heavy thing on top of the car was difficult and frustrating as I initially thought it was not the right size for it, but eventually I realized that all I needed to do in order to make it fit was to untighten some of the screws, and I discovered that this thing was in fact good for a high roof Delica.
However, the "feet" that attach to the gutter can pop out easily (see pic). I was playing with the screws trying to get the feet securely attached, but I was wondering if anybody has any experience with this kind of roof basket and can give me some tips.
This roof basket came originally from Maximum Overdrive in Vancouver.



Thx,
Fabio

[BCDelica]

simplest solution would be to give it to me, but no thanks as we are on the ferry more than once a week.

How does that rack attach to the uprights that sit in the gutter? (Can't see it with yours). Normal heavy racks uprights rest inside the gutters, and the movable clamp (just like yours shows) slides into the up right and the bolt pulls the angled movable portion very tightly against the bottom of the gutter rails. Strips of rubber placed here will help prevent slippage and protect your gutters exterior shininess. Just can't see whats connecting the uprights and the clamp piece to help more.

Tip rural ladder carriers use for gravel roads security; secure the clamping parts on the racks with a large, strong, hose type clamps, bent into an wide oval, to prevent vibrations from separating the clamp. Painted as to not to have the Red Green look.

Kev

[Green1]

again, from that angle it's hard to see exactly what's going on with how the lower "hook" attaches to the foot that sits in the gutter, but it may need some shims of some form between the 2 pieces to change the angle of the hook to hold better... hard to say for sure though, another picture, same size, but from the front or back of the vehicle showing how the foot attaches to the hook might help....

[piyeguyo]

Let me try to explain better...
The foot rests inside the gutter: This is ok, no problem here.
The movable clamp is attached to the foot (long silver screw in pics) and is supposed to attach to the bottom of the gutter" Here is the problem. The clamp pops out of the bottom of the gutter. Maybe if I add rubber between the clamp and the bottom of the gutter, this will help?

I'm adding some more pictures to try to clarify. The gray rubbery thing I added to try to protect the paint, but it was too late as I scratched the van pretty bad...

Thx...

[loki]

looks to me like the hook that goes under the gutter needs to be bent more, the angle it is on is allowing it to slip off, just my opinion.

[jessef]

That clamp bracket setup is not made for this gutter. It's evident by looking at the side-view picture.

You can probably get away with spacing it out with a longer/bent bolt but then you're shifting the load across a longer bolt/washers.

It's a very poor design to begin with because the tighter you go, the more stress you're putting on the bend on the bolt.



The L-shaped foot bracket looks like it's made for a light-weight load (ie. 150 lbs max). I can't see any reinforcements on it.

Looking at the angled section that points down into the gutter, it has been modified to clear that van body.

Not trying to be a bummer but I would hate to see someone overload a rack and watch their gear sprawling out on the door through their rearview mirror. I've seen it happen on a trail run.

It doesn't look like this rack was made for this type of vehicle going by your pictures.

My 2 cents.



This is the type of footprint/clamp the high roof should have.

Or something like this

[Mystery Machine]

looks to me like the hook that goes under the gutter needs to be bent more, the angle it is on is allowing it to slip off, just my opinion.

Exactly what I was going to suggest - take all the hooks/clamps off and bend the 'hook' part up....and also add the rubber sleeve if you can (more grip as you say) Something like this should see you good:



I hope the image makes sense??

They're not the strongest of racks, but this will be a suitable solution....

Funny this topic should come up, I've just got back in from a company who is going to supply me some heavy duty brackets for a roof rack I am designing for the Mud Monkey!

Let us know if you get it sorted

[Green1]

I have to agree that this appears to be a design issue... you might be able to make something work though... I would start by moving the top end of the bolt where it attaches to the foot up to the next higher slot, and possibly adding a through-bolt to hold the bottom of the hook towards the foot (you'd have to drill a hole through the hook above gutter level, and match it to a slot on the foot, then put a bolt through and tighten up to keep the hook more parallel to the foot)

[BCDelica]

Nice that there's so many quick and helpful replies.

Was about to suggest what Bruce said (not that I could have said/showed it as well as he did though), I still stand by my recommendation of using four large hose clamps to hold those two pieces tightly together. Get the strongest ones available.



Edit - uprights look like they need to be moved out more, but the nuts'n'bolts appear out as far as possible already.

[EnviroImports.com]

Just to Clarify, the picts of my racks are of Low roof van racks only, my high roof ones have a different mounting system, not alot different , but there is a difference to the picts of my racks above.
Noel

[jessef]

[EnviroImports.com]

now those are also a different mounting style to what we are doing now, you should see the 8foot saffari rack thats about 90% done right now, I can do chin ups off the end of it, I have three BIG saffari racks i have to build in the next few weeks, and mine can take 100 or 150lbs in any one spot, you dont have to spread it out and be afraid its going to come apart.

[piyeguyo]

Thx to all the people that replied. I found a solution to my problem and I'll post some pictures later. This was definitely a problem in the design of the clamp, so I just changed the clamps to get the problem solved. I'm at work right now, so mode details + pics later today.

I just hope these guys are not selling these racks no more. Unless I was doing something wrong, but I think that's how I was supposed to install it, according to the pictures in the instructions paper.

Fabio

[sasquatch-hunter]

I have the exact same roof rack. BCDElica is right, the cheapest solution is to wrap the mounts around with hose clamps. My roof rack is now very solid. Watch out for the paint though.

[piyeguyo]

Here's how I solved the roof basket problem (i.e. clamps popping out)

I also have a Thule roof rack. 953 foot pack + 58" bars



What I did is I got the clamps from the Thule roof rack and I replaced the clamps that came with the roof basket. The Thule clamps worked perfectly and you can use the Thule bolts to secure them. These bolts tighten towards the van, while the bolts in the original clamps tighten upwards and pop out easily. There's no need to use hose clamps in my setup, although this is also a great idea, that I'm sure would work just fine.

I was missing 2 Thule clamps though, so I went to a place called Racks Unlimited and I got 2 of these for $5 each. I was so surprised to be able to get them here and for this very low price. These people are so expensive, so getting these parts here was really nice.

A couple of pictures...



Thx again...

I am almost ready for Mexico now, tires are next!!!

Fabio