I want to start using the top of my 1999 hundy for storing stuff I don't want or need in the cab while I am driving (i.e., gas, water, cooler, etc). I don't want to get too crazy with it because then I'll have to drop some serious cash for a heavy duty rack and I think the stock runners and cross bars ought to fulfill my needs. I know, I know, a lot of you will default to telling me to just upgrade the rack, but I'd rather put my money toward something else in the meantime.
First thing, I can't find good information on the weight capacity of the stock runners and crossbars anywhere. I assume they are rated at least 150 lbs because, hey, that's a really reasonable number that seems to pop up in most of the literature I've seen (but it ain't official and that bugs me).
Here's a brief list of what will realistically get stashed on top:
5 gallons of gasoline = 30 lbs
5.5 gallons of water = 45 lbs
Yeti cooler = 30 lbs
Ice = 10 lbs
Cargo rack = 10 lbs
Food/clothing/gear/misc = 25-30 lbs
So that puts me in that sweet spot of around 150 lbs on the cargo rack and crossbars alone. Nothing super tall or long. Where is the best place for that weight to go? Heavy in the back, light in the front? Vice versa?
Additionally, I've got a couple plans to add some weight to the runners. One is an ARB awning that weighs next to nothing (20 lbs). The other is significantly heavier - a little pet project that I am exploring in a pressurized field shower that uses ABS pipe, gravity, and a bike pump. It's mostly for my dogs because they always find the gnarliest stuff to roll in while camping. Anyway, I can make it as big as I want (up to 25 gallons or about 200 lbs, but I was thinking going with something a little more modest at around 10 gallons/80 lbs (3" x 84" pipe).
Now, the real question is whether this is remotely safe on a top-heavy vehicle like the 100, especially at highway speeds and potential sloshing. The way I see it, this kind of weight will be hard to compensate for laterally (parallel to the runners), but let's say I affix across the back of the runners (essentially over the back wheels) so that the pipe is oriented perpendicular to the runners.
Thanks, my LC brothers!
First thing, I can't find good information on the weight capacity of the stock runners and crossbars anywhere. I assume they are rated at least 150 lbs because, hey, that's a really reasonable number that seems to pop up in most of the literature I've seen (but it ain't official and that bugs me).
Here's a brief list of what will realistically get stashed on top:
5 gallons of gasoline = 30 lbs
5.5 gallons of water = 45 lbs
Yeti cooler = 30 lbs
Ice = 10 lbs
Cargo rack = 10 lbs
Food/clothing/gear/misc = 25-30 lbs
So that puts me in that sweet spot of around 150 lbs on the cargo rack and crossbars alone. Nothing super tall or long. Where is the best place for that weight to go? Heavy in the back, light in the front? Vice versa?
Additionally, I've got a couple plans to add some weight to the runners. One is an ARB awning that weighs next to nothing (20 lbs). The other is significantly heavier - a little pet project that I am exploring in a pressurized field shower that uses ABS pipe, gravity, and a bike pump. It's mostly for my dogs because they always find the gnarliest stuff to roll in while camping. Anyway, I can make it as big as I want (up to 25 gallons or about 200 lbs, but I was thinking going with something a little more modest at around 10 gallons/80 lbs (3" x 84" pipe).
Now, the real question is whether this is remotely safe on a top-heavy vehicle like the 100, especially at highway speeds and potential sloshing. The way I see it, this kind of weight will be hard to compensate for laterally (parallel to the runners), but let's say I affix across the back of the runners (essentially over the back wheels) so that the pipe is oriented perpendicular to the runners.
Thanks, my LC brothers!
