Delta Vehicle Systems Roof Rack (2 Viewers)

[80t0ylc]

Don't know about that particular awning, but @Dirty Koala hasn't mentioned having issues with his. Are you saying the Alu Cab awning is significantly different than other 270 awnings?

There are a few awnings like the Alu Cab Shadow that are considered "free standing". They are very stout compared to the non free standing. I can actually do chin ups on the awning arms near the pivot point with no poles. (My awning is currently mounted to my trailer) I've noticed that there is a difference in stategy by different 270* awning manufacturerers. The ones that claim their awning to be free standing have a very stout pivot setup and thus require the rear mount to provide support so their awning will function as designed. Other 270* awnings that are not free standing use poles to support the awning taking the stress off the rear mount. One pole is provided for the Alu Cab for severe wind conditions, but it is considered a free standing awning. The Eezi-Awn Bat 270 that @Dirty Koala has, I believe, is not a free standing awning.

Correction: The Eezi-Awn Bat 270 is free standing.

 

[COYS]

While this comment may not help with pricing, it's gotta be said that Delta makes some of that new new really good good. From bumpers to rack to sliders and all the trimmings, so thoughtfully designed visually and functionally - props.

Dirty, how are you managing roof loading rating both static and dynamic on your 80 assuming you even care in the first place? Have always been curious what the data points are and how to ensure to stay under limits.

I'll live vicariously through threads like these - thanks for sharing!

 

[Delta VS]

There are a few awnings like the Alu Cab Shadow that are considered "free standing". They are very stout compared to the non free standing. I can actually do chin ups on the awning arms near the pivot point with no poles. (My awning is currently mounted to my trailer) I've noticed that there is a difference in stategy by different 270* awning manufacturerers. The ones that claim their awning to be free standing have a very stout pivot setup and thus require the rear mount to provide support so their awning will function as designed. Other 270* awnings that are not free standing use poles to support the awning taking the stress off the rear mount. One pole is provided for the Alu Cab for severe wind conditions, but it is considered a free standing awning. the Eezi-Awn Bat 270 that @Dirty Koala has, I believe, is not a free standing awning.

just went and spent some time on the alu cab site, looks like they are pretty good about providing the adapters themselves, specific to their awnings. if they can provide any of these models to us, we will be able to easily make sure our adapters will work with their awning.

 

[fj80pb]

Another sweet design from Delta. Looks like a winner in my book!
Cheers!

 

[Dirty Koala]

Nice review, are you going to powder coat it?

Now all you need are their sliders!

Thank you, I wanted to put some good throught into the review before posting, but not wait too long since I am sure there a many folks that have questions that I hopefully was able to answer.

I am not going to powder coat it. I like the raw aluminum, it blends well with the other delta products I have (jerry can holders, swingout tables etc.) I also really appreciate the utility function. I can drill holes and mount things where I want without having to worry about ruining the finish.

 

[Dirty Koala]

There are a few awnings like the Alu Cab Shadow that are considered "free standing". They are very stout compared to the non free standing. I can actually do chin ups on the awning arms near the pivot point with no poles. (My awning is currently mounted to my trailer) I've noticed that there is a difference in stategy by different 270* awning manufacturerers. The ones that claim their awning to be free standing have a very stout pivot setup and thus require the rear mount to provide support so their awning will function as designed. Other 270* awnings that are not free standing use poles to support the awning taking the stress off the rear mount. One pole is provided for the Alu Cab for severe wind conditions, but it is considered a free standing awning. the Eezi-Awn Bat 270 that @Dirty Koala has, I believe, is not a free standing awning.

My Bat 270 is a free standing awning. The only time I drop the poles down is if I
A) want to push the awning upp a bit higher that its natural position
or
B) if the weather is getting really nasty and I want some added security. 99% of the time I do not deploy the legs.

With the angled portion of the rack being used as a second plane to bolt the delta awning mounts to (I assume this is what Delta is going to do), then you would have some super stout mounts to work from. The 3/8" carriage bolt hardware is overkill, but for a 270 awning hinge point it's perfect.

 

[NeverFinis]

Very nice roof rack. Everything Delta VS does is impressive.

Theo @RuggedBound might have advice on mounting 270 awnings to Roof Racks. I have an Ostrich Wing that will be mounted directly to one of his RTT, which is on his load bars, and not a roof rack. The pivot hinge on the Ostrich Wing is massive and is designed to take a substantial load.

Ostrich Wing Awning
Mounting Brackets

 

[80t0ylc]

My Bat 270 is a free standing awning. The only time I drop the poles down is if I
A) want to push the awning upp a bit higher that its natural position
or
B) if the weather is getting really nasty and I want some added security. 99% of the time I do not deploy the legs.

With the angled portion of the rack being used as a second plane to bolt the delta awning mounts to (I assume this is what Delta is going to do), then you would have some super stout mounts to work from. The 3/8" carriage bolt hardware is overkill, but for a 270 awning hinge point it's perfect.

Ok, my mistake. I got the Rhino-Rack Batwing 270* awning mixed up with your Eezi-Awn Bat 270. The awning that was mentioned in this thread on Expo is definitely not a free standing awning...lol. Their strategy seems to be using a lighter pivot assy and supplying spare parts, instead of the H.D. pivot assy of the free standing tents. If you read through the thread there's a picture on page 4 of the thread where an owner experienced broken plastic arm bushings of the pivot assy among other issues he was having. I understand and can appreciate that strategy. If you experience strong winds, that bushing acts as a fuse instead of pretzeling the arms and can be replaced relatively cheaply. But, I still prefer the sturdier free standing style like yours and mine. Stopping for lunch on the desert or along the highway, I can quickly deploy for some shade to eat in outside the rig. And it packs up just as quick.

 

[RuggedBound]

Very nice roof rack. Everything Delta VS does is impressive.

Theo @RuggedBound might have advice on mounting 270 awnings to Roof Racks. I have an Ostrich Wing that will be mounted directly to one of his RTT, which is on his load bars, and not a roof rack. The pivot hinge on the Ostrich Wing is massive and is designed to take a substantial load.

Ostrich Wing Awning
Mounting Brackets

So we have several mounting kits for the Ostrich Wing - the ones for traditional modular racks like FrontRunner, Rhino etc have a large gusset member to ensure the moment arm created by the massive sail is translated to the vehicle suspension while keeping the awning and rack in the same plane.

Big Country 4x4 have experienced catastrophic failures of the FR and Rhino racks where the awning eventually destroyed the rack when not properly mounted - this goes back to 2008/9/10. Essentially, the modular racks started coming apart as the awning oscillated the racks’ corner sections beyond their abilities. On the welded Big Country 4x4 racks the corner sections are fully welded also and hence no issues. As such, Big Country 4x4 provide kits for most modular racks that create a massive reinforcement of the corners and ensures stability in the Z-axis, protectng the integrity of the rack. (The exception is standard load bar racks like Bowfin, Prinsu, SSO, Uptop, All-Alu 4x4, Victory etc who all use the exact same members on 1/4” bolts in the horizontal plane: those racks were not designed with a free-standing 270 in mind, and while our l-brackets work fine on them the weakpoint will always be the rear corner load bar bolts)

The Delta rack is not like any other modular rack: the boxed construction provides significantly more rigidity and I believe our 5mm standard gusseted L brackets will work just fine on it on a top-mount setup. The more important thing is ensuring there is a 71” spacing between the two mounting points as the 104” beam can handle a 33” cantilever - which probably can be ensured on the Delta rack by simply moving a load bar member to the front-most position on the full rack.

Sorry for the long answer - will gladly work with Delta to ensure kit compatibility - our Ostrich sales are rocking and for someone buying a beefy rack like this I would expect the Ostrich being the beefiest, original free standing 270 should be on their want list also (unashamed plug )

Theo

 

[80t0ylc]

So we have several mounting kits for the Ostrich Wing - the ones for traditional modular racks like FrontRunner, Rhino etc have a large gusset member to ensure the moment arm created by the massive sail is translated to the vehicle suspension while keeping the awning and rack in the same plane.

Big Country 4x4 have experienced catastrophic failures of the FR and Rhino racks where the awning eventually destroyed the rack when not properly mounted - this goes back to 2008/9/10. Essentially, the modular racks started coming apart as the awning oscillated the racks’ corner sections beyond their abilities. On the welded Big Country 4x4 racks the corner sections are fully welded also and hence no issues. As such, Big Country 4x4 provide kits for most modular racks that create a massive reinforcement of the corners and ensures stability in the Z-axis, protectng the integrity of the rack. (The exception is standard load bar racks like Bowfin, Prinsu, SSO, Uptop, All-Alu 4x4, Victory etc who all use the exact same members on 1/4” bolts in the horizontal plane: those racks were not designed with a free-standing 270 in mind, and while our l-brackets work fine on them the weakpoint will always be the rear corner load bar bolts)

The Delta rack is not like any other modular rack: the boxed construction provides significantly more rigidity and I believe our 5mm standard gusseted L brackets will work just fine on it on a top-mount setup. The more important thing is ensuring there is a 71” spacing between the two mounting points as the 104” beam can handle a 33” cantilever - which probably can be ensured on the Delta rack by simply moving a load bar member to the front-most position on the full rack.

Sorry for the long answer - will gladly work with Delta to ensure kit compatibility - our Ostrich sales are rocking and for someone buying a beefy rack like this I would expect the Ostrich being the beefiest, original free standing 270 should be on their want list also (unashamed plug )

Theo

I hear and agree with your info on the standard load bar racks for free standing 270* awnings like the Ostrich and Alu Cab. 2 yrs ago, I had an off road trip scheduled that I wanted to bring my Alu Cab Shadow 270* awning that I had just mounted to my trailer. I originally had mounted the awning to a modified Yakima bar setup on my 80 series Land Cruiser. The group wouldn't allow trailers, and since I didn't want to re-create the Yakima nightmare again, I ordered a Prinsu rack thinking it would be sufficient. I was wrong. After mounting the awning to the Prinsu and installing the rear-most load bar as far back as possible for horizontal support, the side member you mention, flexed terribly when deploying the awning in my driveway - even with some self-fabbed re-inforcement brackets installed! I ended up nervously leaving it on for the trip. Deployed it once, fiercly watching the wind and vowing to remove it as soon as I got home. The DVS roof rack looks to be so much stronger with the boxed construction as you say. I wish it would have been available 2 yrs ago

 

[mudgudgeon]

Curious to know if there is any whistling through the hood in the rack at highway speeds?

I put holes in a ladder rack i had years ago on a Ute, and the whistling was horrendous. Had to tape over the holes

 

[Delta VS]

Curious to know if there is any whistling through the hood in the rack at highway speeds?

I put holes in a ladder rack i had years ago on a Ute, and the whistling was horrendous. Had to tape over the holes

Zero wind noise in all configurations tested!

 

[Marco Lau]

love the rack!!

 

[FMC80]

Morgan, have you wired up those BD lights on the rack yet? Would like to hear what you think of them too whenever you have the time. I’m liking this rack more that I’ve had time to soak it in and truthfully after your review. My cart at Delta is over $20k because of this rack. I have to wait though :/

 

[Kabanstva]

Super impressed with this rack. Just ordered it a couple hours ago.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Morgan, have you wired up those BD lights on the rack yet? Would like to hear what you think of them too whenever you have the time. I’m liking this rack more that I’ve had time to soak it in and truthfully after your review. My cart at Delta is over $20k because of this rack. I have to wait though :/

I haven’t had a chance to wire up the lights yet. I will do it soon and then add to my review after playing with it a bit.

I just got back from a week of bouncing around the desert in UT, the rack was heavily loaded with a RTT, awning, double swag and lots of firewood…old railroad ties one day, and it was flawless.

 

[lelandEOD]

Man o man... I hope my girls develop an interest in cosmetology. Rack ordered.

 

[ThomasMore66]

I like the rack. I have a Delta rear bumper and a few other things.

I've been looking at the website pics, and I have to ask, how is it to wash the roof with this thing on? I like to know things are clean up there and I don't really want to have to take it off to clean.

 

[Dirty Koala]

I like the rack. I have a Delta rear bumper and a few other things.

I've been looking at the website pics, and I have to ask, how is it to wash the roof with this thing on? I like to know things are clean up there and I don't really want to have to take it off to clean.

Should be easier that most racks since you will likely have less cross bars to navigate a hose or pressure washer around.

 

[Kabanstva]

I like the rack. I have a Delta rear bumper and a few other things.

I've been looking at the website pics, and I have to ask, how is it to wash the roof with this thing on? I like to know things are clean up there and I don't really want to have to take it off to clean.

I usually just foam up the whole car including the roof and go at it with a pressure washer to rinse out any dirt, then reach to as many places as possible with a wash mitt. On my 100 with a Dissent rack I can get the entire roof this way, takes a minute but it’s doable. Pressure washer is a must if your truck sits outside and has crap falling on it from trees, etc.