Advise on roof racks for roof tents

[Jonni2rets]

Hi all, iv just purchased a roof tent and not sure which route to go with regards putting it on my roof. Its a large roof tent bein 227cm in length. I’m thinking a rhino rack will be best to spread the weight Evenly over the roof just not keen on the look of them. Any advice will be great to other options other people may have used.

 

[Pete C]

How about standard VW rails, but use more than 2 bars to spread the load. The bars fit pretty much anywhere along the length of the rails and are of course removable.

Pete

 

[N13LRO]

Hi there i am now in same position and keen to hear what you decided on? Many thanks
Neil

 

[Vanderlust]

I had a roof rent before converting the van and used the roof rails from Vanstyle which had a 75 kg dynamic load rating along with 3 cross bars. This worked well as the James Baroud Evo was 52 kg which left capacity for a box carrier as well. With the added weight of us in the tent the rail needed some support under the longer span between the front and middle feet which was achieved by cutting a couple of hard rubber blocks to the right size, they were removed for driving. The tent you are looking at has a gross weight of 91 kgs so would need to make sure the rails and bars were rated for that.edit realised the tent listed was the original post so ignore reference to that.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I'm having a flatdog UK rack fitted this afternoon, I'll let you know what it's like.

Volkswagen T5 / T6 FD RAX - SWB from www.flatdoguk.com

VOLKSWAGEN "> T5 / T6 Roof Rack

www.flatdoguk.com

 

[TallPaul_S]

Had the rack fitted, zero complaints - it's a great bit of kit!

£870 Inc fitting at their HQ not far off the A1.





Would be very easy to mount a roof tent and/all other sort of stuff up there.

 

[N13LRO]

Looks great!! Please keep us updated with anything you put on it!!

 

[Jonni2rets]

I used 4x rhino aluminium roof bars load rated to 75kg per bar. Tent sold and bars for sale now

 

[Trekster]

Had the rack fitted, zero complaints - it's a great bit of kit!

£870 Inc fitting at their HQ not far off the A1.

View attachment 253170
View attachment 253171
View attachment 253172

Would be very easy to mount a roof tent and/all other sort of stuff up there.

Seriously considering one myself, Have you been up on top, feel able to take your weight without flex?

 

[TallPaul_S]

Seriously considering one myself, Have you been up on top, feel able to take your weight without flex?

I haven't personally, no - but there's pictures of people standing on them on their Facebook page, and they mount roof tents on them so I'd hope they're strong enough.

 

[Schottin19]

I used 4x rhino aluminium roof bars load rated to 75kg per bar. Tent sold and bars for sale now

View attachment 253430

View attachment 253431

Do these bars attach without rails lengthwise? Would they fit on a 2020 Caravelle 6.1?

 

[roadtripper]

Do these bars attach without rails lengthwise? Would they fit on a 2020 Caravelle 6.1?

The roof mount positions are the same on the T6 and T6.1 (and I think the T5/5.1) so if you have the factory black bolt/washer assembly in the roof gutter you have standard mounts.

Some higher end variants come with "roof preparation" which is a rail foot system that needs a different solution, so if you have a silver rail filling the roof gutters it's probably that.

My MY21 Caravelle 6.1 had standard roof mounts.

The Rhino Bars seem to come with a foot that can either bolt direct or use the rail prep, assuming you are a SWB being a Caravelle this is the four bar set, have a look at the fitting instructions:

4 x Rhino KammBar Pro Aluminium Roof Bars - Volkswagen Transporter T5, T6 & T6.1 - SWB Tailgate

4 x Rhino KammBar Pro Aluminium Roof Bars - Volkswagen T5 Transporter SWB Tailgate - Rhino KammBars are the most aerodynamic roof bars in the Rhino range.

www.rhinoroofracks.com

 

[Schottin19]

The roof mount positions are the same on the T6 and T6.1 (and I think the T5/5.1) so if you have the factory black bolt/washer assembly in the roof gutter you have standard mounts.

Some higher end variants come with "roof preparation" which is a rail foot system that needs a different solution, so if you have a silver rail filling the roof gutters it's probably that.

My MY21 Caravelle 6.1 had standard roof mounts.

The Rhino Bars seem to come with a foot that can either bolt direct or use the rail prep, assuming you are a SWB being a Caravelle this is the four bar set, have a look at the fitting instructions:

4 x Rhino KammBar Pro Aluminium Roof Bars - Volkswagen Transporter T5, T6 & T6.1 - SWB Tailgate

4 x Rhino KammBar Pro Aluminium Roof Bars - Volkswagen T5 Transporter SWB Tailgate - Rhino KammBars are the most aerodynamic roof bars in the Rhino range.

www.rhinoroofracks.com

Oh cool! Yes, we have a SWB with the basic bolts and are looking at roof tents just now - may I ask why you sold yours? We're hoping to be able to camp in / on our new-to-us van with a 13 year old and a ten year old, so hoping either we or the two girls could sleep on the roof... What was your experience with it?

And if your bars are still for sale, how much are you asking for for them?

 

[roadtripper]

I'm not @Jonni2rets, you'll have to ask them as they had the roof tent

But as a moderator just a friendly reminder that any sales need to be done in the specific forum and needs VIP Membership

Items For Sale / Items Wanted Listings *please read*

If you have something you would like to sell/request, this is the place to post it. VIP membership is required to use the For Sale section. Membership payments go towards the forum running costs. If you would like to sell or request something, please start a new thread, select a For...

www.t6forum.com

 

[Schottin19]

I'm not @Jonni2rets, you'll have to ask them as they had the roof tent

But as a moderator just a friendly reminder that any sales need to be done in the specific forum and needs VIP Membership

Items For Sale / Items Wanted Listings *please read*

If you have something you would like to sell/request, this is the place to post it. VIP membership is required to use the For Sale section. Membership payments go towards the forum running costs. If you would like to sell or request something, please start a new thread, select a For...

www.t6forum.com

Ah ok, so sorry, I'm new here and hadn't realised!