Roof Racks??????

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The Silver Snitch
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Roof Racks??????

Post by The Silver Snitch » 24 September 12 1:42 am

I am just wondering if anyone can offer advice here, as google is not being my friend?

We would like to get an Oz tent and it needs to go a roof rack as it won't fit in the car. We also have a little enclosed trailer. (About 5 ft) I am wondering if we could legally put a roof rack upon the trailer? Our car has done sooooooooooo many kms that while we are not about to buy another...it might not be worth putting a rack on that. The trailer however will be used for a long time to come. I am concerned that the roof of the trailer may not be strong enough or that it might affect the balance.....I might be concerned about something that is not even a concern here. Just hoping someone has a bit of experience with roof racks on trailers!


How do I find out if it is legal and if the trailer is strong enough?.....(without looking a complete nit wit) :-" :roll:

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Bundyrumandcoke
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by Bundyrumandcoke » 24 September 12 7:55 am

I dont think it would be an issue. Look at all the tradie trailers going around with racks up top, and loads up there. Try contacting Cached on these forums. If I remember correctly from Oz Mega Wagga Wagga, she was camped with someone with a setup like that, Roof top camper mounted up topside on an alloy trailer.

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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by Skippy » 24 September 12 8:45 am

Have a chat with Jim from the Burtons, he can make the supports you need , regulations on overhang are available from transport SA or a trailer manufacture , Wacky had the setup with the rooftop tent on top of trailer

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Big Matt and Shell
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by Big Matt and Shell » 24 September 12 4:11 pm

Skippy wrote:regulations on overhang are available from transport SA or a trailer manufacture
Make sure you check this. I'm not versed on SA regulations but we recently found out that in NSW that for a basic box trailer with the axle in the centre of the box you are no longer allowed any rear overhang. Here is a diagram,
Image

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gmj3191
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by gmj3191 » 24 September 12 6:38 pm

Probably one person in a hundred would be aware of these rules.
Good to see our reviewers up there with the latest.

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Chwiliwr
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by Chwiliwr » 24 September 12 7:54 pm

Big Matt and Shell wrote:
Skippy wrote:regulations on overhang are available from transport SA or a trailer manufacture
Make sure you check this. I'm not versed on SA regulations but we recently found out that in NSW that for a basic box trailer with the axle in the centre of the box you are no longer allowed any rear overhang. Here is a diagram,
Image
I think the above diagram looks more like a truck trailer.

The following is from the SA dept concerned and may answer what you need to know.
http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/pdfs/per ... _less_.pdf

One of the problems you can get with tents on trailers is generally the overall weight of the combined trailer/tent + whatever else you are carrying in the trailer. You have to be sure that the combined weight is within the license capacity of the trailer concerned.

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Bundyrumandcoke
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by Bundyrumandcoke » 24 September 12 9:17 pm

A basic roof top tent isnt very heavy. We have one, and probably weighs less than 60kg. There should not be an issue at all mounting one to the top of a trailer. Remember trailers are, usually, rated to carry 750kg if unbraked, and up from there if the trailer is braked.

Rereading your original post, its not a roof top camper you want to put up there, but an Oztrail tent. This would weigh even less. Your basically looking at a rack, with a sheet of thick ply mounted to it, and then the tent on top of that (I have actually thought of doing the same thing till we bought the roof top camper) I really cant see any issues here. Get a rack made, and go from there.

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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by setsujoku » 24 September 12 10:53 pm

As Skippy said, talk to Jim and he should be able to help you out with what you are after.

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The Silver Snitch
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by The Silver Snitch » 24 September 12 11:00 pm

Yup--don't want tent attached to trailer. Just roof racks attached...so we can carry the folded tent and take it off and put it up on the ground when destination is reached. Our problem is at 2metres long it won't fit either in the car or in the trailer. If it goes on the trailer assuming roof racks are legal on it...it will be longer than the racks and so sort of sticking over the trailer. #-o Not sure what is or isn't legal.

But am certainly going to contact Tim for a start and look at the link.

Any other suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks so much so far.

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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by Skippy » 25 September 12 12:10 am

I think for memory, you cant have anything sticking out more than 900mm from the end of trailer without a flag during the day and red light at night, the rules keep changing though, That is the size of the box trailer , you can overhang the tent over the A frame as long as it doesn't go past the tow hitch

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The Silver Snitch
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by The Silver Snitch » 25 September 12 12:45 am

Thanks Skip.
It is a box trailer; so now I guess I need to know how one knows if it is strong enough to support racks on???????

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thewhitedoggang
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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by thewhitedoggang » 25 September 12 11:35 pm

I echo Skippy & setsujoko's comments. Jim is the guru.

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Re: Roof Racks??????

Post by nutwood » 28 September 12 11:11 pm

The Silver Snitch wrote:Thanks Skip.
It is a box trailer; so now I guess I need to know how one knows if it is strong enough to support racks on???????
If you're not going outside the usual dimensional limits, more behind than in front, sticking out the sides, 4.3m high; it's really an engineering question. Is it strong enough?
Generally most box trailers will have no problems with roof racks. The nature of box trailers is that there's a fair bit of redundancy in the design. One owner might just cart grass clippings to the tip but the next will be carting rocks. The sides tend to be folded up out of reasonably heavy gauge steel , 18g (1.2mm) is quite common.
Unless your trailer is a real cheapy, I'd reckon you'll be fine with your roof racks. Just make sure that everything is bolted solidly and don't under estimate the value of the humble flat washer!

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