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Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:17 pm

how much weight can a full length bekowa rack hold? the all metal ones, not the wooden slat ones.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 3:26 am

What are you considering carrying on it that is so heavy you fear one may colaspe?

I would say it would hold much more weight than I would ever want to put on the roof of my bus, think about the top heavyness it would cause in cornering. you could allways put it on the floor and load it up as a test run.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:11 am

Wharfrat bekowa made industrial heavy duty racks and domestic lighter weight racks. Which full length do you have? Ive got industrial racks on my buses. Ive put bumpers,lumber, canoes, bikes and yes the Christmas tree up there at one time or another. What are you intending to put up there?

Thu Mar 11, 2004 7:32 am

i would be putting people on it. i have come up with a design for a covered patio type arrangement that would be secure and would require no modification to the rack. i just needed to make sure that the rack was sturdy enough to hold a good amount of weight.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 8:02 am

There was a cat at Jerome one year that put a piece of ply on his roof rack, added a mattress and a tent on top of that, then used a ladder to climb up.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 8:24 am

I hauled a std. sunroof bus clip on my rack for 300 miles. I got a 21 window roof clip and hauled it on the rack....no problems. In my old house, we had to pull the bus up to the house to get the queen size bed in the 2nd story, it wouldn't go up the stairs. So, we were on the rack with the bed....no problem.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 8:31 am

awesome. im gonna be driving to a lot of shows and festivals this summer, so it would be great to have a patio type arrangement on top of the bus so i could check everything out. by the way, is this a reasonable price for this rack? if not, what would be a reasonable price for it?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/index.php?alert+200402151412420123

Thu Mar 11, 2004 8:46 am

$400 for that rack seems like the going rate. If you want one and have $400, buy it and run like hell away from that bus.......

Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:52 am

4 people+

Notice how they have legs on the rack that are directly touching the roof though, it's not just supported by the drip-rail legs.

I would guess 300 lbs is close to the rating.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:01 am

WharfRat wrote: awesome. im gonna be driving to a lot of shows and festivals this summer, so it would be great to have a patio type arrangement on top of the bus so i could check everything out. by the way, is this a reasonable price for this rack? if not, what would be a reasonable price for it?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/index.php?alert+200402151412420123

That's a nice rack for the price, but it's not full length...

Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:19 am

i cut 3 peices of 1/4" peg board that cover my 3/4 roof rack.

i have had 4 people on top at once along with my coleman stove.

also, it is in 3 peices so they slide into a perfect fit between the fridge and back bed area when not in use on my camper

Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:58 am

WharfRat wrote: awesome. im gonna be driving to a lot of shows and festivals this summer.

Whats a festival?

Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:01 pm

Andrew wrote:

That's a nice rack for the price, but it's not full length...

And I question it being BeKoWa.

There used to be some guy in a camouflaged panel at the Manassas Bug Outs with lots of people up top watching the races.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:54 pm

a festival is a large gathering of hippies where they have bands playing for several days straight, lots of beautiful women in patchwork clothing and patchouli oil, heady vegan burritos, the world's best grilled cheese sandwiches, and a lot of substances that i no longer partake in, much to my chagrin. hence, i load up a cooler with a large quantity of good beer and stay drunk for a few days while i listen to some of the best music in the country, and some of the worst as well.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 2:00 pm

a couple of other things:
everett: wouldn't having legs directly on to the roof of the bus run the risk of denting the roof?
shsc: why do you question its bekowaness?
dezvw: i was planning on making a setup where i take a solid sheet of plywood and bolt it to the rack in a way that it would be removable if need be and also would not damage the rack nor require any modification to it. from there, i was going to modify the plywood board to accept tent stakes, then have a tarp that could go over the top of the tent stakes, and tie rope from the tarp to the rack to stabilize it. then slap a piece of carpet and a couple of camping chairs on top, and it is ready to party.
to everyone: what would a ladder for a roof rack like that run? i have seen the design of roof rack ladders, and i am wondering if it would be cheaper to buy one or get my buddy to fab one out of wrought iron.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 2:10 pm

WharfRat wrote: shsc: why do you question its bekowaness?

There has been some debate on BeKoWa racks and VW racks. I have the same style rack on my bus, but it is a half length.

I hope no stoned hippies fall off the roof of your bus.

Thu Mar 11, 2004 2:13 pm

haha, if they do, its their own fault for smoking too much ganj. so the rack is either bekowa or VW? so it is original, it just might not be bekowa? does anyone make reproduction racks in that style that would be cheaper?

Thu Mar 11, 2004 2:51 pm

WharfRat wrote: everett: wouldn't having legs directly on to the roof of the bus run the risk of denting the roof?
Not necessarily because the load is spread out further.

600 lbs / 6 gutter mount legs = 100 lbs per leg
600 lbs. / 6 gutter mount legs + 6 roof pads = 50 lbs. per mounting point

Thu Mar 11, 2004 2:52 pm

ah, i dig. thanks.