[T2] Pop Top Roof Rack

[John Garland]

John,

Thanks for your advice I really appreciate it. I've been looking for a
while and today I came across a universal van mounting kit that looks
similar to the yakima mount.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Highland-Heavy-duty-van-roof-top-bar-carrier/_/N-268z?itemIdentifier=225866_0_0_

I'm going to go ahead and give these a try. I don't know if there is any
benefit to being able to remove the bars from the top. That seems to be the
only drawback but the $200 price difference is certainly tempting.

-John



On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 8:26 PM, John Anderson <wvukidsdoc at yahoo.com> wrote:

> John,
>
> That sure is mighty 70's spiffalicious and all, but both Yakima and Thule
> make adapters for mounting to the (near) vertical sides on a Westy.  I've
> had several on Vanagon's, never put one on a bay, but same difference.  You
> got to seal em well, and be vary careful with how much weight.  I've
> carried 2 good size canoes (100-120 lb each) on a set of Thule's with no
> ill effects over many years on one Vanagon.  I never popped it with 2 in
> place, but would occasionally with just 1 in place.  The mounting plate
> locations still looked good when I sold the van (no stress cracks, etc.)
> and kept the uprights and cross bars.
>
> For a bay westy, just like a bay hardtop you need to be very careful you
> get enough height to get over the "hump" of the roof, but my gut guess is
> that it is less hump on the Westy top.  Plus the closer you mount to the
> top corner the more triangulated and rigid it is.  Just got to be very
> carefull to measure 2, drill once.
>
> This one shows what you end up with:
>
>
> http://www.2040cars.com/Volkswagen/Bus-Vanagon/1984-westfalia-camper-bus-vanagon-w-extras-engel-fridge-rims-thule-rack-l-k--282456/
>
> Looks like he has an alternate front position as well.  Though frankly,
> even it looks a bit far back to me.
>
> John
>
>    *From:* John Garland <johnpg82 at gmail.com>
> *To:* type2 at type2.com
> *Sent:* Monday, August 5, 2013 3:50 PM
> *Subject:* [T2] Pop Top Roof Rack
>
> I'd like to put a roof rack on the pop top part of my vw. I've only found
> one example of a pop top with a roof rack. Does anyone have any examples or
> experience they could share with installing a roof rack on their pop top?
>
>
>