Camper Shell Rails Question

So I bought a Snugtop rebel from a guy 2 hours from me a year ago. It has rails and crossbars on it already. I’m not sure if they came on it from snugtop or is someone put them on it afterwards.

The rails are only mounted on each end so 4 bolts/screws are holding it down. I’ve bought a RTT and I’m scared to put it up there with only those screws holding them down. I had an f-150 before this and the shell I had on it had screws all the way down the rail.

I can’t find anything that looks like my crossbars or rails online so I’m guessing they were made back in 2011 when my shell was made.

My questions are do you think with the tent on it it would be safe? My concern isn’t will it hold it because I’ve had it on it once before driving 70 mph for 30 minutes and looked rock solid. I’m scared that driving 5.5 hrs up there or having to slam on brakes in an emergency.

Could I drill new holes in the rails and shell and mount more screws in it? (Anyone ever do this?)

I do NO hard wheeling what so ever as well. National forest road or beach driving is most Offroad my truck will go with the tent on it. Maybe a kayak as well.

My 3 options are buy new rails and bars, drill new holes and install more screws or buy a small 3.5X5 trailer/jet ski trailer and customize it to fit the tent and all my other junk I’d normally keep in the bed.

 

pictures pictures pictures.

 

I’ll get some after I get off at 5.

 

Nope, unless that thicker part is solid that track was mounted wrong. I'm not sure about the Snugtop but most of the tops use a cardboard honeycomb material in that thicker section to create rigidity (stops it from flexing or sagging). You cannot tighten up the nuts without crushing the cardboard. There should also be more bolts to keep the track from flexing.

If the track were properly mounted, including more fasteners, then yes, there are people putting roof top tents on them. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just that folks are doing it without reporting issues.

 

I’m definitely not saying you’re wrong because I have no idea how the “professionals” install these rails but I’d say 9/10 camper shells I’ve looked at on the Show me what’s in your shell thread has the rack installed on the thicker part of the roof and so was my F-150. I might just drill and install more screws like all the other rails I’ve seen. I’ll have to do some heavy research on the correct way and how the Snugtops are made.

If bolting roof racks to the thick part is wrong then there’s going to be a lot of mad people on here!

 

The Snugtop Website does say it’s honeycomb reinforcement on the top I just read.

Looks like I may be buying that trailer after all. Or just using bed bars from KB Voodoo.

 

Before I installed mine I did some reading on-line and found something from either Thule or Yakima talking about it but for the life of me I can't find it right now. I swear it was part of the installation instructions but that pdf doesn't mention it now. My other source of info was my brother who used to work in a bike shop that sold Yakima products and did installs. They may have since changed their recommendations, I honestly don't know. I looked at Snugtop, Leer and ARE's web sites and the tracks appear to be mounted more towards the edges but I didn't see pictures of the interior. I'm sure you could call Snugtop, Yakima or Thule's customer service and ask them- that would be safest option.

Anyways, the problems they mentioned was that you couldn't really tighten the nuts down without starting to crush the cardboard. Even if you are careful, over time it's going to start compacting the cardboard and that slop in the bolts could allow leaks.

I did read about drilling a larger hole, epoxying in a wooden dowel or aluminum spacer the length/depth of the shell at that point then mounting your track bolts through the dowel so that it couldn't crush. That seemed like a lot of work to me and more chances for water intrusion. It was however a method that was used on VW Westfalia pop tops and high tops at times though; I did it when I mounted artificial gutters on my old Westy in order to help prevent fiberglass cracking.

I'd venture a guess, and it's only a guess, that if you used say a piece of aluminum bar stock on the inside as a giant "fender washer" and had it run the length of the track and all of your bolts went through it that it would distribute the forces enough to work fine.

I do think you need more mounting bolts whatever you decide. Where it's mounted is probably fine for lighter loads but it definitely needs more bolts. You should be able to see the manufacturer's mounting holes and I'm sure they intended more than two per track. You can buy spare parts from Yakima or your local dealer. If your local dealer is large enough, Yakima and Thule should have sent one of their installation techs to teach them how to do a proper install so they should be able to help you.

 

Thanks for the info. I agree with you 100%. I’ll make some calls to see if I can see what right and wrong. And I’ll add some screws but I don’t think I’m going to be putting my tent up there just to be 100% safe right now.