Roof Racks on Aluminum Camper????

I got a aluminum camper top for free from a friend and I was wondering how sturdy it is, because I was wanting to put a Thule rack on top or other rack system.

It just doesn't seem like the most sturdy camper in the world. Just curious if anyone has had any experience?

Thanks

 

get on top of it. if you are comfortable with yourself up there, then you know it can handle at least your weight.

 

Cool, Thanks

 

what are some things you are gonna haul up top?

 

I'd ultimately like to put a thule rack like I said and then maybe my kayak and or bikes, nothing too over the top on weight.

 

Aluminum shell should be able to hold up a kayak or a couple bikes no problem. I wouldn't trust it to haul a stack of lumber, though.

 

Thanks for the the responses. I am just a little weary as there are only two cross beams below the aluminum outer covering so if I were to attach a rack it may have to attach to both of the cross beams or to the forward most beam and the cab?

 

If you don't mind a bit of a "whiskey-tango" aesthetic, for carrying a kayak you could probably just attach a couple of 2x4 cross-pieces wrapped in astro-turf or some other outdoor carpet to the top of the shell and attach those with some 1-1/4 " teks or construction screws (4-6 screws per board, with a ring of caulking around each hole between the roof and the board). you could even put some eyebolts through the whole works at the ends of the board (use gaskets under the washers on the underside of the roof to help seal those back up) to have points for hooking up straps to hold down the kayak.

that'd save you enough money to get a hitch-mounted bike rack, which would be a lot easier to load/unload than trying to strap bikes down on top of the shell.

 

The racks I've seen on aluminum shells usually have a leg that attaches to the sides running all the way down to the bed cap and then the crossbars run across from them

Similar to this

 

I just picked one up tonight. It has the same rack system as OZ posted. Will take some pics tomorrow.

 

I have seen those too, but my camper top doesn't have the exterior square metal racks, unfortunately.

 

Here are the pics of mine. The rack looks like it came with the cap from the same manufacturer. I believe the cap is from the Century line by Leer. Hope this helps.