dantastic Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I was toying with the idea of getting a roof rack for a few duties. But they are really expensive. Considering there doesn't seem to be that much to them. There doesn't seem to be that much metal in them and there are is no fancy equipment needed to build them. What makes them so expensive, the size and the cost of shipping them around or what am I missing? I will be able to meet me needs with roof bars instead but I'm just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studmuffin Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Completely agree. They look a lot of dough for something build in batches on a jig. I have been working on a low cost design for a single person roof tent system for my 90, and have got the price down to around £200 - £250 all in. The plan is that it can be built from readily available parts with a fairly basic tool kit by anyone slightly handy. Problem is that ideally it needs to fit on a slightly modified roof rack which is looking a heck of a lot more money than the whole project. I am not sure that roof bars will be stable enough. I am thinking trawling through the white van breakers for a rack and cut and welding it? Any better thoughts? Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Ever thought of making your own rack from alli sections. Although I bet it would cost as much if not more, than one bought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Although I agree there is not much too them, they do take a lot of space to make. I reckon you'd need perhaps 500 sq foot - and say you could make 4 per day per 500sq foot and 2 people working on it. Your business rent will cost about 300 per month and the salaries of the two people say 4000 per month - so about 200 per working day. Your other overheads will probably cost about the same - so your overheads are going to add about 100gbp to the cost of each. Say 200 in materials and 50% profit (essential to stay in business) and your price tag is already 450 + VAT Fixtures, fitting, paint / powder coat / anodising is an easy 50GBP. So your minimum price is about 500 GBP. They seem to cost between about 200 & 1000 GBP - so some of them are either incredibly badly made or incredibly good value. And then, some of them the opposite. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy50 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 As si says ,cost of tooling etc ,It all adds up. There are some that are all name ,some that are well made ,some that are pants and some are brilliant ,shop around ,you will find what you want. I make my own but it's not really any cheaper . James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Simon didn't mention the time involved in product design and development. I reckon the £200 ones are potentially robot welded and definitely not in the uk. Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 And despite all this I struggled to sell a perfectly good galvanized rack for a 110 last year. I got £100 in the end. Some folk seemed to think a new one could be purchased for that money - I sent them on their way. Some years ago I only managed £60 for a genuine galved Brownchurch model for a 90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 That reminds me, must dig out the 110's roof rack from the shrubbery and re-furb it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I was looking for a roof bar early Jan and couldn't find even a basic gutter clamped bar for less than 90 euro :-( the twit in the auto parts told me it was down to the width, needing min 1500mm wide bar wtf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantastic Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Not sure where you have seen the 200 quid ones. The ones I've seen are in the 900-1400 range. That feels like an awful lot of money for what it is. I haven't seen anything in the 500 range, am I just looking in the wrong places so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 With the hassle of mandatory type-approval (along with implied public-liability insurance cover) I can totally understand why a roof-rack that's rated to handle a significant weight is expensive! Personally, I detest racks: not only do they cause increased wind-resistance even when unloaded, but any load carried on them raises the CoG of the vehicle which can only be a bad thing [see the Scandi 'Moose Test']. OK, I've used Thule roof-bars for carrying some long-but-light fibreglass antenna-pole sections on the roof of my Defender - but for anything weighing more than 100Kg I'll *only* use a trailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I got given a galv box section one for free, didn't know they were expensive! It's kind of damaged now though unfortunately. As above I use roof bars, far easier to work with - can be fitted with ease by one person for example. Anything too big/heavy for that goes in the trailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrainH Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 SP do one for a 90 costing £249. They say it's comparable to a Masai model but not paying for the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 As above I use roof bars, far easier to work with - can be fitted with ease by one person for example. I always fitted my Brownchurch rack single handed on the 90, usually because there wasn't anyone around to help. It's not so much heavy as awkward and unweildy, and requires a certain knack The 110 rack is still doable solo, but more of a struggle. Also the 110 having alpine windows makes it trickier to slide along the gutters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantastic Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Hey, that SP one looks very promising! I don't mind 250 for it. So what's the difference between that one and one £1,000 more?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_a Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Not advertising, and these have had mixed reviews on quality, but take a look at http://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/products/roof-racks.html for what would translate to quite cheap ones with the A$ vs GBP at the moment. Or go and find them on Alibaba, you know they will be there. If you don't want to cart a trailer around for weeks the roof rack is a must here, tent, clothes, spares, all those things get tossed up there. We do try to get light bulky items up there. Of course my CoG just got adjusted down with the 130L tank in the D2 I added at the weekend :0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrainH Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 The difference is £750. The SP rack looks substantial and the spare cash can either be saved, beloved's option or lots of other stuff, my option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honitonhobbit Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I have two of the Brownchurch pick up type - sort of like a double span across... Free if you want to make something bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantastic Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Wow, the Aussie ones are coming in at under 200 with todays exchange rate. I've been on that site before drooling over gear at cheap prices. @honitonhobbit - thanks but I'm not a fan of the Brownchurch style roof racks. I know they are solid, but they are an eyesore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Having just seen how much the equivalent Bearmach rack would cost to replace the one in the shrubbery, this weekends job is definitely to remove it from the shrubbery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I thought I did well picking up a mint second hand galv HD Brownchurch (incl ladder and front and rear braces) for £200 12 years ago. While the more modern (and expensive) ali racks look nicer on a Defender, they don't suit Series LRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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