Ideas for roof storage bins?

Make, hire out, or buy an aluminum rack with expanded metal bottom tray that attaches to your roof. Put your bins in the rack but get the ones that are less in height (under-bed storage bins come to mind).

Some plastics tolerate UV well but most will get brittle with age. Since we are talking about a small portion of the total expense, I'd budget them in as a replaceable item. If you have expensive items that need security, buy an aluminum storage box and bolt it to the aluminum rack. This box would be lockable.

You did not specify what type of RV you have or are getting. Roof storage sounds like a viable plan, but you really need to know if your RV roof can even support the extra weight. It might hold the weight, but what happens when you go bouncing down the road and those "G" forces bouncing up and down on your roof. Most RV roofs are not made to support any extra load.

I'm not saying it's impossible, you just need to check out your RV first before doing this. One thing is certain, however you attach your supports, it needs to be spread out over as large an area as possible so the weight you add is distributed over a larger surface.

Another thing you REALLY need to consider. RV's are pretty tall. How are you going to get "up there"? Then, how are you going to hoist your items "up there" once you are "up there".

Before advancing further, I think it makes more sense to utilize the space UNDER the camper. Attach metal storage containers to the trailer frame, just make sure they don't hang down too low. It's much safer than crawling around on a roof, and the weight is lower.

Another thing about adding weight to the roof, this will throw the camper's center of gravity off. It won't take much weight on the roof to do this either. This will cause your camper to wabble side to side causing sway. Anytime you add weight higher up, the center of gravity raises causing a potential imbalance in the stability of the vehicle in motion.

Sorry, to bust your bubble, but you REALLY need to think these things through. It sound simple, but it's really not. There much more involved that simply installing a simple carrier on the roof. Much to think about.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just suggesting you do your homework well before making this modification.

Look for hidden areas in the RV. For example in ours I found a large space (1foot X 2 feet) off to the side of one of the storage compartments. It was used to run the heating duct, some electrical and plumbing but there was still room for stuff I don't use often. Another spot I found was under the step leading up to the bed. I pried the tread off and there is a compartment perfect for my flashlights, flares and other breakdown supplies. I put a hinge on the tread so I could raise it up to access the compartment.

Under the RV is lots of available space. Have some custom steel boxes built or use some of the pre-made boxes used on utility and semi trucks.

I wouldn't use those containers on the roof. Maybe a roof box like this:

but I'd have to consider how it was mounted to the roof.

Could you just use this on the rear:

or a truck bed box?

> it sounds simple but it's really not

Putting a man on the moon is complicated. Storing some light gear on the roof of a vehicle in a diy version of a ubiquitous commercial product, not so much.

And thanks, using a metal roof storage rack as the base is an excellent idea. As is an aluminum storage box but I worry about its weight. Hmm.

And sorry I should have mentioned, the rv is a 24' 1989 Jamee. The roof is reinforced in the rear area where I plan to put these. And nothing I plan to store is particularly heavy (wetsuits, scuba gear, kite gear, surf gear, life jackets, NorCal fishing clothes), just bulky. Far too bulky for any space I have inside.

My main concern is finding a box made of reasonably resilient plastic. In my experience polyethylene does well, which is why they make kayaks out of it. Not sure if they make any bins out of PE but that would certainly do it.

Thats a good idea . Get yourself a couple of old kayaks , take the guts out , put your stuff in there . To crooks it would appear as old kayaks and not worth stealin.

wrybread wrote:
And sorry I should have mentioned, the rv is a 24' 1989 Jamee.

And that presumably is what ... a travel trailer? :h

That's what DutchmenSport meant when he said - "You did not specify what type of RV you have or are getting."

don't forget height clearance for underpass.

SoundGuy wrote:

wrybread wrote:
And sorry I should have mentioned, the rv is a 24' 1989 Jamee.

And that presumably is what ... a travel trailer? :h

That's what DutchmenSport meant when he said - "You did not specify what type of RV you have or are getting."

A Google image search shows that 1989 Jamee's are apparently class C motorhomes with corrugated aluminum siding, and so probably wood framing (at least that's my guess). I didn't see any pictures of the roof to tell what sort of roofing material might be used, whether aluminum or rubber.

Ha love the idea of a kayak for storage! If I needed to worry about security more I'd seriously consider that. And yes it's a class c.

Has a reinforced rear section under the cargo rack, I don't think weight will be an issue, assuming I'm storing mostly light things. The ac unit that I'm about to remove for example is plenty heavy, and about as tall, so I'm not adding any height to my camper either.

Criteria for my boxes (mostly just thinking aloud here but if anyone has any tips, very invited):

- reasonably uv resistant. I don't mind if they only last two years but I'd love for them to last that long

- reasonably weather proof

- strong enough so I can sit on them occasionally

- small enough so I can load them in the camper door if I ever need to stash them. But ideally large enough so 4 or 5 of them spans my whole cargo area.

- stackable would be nice for when they're stored away from my camper.

- lockable would be nice

I'll be starting on the project next week or the week after and will try to post the results in case it's useful for anyone.

And looking over the traditional rooftop cargo boxes I don't think they're the best choice for RVs for a bunch of reasons, but especially:

- they expect you to be opening them at eye level from the side of a car, so they don't open all the way. On the roof of an RV you'd be bending over to load and unload them.

- for the same reason their side walls are very shallow, so you can't pack much in them. If they had taller side walls and you were loading from the side of a car you couldn't see over them, but that's not an issue when you're standing on the roof its mounted on.

- its a big single compartment, which makes it more likely to become a big mess. With multiple bins you get an automatic organization system.

- from reading reviews, the cheap ones are very flimsy. The good ones are a notch up but are very pricey.

The only downside I can see to bins on the roof is that it looks a bit janky. But my camper isn't exactly going for the clean look, it already has a surfski (long thin racing kayak), a whitewater kayak and 3 stand up paddleboards up there already. And besides I think in America there's too much emphasis on aesthetics in RVs. In Europe and the rest of the world people tend to get much more creative with maximizing every inch of their campers for utility, in my observations at least. I'm not advocating the Beverly Hillbillies or chickens on the roof approach, but a few storage bins safely secured shouldn't raise too many eyebrows.

But who knows, maybe I'll be discovering the downside to the bin approach shortly...