Wasted space on our tow vehicle roof

[camperkilgore]

Anybody here have racks with carriers or baskets on top of your truck to carry items that won't fit in your truck bed or in the fiver?

I feel that the roof of our truck could be useful space. Maybe carry the tote tank up there, or our dog fence, or other bulky items that don't fit easily anywhere else.

Would love to see pictures of your setup if you do that. I'm not talking about kayak racks and bicycle racks, but carriers for other stuff.

Thanks
Carol & Tom

[camperkilgore]

Bowti wrote:
Tom, one mods that I did need to make, was better access to the dump levers, so I put in this door, along with adding an 10" extension to the dump pipe.
One of the best mods I made, as I no longer have to get on my knees to reach underneath the unit to reach the pipe or levers.

Great mod,
We think alike. I had inconvenient access to the kitchen grey tank valve. Had to get down on knees to reach it, so I rotated the valve and added an extension to the handle and made a small hole to put the handle on the outside of the lower part of the camper so that it is easy to reach. The other two valve handles are not too bad to reach so I left them alone.

I wish I could improve the sewer outlet like you did, because it exits underneath our slideout, and when we are at a full hookup site, it's hard to get to the outlet to run the slinky, unless I do all that before extending the slide. Never seem to think of it before dw extends the slide.
Tom

[Bowti]

Tom, one mods that I did need to make, was better access to the dump levers, so I put in this door, along with adding an 10" extension to the dump pipe.
One of the best mods I made, as I no longer have to get on my knees to reach underneath the unit to reach the pipe or levers.

[camperkilgore]

Bowti wrote:
Tom, I missed it, that you had it figured out. The use of the Yakima racks allow for quite a few different types of carrying systems.

We love the Cougar and haven't had any problems except for the front decal which was replaced under warranty and the need to replace the crappy tires.

Thanks Bowti,
We also had tire issues and also upgraded to disk brakes. Had to upgrade the axles in order to get disk brakes put on.

We have done many improvements to our Cougar, and after looking at new ones we felt we would lose too much in buying a new one. So we will keep repairing this one, unless we find one in the future that already has all the stuff we added.

All in all we feel the Cougar has served us well.
Thanks again,
Tom

[Bowti]

Tom, I missed it, that you had it figured out. The use of the Yakima racks allow for quite a few different types of carrying systems.

We love the Cougar and haven't had any problems except for the front decal which was replaced under warranty and the need to replace the crappy tires.

[camperkilgore]

kevden wrote:
[img][/img][img][/img]
I use a Yakima mega warrior with one extension. I might get another extension at some point. The oem cross bars on the truck were too flexible for the rack, so I replaced them with unistrut. It is a heavy rack, if I were to do it again I would look at aluminum racks

Can't see the image for some reason.

Do you use a rooftop bag in the Yakima? If so, how is it working for you?
Tom

[camperkilgore]

Bowti wrote:
You could also try something like this

Not too expensive to do, and you can make it to haul just about anything.

Yes, I already do this with kayaks, but I use elect. conduit and Kee Klamp fittings to my brush guard in front. What I want to do now is use a basket or carrier for other items, like our dog fence and tote tank.

Thanks for the photo though......how is your Cougar working for you? We have an 05 Cougar that is still going strong.
Tom & Carol

[Bowti]

You could also try something like this

Not too expensive to do, and you can make it to haul just about anything.

[kevden]

[img][/img][img][/img]
I use a Yakima mega warrior with one extension. I might get another extension at some point. The oem cross bars on the truck were too flexible for the rack, so I replaced them with unistrut. It is a heavy rack, if I were to do it again I would look at aluminum racks

[camperkilgore]

OK, I'm happy with the setup that I came up with on top of the truck.

I had one Yakima Q-tower and bar set that I used in conjunction with a rack that I made out of conduit(mounted to the brushguard on the front of the truck) for carrying kayaks, and I bought another Yakima Q-tower and bar set.

Got a 52" x 39" basket which covers the top of the truck pretty much(Dodge Ram quad cab). It ain't real pretty. It looks like a kitchen dish drainer, but it is a welded one piece type and has the wind deflector on the front.

I also already had a Sportrack clamshell type carrier that works up there too. It's big enough to hold a lot of stuff, but it has to be fairly lightweight stuff.

I would be happy with the basket, but (according to my wife) when I put the tote tank in it, we look like refugees according to my wife, so I think we'll use the Sportrack clamshell carrier. I guess it does look better.

Maybe I'll make another thread regarding any decrease in fuel mileage. I'm sure there might be some, but in the overall scheme of things fuel mileage when pulling a fifth wheel is nothing to brag about anyway. Diesel engine makes it bearable.

In conclusion, my wife is happy (tote tank is hidden), and we have decreased clutter in the fiver and the truck.

[camperkilgore]

CabinetmakerII wrote:
Wintering in Arizona I have seen some amazing ideas of roof racks with an assortment of apparatus to get "stuff" up on the roof. From side by side OHV's, welders, and even generators. I cringed watching one individual backing his side by side down a series of ramps from the roof of his crew cab down to the bed then finally to the ground. If you can dream it, somebody can build it... Good luck!

Thanks from me(a woodworker also)

What part of Idaho do you live. I have a distant relative that lives in Kamiah (east of Lewiston) that I might visit when we go out there.
Tom

[CabinetmakerII]

Wintering in Arizona I have seen some amazing ideas of roof racks with an assortment of apparatus to get "stuff" up on the roof. From side by side OHV's, welders, and even generators. I cringed watching one individual backing his side by side down a series of ramps from the roof of his crew cab down to the bed then finally to the ground. If you can dream it, somebody can build it... Good luck!

[PopBeavers]

camperkilgore wrote:

PopBeavers wrote:
A friend of mine stores his sand rail up there.

I'd like to see that. Must be a stout rack.

F350 dually 4wd crew cab

Had two adult quads in the bed standing on end.

Towed a TT. Somewhere around 30 feet.

He was a fireman with 3 kids. They spent a lot of time at Pismo beach, camped on the beach. He drove it fully loaded on the sand.

[camperkilgore]

Labman7 wrote:
Trailer life has a article on installing a roof rack in the March 2017 issue, available on line.

Yep, that one is a good one, but out of my price range.

[camperkilgore]

PopBeavers wrote:
A friend of mine stores his sand rail up there.

I'd like to see that. Must be a stout rack.