Pad mount roof rack fitting

Today we are fitting a Rola pad mount roof rack which is one of the best solutions for a 2 door vehicle where it can be difficult to attach a clamp style removable rack. First up we stick masking tape on the roof in the location of the roof rack feet.

After assembling the cross bars we can use them to establish a suitable position on the roof. This is determined by deciding on an appropriate spacing for the loads to be carried and determining which are the strongest parts of the roof.

The position of the rack is careful measured to establish position front to back and side to side then drawn around to mark the position of the mounting pads on the masking tape. The position of the drill holes are then marked using a pad as a guide.

Set up the drill with a suitable stop to prevent drilling through the roof lining. The marked holes are then centre punched and drill to suit the rivets. The holes are then protected with a suitable anti rust paint and coated with mastic sealant

Finally 3 rivets are inserted into the pads and secured in place with a pneumatic rivet gun.

Custom roof racks Toyota Estima

This was an interesting job. The customer hires out vans for travellers kitted out with a roof top tent. The Estima is a grey import so there are no roof racks readily available in Australia that will go into the roofrack mounting points that are on the vehicle. Even if they were this would not give sufficient strength to support the weight of two people sleeping in the roof top tent. Additionally the vehicle has a big 'moon roof' in the centre of the roof.

The solution we came up with was to use 30mm sections of heavy duty Rhino track attached with rivets to spread the load at the strongest points of the roof. This was then fitted with Rhino heavy duty track mount legs and cross bars.