as i have not found my answer in any topic i need some help please.
i'm searching roof bars for a big maggiolina roof tent.

on our old disco we had three thule bars which could be mounted any place along
the gutter on the roof. that was perfect for the roof tent because you need three bars to fix it properly.

now i'm searching a solution for the FF (except expedition racks).
sports bar just comes with two bars, can it be extended to three?

anyone using a big maggiolina on his car?
any problems with about 250kg on the roof when parking?
(also with the roof bars)

thanks for the help

you can certainly mount a third sports bar, but the way I had to do it was to find an odd one on ebay, and dismantle it and cut it about 40mm shorter. (all three mount points are different gaps!) but this only gives you three fixed position bars. I then decided I wanted more flexibility, and I bought a set of adjustable rails, that you can add two pairs of sliding bars to. that adjust in length with the small tools you get with them. they have a 95kg rating I believe. (sticker on top says so) they take about 20 mins to clip on. they are not completely (infinitely) adjustable, but you can set them in gaps around 6 inches apart. I got hold of the rails, (second hand genuine) first, then kept an eye out for the bars (pairs), again genuine. you can buy a set of rails and a pair of bars that are aftermarket, but people I have heard don't really rate them, but they do look very similar, (cost around £160 against around £700 for a genuine new set!) but I don't think they have the silver sticker, and part number on them. here is an old pic of all four on my steed.

Rhino Rack will give you the most versatile option for roof bars and will be flat with three bars instead of following the roof curve and you wont have to cut of the little doors on the roof to fit it .
http://www.rhinorack.co.uk/Vehicle_LAND%20..._4101.aspx

heres my set up with a roof tray and a surfski on the bars this set up will easily take the weight of a roof tent .

No reason you couldn't put 3 or 4 Thule bars on either.

Thule bars like many others are not specific to the Range Rover , if you fit three or more bars then you follow the curve of the roof and for a roof tent I'm sure flat would be more comfortable . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

I agree with JohnBoy re. the rails and multiple bars. Also what Axle mentions, the flat type bars would make it nicer for the tent to fit although maybe you can get spacers to sort that out. I have never seen that type of roof tent up close.

As for the load, 250 kg at standstill should not be an issue IMHO. Especially if you install the roofbars as close as possible to the "strong points" i.e. the pillars. Considering the roof bars are rated for 80 kg (if I remember correctly) with dynamic loads, I'm sure that 250 statically should be no problem at all.

There is another option though that could work. If you get just the roof rails and have a local fab shop (or yourself if you are handy) fabricate a light aluminium "frame" that fits the tent and the rails, you might be able have an even better solution.

If you lower the tent to practically on the roof and put a seal strip at the front, you can reduce drag and noise as well.

Do you have picture of the rooftent, folded as well as operational ??

This is another alternative, taken from another post on here : http://www.roofbox.co.uk/roof-bars/roof-bars-prorack.php MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Why not bolt steel box sections into the existing screwed roof mounting points when required for the tent.
You would then have the required flat bars for the tent and still have the roof flaps in place when the bars aren't required.
Simple fabrication would be required to set the bars about 50mm above the roof.

thank you all for your replies!

i will have a look at all links and ideas to sort out wich one fits the best.
as i have no picture of the tent itself i can provide a link the an old description.
its an maggiolina adventure large, that means its 160x215cm

http://www.kalkuhl-gmbh.de/autohome/Pruduk...nture.html

Good luck, they look like quite good rooftents  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

axle wrote:

Thule bars like many others are not specific to the Range Rover , if you fit three or more bars then you follow the curve of the roof and for a roof tent I'm sure flat would be more comfortable .

The Rhino three bar set up is specific to the for the Range Rover and is a specific part number , the middle bar sits lower so all three line up flat you then choose which type of bar you want i,e, vortex or heavy duty . They also do a three bar sports bar set up which i might change to for ordinary use like carrying my kayak and keep the full width bars for expeditions . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

Hi Klemens,

seems like you and I have pretty similar plans I'm also shopping for roof bars / racks in order to mount a roof tent.

I think that I'll go with the Rhino Rack bars (3 bars - even height) and a James Baroud tent. Have you measured the roof of the RR? I think the 160cm tent is a bit too wide and will overhang.

Cheers

clemenz wrote:

thank you all for your replies!

i will have a look at all links and ideas to sort out wich one fits the best.
as i have no picture of the tent itself i can provide a link the an old description.
its an maggiolina adventure large, that means its 160x215cm

http://www.kalkuhl-gmbh.de/autohome/Pruduk...nture.html

Nice setup!

Which size is the tent? Did you use aero or rectangular bars (can't tell from the picture)?

yes 160 will have overhang on both sides and its also very long.
its our "family" tent that we all used for camping with our old disco years ago.
as we have two range in the family now we would like to share the roof rack and the tent.
the overhang was not bad on the disco, also the car was a 4 gear automatic so speed/noise
troubles were not present because of lacking speed
i think you pay attention on that with the range.

i will post some pictures with the setup as soon as we agree on a solution and order it