Do you need a roof rack?

If you’re planning to take your off-road caravan to remote areas, you need a roof rack. But being a utilitarian item, you need to make it work to justify its cost.

Spare tyres for your tow car and van; spare parts; extra jerrycans for where the distance between affordable fuel exceeds your tank’s range; a tool box; recovery gear, including a long-handled shovel and some MaxTrax; a tent and stretchers in case you want to unhitch and explore further.

Don’t forget the bikes and other gear if you're brave to take kids to an internet-free zone...

Or, perhaps you’ve planned a day at a deserted, treeless beach. What are you going to attach a shade awning to?

But there are problems. One is the permissible weight roof racks can carry.

The roofs of most 4WDs aren't designed to carry loads of more than 100kg – some even capped at 80kg. I’ve heard horror stories of A-pillars sheering through under the relentless shimmying of an overloaded roof rack on corrugations.

This puts the pressure on roof racks to be both strong and light. After all, two mounted spare wheels will weigh close to 80kg and most roof racks – even Rhino- Rack’s aluminium platform rack, weigh from 30kg upwards. (Solution – carry two unmounted spare tyres and not their rims).

A heavy weight on your roof also raises your vehicle’s centre of gravity, making it more likely to roll on a steep slope, such as a sand dune.

Another issue with roof racks is the extra wind resistance they generate, particularly when piled high with bulky things like swags, tents, jerrycans, etc.

Even if you don’t mind shelling out for a couple of extra litres/100km, you’ll hate the noise of  the wind whistling between your roof and the rack, which is why Rhino-Rack recently came out with its Pioneer Wind Fairing.

With its sawtooth pattern designed to reduce the wind noise as it deflects the air around your load, the Fairing is made specifically for Pioneer systems and does not interfere with the rack’s useable space.

It measures 1272mm in length, attaches easily and is made of UV-resistant 4mm thick ABS. Clear plastic patches on its leading edge, which pivots down onto you vehicle’s roof, protect its paintwork from scratches.

Does it work? Well, with it fitted there's no discernible wind noise from the Platform Rack and my trip fuel consumption is virtually the same as with no rack attached. So I’ve now left the rack on the roof in between trips, rather than removing and refitting it.

At its RRP of $186 with a 5-year warranty, it should pay for itself in fuel efficiency in a couple of years if you're a regular traveller.

Having decided to leave the rack loft, I started thinking of other ways to make it work for us.

Holding things on it securely was a starting point. One issue I’ve had with roof racks is when your car is left unattended, the stuff on its roof is vulnerable to thieves.

In the past I’ve dealt with this by tensioning the load with ratchet straps and then winding a plastic-coated wire through the items to be secured and locking it in place with a separate padlock.

A much simpler all-in-one solution is to purchase a pair of Rhino-Rack Lockable Tie Town straps.

Available in four lengths from 2.5 to 5.5 metres, each features 25mm wide, PU-coated wire-encased straps feeding through a cam buckle that tensions and locks the strap in place via a key.

Now I just leave a pair in the car and I’m no longer looking for tensioners, cables,  and padlocks.

The straps’ RRP depending on their length, starts at $93.

But I still needed my roof rack to work even harder to justify its cost and its place on my roof.

Rhino-Rack’s upgraded Sunseeker awning provided the answer. There are many places in most Australian States where you can access the beach legally – most in parts of Queensland and WA where our caravan travels have taken us –  but once you’re there, you start looking for shade.

With the sun almost overhead in Northern Australia,  your vehicle by itself is not much help, so you need an awning.

OK, so you could buy a cheap plastic tarp and peg it out, but a much more elegant and convenient solution is a roll-out awning attached to your roof bars or roof-rack.

The latest Sunseeker is made of lighter, more durable 150D ripstop polycotton fabric, which offers an improved water resistance rating of 2000mm PU, while it also has more durable black anodised and powder coated extrusions, rugged plastic caps on all hardware, a 540gsm black PVC outer bag, and easy to grab zips.

What I like about the Sunseeker is that it’s an all-in one product, with its two supporting legs and two spreader poles all folding out of the stowed awning and secured in place by simple twist-locks.

Velcro tensioning tabs help water run-off if you’re sheltering from a shower instead of the sun.

While it's designed to go on Rhino-Rack products, it will also fit on most roof bars, although you may need to use smaller securing plates to fit into narrower accessory tracks.

Two awning lengths are available, with the SunSeeker 2m retailing for $309 and the larger SunSeeker 2.5m selling for $349.

Now I think I should ‘rack off’!