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roof rack and roof structural integrity 200

posted by  ugly duckling on  Sat Jan 8 06:21 CST 2005
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last visit: Sat Jun 22 21:56 CST 2013
[RELATED]

hello all,

I've been meaning to ask this question, and it's one I've been pondering over. I have a thule roof rack system on my 245. the basic set-up, as it relates to my question, is this: 2 50lb bars placed parallel pointing from driver-side to passenger-side of car and 2 bike trays placed parallel pointing from front to rear of car. this set-up forms a rigid square-ish frame that is clamped to the rain gutters on either side of the car. now my question is, does a roof rack increase the structural integrity of a car's body, in particular the roof by decreasing or eliminating torsional flex that may happen when a car makes a turn onto a road depression (e.g., drainage gutters, potholes, etc.), which may cause the car's body to "contort" due to the uneven level of the car? does this all make sense? I understand a roof rack will not make my roof stronger in the sense that it won't make it sustain more weight directly on top of it or make the body more rigid, but will it make the roof more rigid and less susceptible to flexing? thanks.








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    roof rack and roof structural integrity - and a question........... 200

    posted by  Goldy on  Sat Jan 8 19:54 CST 2005
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    As far as rigidity - a local firechief said what impressed him most about Volvos was that when they do Jaws of life training, they normally partially crush the roof.

    He said how most cars would just need very light pressure from a hoe bucket to partially crush - but a Volvo actually took some effort and repeated impact to partially crush.

    You would get much more rigidity from a set of tower to tower to firewall cross braces.

    I am building a set for my 242 - anyone that has installed them say the difference is noticed the first curve and pothole...

    good luck

    GH

    Question - do you feel any increased wind resistance/wind noise with the thule carrier on??







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      roof rack and roof structural integrity - and a question........... 200

      posted by  ugly duckling on  Sun Jan 9 07:47 CST 2005
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      last visit: Sat Jun 22 21:56 CST 2013
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      "Question - do you feel any increased wind resistance/wind noise with the thule carrier on??"

      no, not really. I have a fairing on it, and what I like about it is that it also functions as a sunroof wind deflector when I open my sunroof. in fact, it quiets the wind noise! on the freeway though the wind noise does seem to amplify with sunroof open.








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    roof rack and roof structural integrity 200

    posted by  KlausC on  Sat Jan 8 07:05 CST 2005
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:15 CST 2014
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    Short answer, no. The rack also has flex, no matter how tight you try to make it. Without flex, the roof rack would rip your gutters off the car.

    Klaus
    --
    98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 88 245(165K mi)







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