Hiya! I have an idea that I can’t find any info about. On my van roof, I have (front to back) a roof rack with a roof basket, Maxx fan, solar panel. I recently picked up a 48 gallon waterproof/indestructible & locking plastic tote. I have extra room on the roof between the basket and the fan, so my idea is to put the tote there. I would use u-bolts to attach it to the roof basket and some ratcheting straps to strap it down using the gutter on either side as an anchor. I don’t doubt my ability to install it, however I was curious about any long term effects of putting it on the roof (vs in the basket). I would put down something between the tote and the roof- on Amazon they sell vehicle rooftop matting, or maybe something like gym floor pads. Any thoughts on this? It would be so awesome if I could make it work.
Should work as long as the plastic tote is durable enough and you don’t put anything too heavy inside. If it’s too heavy it might dent the roof.
Yeah, I considered the weight part too. The tote itself isn’t too heavy, it’s going to hold my inflatable kayak and as many of my tools as I can fit. I figured maybe I’d strap it in place and just load it and watch to make sure the weight doesn’t push the roof down. Thank you for the quick feedback Axel!
If you can carry bulky, but light items in the rooftop tote and heavy items as low as you can go, such as under the bed, that would be ideal. Regardless of the roof strength it’s always good to keep the heavyweight stuff down low.
May want to think about the UV that will be hitting it. If it’s not meant for that it could degrade it pretty quickly.
