

| Subject: | Roof racks and misc. |
| From: | Earl J.Smith |
| Date: | Fri, 26 Jul 1996 13:04:51 -0700 (PDT) |
We have a double kayak that weighs 130 lb. Before buying our 84 vanagon,
we made sure we could lift it up onto a roof rack by borrowing a friends
and trying. He had a Thule which is too rich for my $800 pension. So,
having lots of tools, I got some 1/8 in. aluminum angle and made a second
bend to simulate the gutter. Cut four 4 in. sections. At he rear, I
used one of the bolts that hold the hinge, and drilled a second hole
through the hinge plate. (If I had thought ahead a bit more I could have
made the adaptor plate long enough to use the spacing that existed. Oh
that 20/20 hindsight!) Anyhow, at the front, I removed the cap that went
over the cab. First I cleaned a ton of detritus out from the top of the
cab roof. (REduced weight probably increased my gas mileage!) Then
drilled out all the rusty brackets that were staining the fibreglass,
buffed them clean, repainted them, and riveted them back in. Finally,
drilled the cap and bolted the front brackets on with a large aluminum
backing plate to spread the stress.
Since then we have been over some of the rough logging roads here on
Vancouver Island and there has been no sign of a problem. Next step is to
invent a loader to hoist the kayak up because I don't want to keep
putting my back out and every year takes its toll of strength.
Enjoy reading the V. List but will have to discontinue until I can afford
better software. At 2400 it takes a long time to download the digest
file, and even longer if I do it one (wanted) message at a time.
Thanks to allk of you for the valuable info on cooling problems and
fridges. I found our problem was not lighting the fridge but being able
to tell if it was alight. Finally relized that the air intake and vent
get hot when its working!
Earl J. SmithHave something to add on this topic today? Revive this thread in the forum »