Load Bearing Roof on a Suburban?

[RED MONSTER 4X4]

Hey Gang,

Getting ready for a trip to Kern Rivier, CA, and I have a question about the roof and Roof racks. My 91 burb does not have a roof rack, but I found a small roof rack from a converted 89 Burb by "travelmaster" It is a nice enough rack, but it has hanging supports that are attached with PLASTIC hangars. these plastic hangars are breaking! my Big question is Do the Burban/Blazers have load bearing roofs? i'd just assume remove the cross members, and leave the frame and let the roof support the weight if possible. I plan on putting this small rack over the rear passenger area for easy access from the rear passenger doors.


For what it is worth,I also plan to make this Rack removable for non-trip use. Going to run the bolts UP from the interior to the rack then secure with wingnuts and washers.

 

[Blue85]

Suburban and K5 have totally different roofs, so no reason to bring K5s into the discussion. How much weight are you planning? I would see no issue putting a couple hundred pounds up there. The strongest solutions will put the rack feet close to the pillars.

 

[Big Ray]

there are several crossmembers/doublers going across the roof on the inside...shouldn't be a problem.

you can see a couple here.

 

[diesel4me]

We often stacked one or more FWD cars on top of Suburbans at the junkyard,the roofs are very sturdy......

A K5,I would be scared to put more than 200 lbs at the most on the fiberglass roof,especially older ones with a full convertable roof,the ones I owned flexed up and down just driving down the road with nothing on the roof.....

 

[COCHEV]

there are several crossmembers/doublers going across the roof on the inside...shouldn't be a problem.

you can see a couple here.

Hey, I recognize that burb

 

[Big Ray]

first one to come to mind with a bare roof...

 

[COCHEV]

I put stuff on my roof...

 

[RED MONSTER 4X4]

New plan. I just decided to reinforce the plastic mounts on the cross members with metal zip ties. it worked fantastic! I also epoxied the ties down and i plan on sanding and coating the entire thing with Bed liner. i think this will work well! I appreciate the help, all! i still have room behind it for something else if needed!