Hilux 4x4 Forum

Hey guys.

We're in the process of building a custom camper and were wondering if we can pick some people's brains for ideas.

We want to have an overhanging bed section, but the bending moment arm of the overhang will bend the frame over time, so we have decided to build a bracket that attaches to the roof rail.

I have identified two different rails

Frontrunner: https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/e ... 800mm.html

and

4x4 direct: http://www.4x4direct.co.za/roof-rack-br ... results=14

The rails will attach to the roof of an xtracab Hilux 2014.

My question is:
Does anyone have experience installing these rails?
How secure are they holding both upward, downward and sideward forces?
Do you drill into the bakkie's roof?

Or are there other more elegant less destructive methods (except the clamps that go into the gap between the door and the frame, this tends to grind away the paint when dust and sand gets in there)

Not sure, if you build a camper with overhanging bed section, what does the roof of the bakkie has to do with it? Won't the bed section slide out of the camper and the camper attached to the load bay of the bakkie?

You want to prevent this by attaching the front part of the "camper shell" to the top of the roof? Is that right?

You are going to cause HUGE problems. The Hilux is not a unibody design. The cab and the load bin are separate units and move separately from each other. If you attempt to tie the 2 together and drive over any type of undulating surface you are going to rip the whole lot apart over time. Especially the roof skin/structure where you tie it to the load rails.

Wat het daar gebeur? Lyk of die onderstel geknak het.

Yep. Cantilever forces way exceeding design specifications of the chassis.

Those camper shells are perfect for single-cab or extra-cab Hiluxes, but on the double-cab there is way too much weight behind the rear axle. besides that, the front of the load bin attaches to the chassis just in front of the rear axle, and at that point is where it will bend the chassis when these cantilever forces come into play. Couple to this, our need to have spare wheels on swing-arms at the back or the vehicle.. it all just gets too much..