I would like to get roof rack for my B200 that will be a base for hauling building supplies and installing a bike carrier. Here are the options I see in Canada:
1 Mercedes sells the base rack that screws into the four anchor points on the roof for about 350 $ canadian. Too expesive.
2 Thule, Yakima and Sportrack only offer racks with a base that sits on the roof, with grabbers that attach to the body just above the windows. This seems crude since the screw attachment points are already there.
3 Derek Lecours refers to his home-made solution, but I can't get access to the pictures, the Photo Gallery seems to be out of service. Derek, I would appreciate if you could post your pictures.
The original MB rack may be pricy, but it is pretty decent. I've had either 6 or 8 sheets of drywall on the racks and they hold up well. I wouldn't add much more than that however. In the alternate, I've easily had 30 or so 2x4x8's up there. If you haven't guessed already - I'm finishing the basement!
I used the Thule on mt previous car, the clamps go between the doorrubber and the cause leakage and wind noise.
On the B I use the mercedes alu roofbars (made by Thule) and they are expensive, but good. They are almost silent, and they can be locked.
Keep in mind that the maximum roofload is 75 kilo.
I would like to get roof rack for my B200 that will be a base for hauling building supplies and installing a bike carrier. Here are the options I see in Canada:
1 Mercedes sells the base rack that screws into the four anchor points on the roof for about 350 $ canadian. Too expesive.
2 Thule, Yakima and Sportrack only offer racks with a base that sits on the roof, with grabbers that attach to the body just above the windows. This seems crude since the screw attachment points are already there.
3 Derek Lecours refers to his home-made solution, but I can't get access to the pictures, the Photo Gallery seems to be out of service. Derek, I would appreciate if you could post your pictures.
4 Anyone else have ideas.
It's interesting that you seem to have had success getting racks from Thule in Montreal. I gave them the #'s from Thule in Europe and they told me we deal with the US only, so take a hike! But that was OK because I didn't like the way they mounted either. The dealer 'bicycle' rack was the right mounting but useless for 2 kayaks so yes I made my own with time and $60 CDN.
Here are some pics. of the mounting.
The first pic. is naturally the B roof showing what you have to make in reverse.
The second pic. is part of 4 pieces I hand made using 1/2" x 10" x3" flat aluminum bar to anchor the rails to and yes the fit was critical.
I've had to crop the photos as they started as 3800x 2600 pixels and as I've complained before, I can't resize yet because I'm such a twit on the computer. Anybody know how to get my photos to the re-sizer with Microsoft XP. I can't even find the resize location but I know it's in there somewhere!!!
Last edited by Derek Lecours : 11-03-2007 at 08:43 AM.
Mercedes sells the base rack that screws into the four anchor points on the roof for about 350 $ canadian. Too expensive.
I'm getting a set of those "new alustyle" bars this weekend at 20% off (dealer "garage sale"), so that makes them a little more reasonable.
Because they lock, it's a huge advantage if you are carrying bikes or skis.
So they'll be $280. I paid $200 (a discounted price, believe it or not) for OEM Peugeot 405 roof bars back in 1994, which were also excellent, and so the extra $80 for the 13 years of inflation doesn't seem all that bad to me.
And still more pics.
The front and rear attachments are to the tow bolts, one of which comes with the B. I purchased a second one.
The rails are made of 1+1/4"x 10' square aluminum hollow tubing and a lot of patience because the legs are tilted and not the same length.(front to rear)
I cut the 10' length in half making for 2x5' rails.
I filed the legs until the rails sat perfectly flat then I drilled and tapped using 1/4"-20 stainless bolts to mount the rails to the legs. Welding was another option for the rails to legs.
There is a fair amount of drag with 2 kayaks and the mounting bolts are only 6mm with 10 treads each (max. depth per bolt).I did find 10.9 grade bolts to help secure the rack.
The wedges stop the travel to the right because of the tow bolt located off center.
With the front and rear straps, I'm comfortable, even at 130 kph.
Last edited by Derek Lecours : 10-17-2007 at 02:06 PM.
Thanks Mike,
We're not tall, so a low rack was imperative for us. The rack is very light and very strong. The rack drops in perfectly and the bolts are treaded by hand with no binding up until the final torquing. A very snug fit.
Linear Mode
