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The basic version is £490 which is all silver and uses standard security pins. It is 1600mm long which sits inside the awning on the RHS. Includes mounts for California roof tracks.Looks really good and less 'agricultural' than the other option on the market.
Like the use of aero bars. Mind if I ask how much you are selling them for.
This is a brilliant concept, John, it solves so many issues (loading, access, cleaning, etc.).The basic version is £490 which is all silver and uses standard security pins. It is 1600mm long which sits inside the awning on the RHS. Includes mounts for California roof tracks.
There is a Premium version and a NOIR version (at £670 is the most expensive).
Yes that has been done before...... but I am working on getting it a little lower still.If it just went a little lower when in loading mode, you could limbo under a height restriction bar into a carpark haha
Good morning, sir.I originally put this post on the forum (back in 2019) as I felt the urge to develop a side loading roofrack for the California. - mainly for Kayaks.
I have spent most of the lockdown period working on this and I have now completed the design and finalised the IP. I have started limited manufacture of this product, with a few sold to VW Transporter owners and also SUV's
The roofrack works very well and I have had it on my California for over a year now.
I quickly realised that as well as the roofrack, I also needed to have suitable brackets to secure items (such as kayaks) at the side of the vehicle before lifting them onto the roof. I also realised that Kayaks should not be the only load item to consider.
So I now have a bracket that can handle bikes, ladders, kayaks, canoes and other bulky loads as well as a special bracket for roofboxes.
I did make it to Busfest last year, and I hope to show it at Camperjam this year. I have been experimenting with other concepts such as a fold out load platform / camping table .... which I intend to exhibit to gauge public reaction.
This has been a real journey for me and I have spent half a California on it ... so I thought I would post a few photos of it in action. The last photo is moving my daughters wardrobe, which although very bulky was an easy lift.
Next step is my web page which is underway....
John
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My pleasure @Johnboy, they were a pleasure to fit, look great and are such a good solution given the significant parking advantage of staying below 2m height.Thanks for the update and photos @Viktorgeorge
I will be making a few more sets soon if anyone is interested.
John
I thought it looked more than an extra 5mm from you photo extracts below, I am impressed by that @Johnboy.The height of the Kombi-rak will be very similar to your set up. The mounting blocks for the California are essentially the same as those you have fitted, but the Kombi-rak rails ate 40mm deep (+11mm or so to the Wingbars). However, the Wingbars have a slight bend in them whereas mine are straight - so there's probably an extra 5mm difference.
John
That explains that @Johnboy. I was puzzled.Hi, the top photo is the Kombi-rak fitted to a Transporter with raised rails - I have had to make an adapter to fit Thule footpack for that set-up.
The second photo is my California which is just over 2m high to the top of the bars.
John
Well, @ThomasHJ, I would be interested to hear if (assuming you have no DCC) if you come out at 2015mm to the centre of the WinBars, or something different.I to recently installed the low mounts I bought from @Johnboy a while back. hadn't gotten around to it yet. I've combined them with the 127cm evo wingbars as well. I think the whole looks very nice.
To be honest, I thought I'd remembered the Cali would stay below 2m with this setup, so I hadn't even thought about measuring the new height. Recently drove into an underground parking garage which is signed to be 2m max. Only realised the new bars were on the van when I drove under the first 2m barrier. Nothing happend, so that went really well. When I actually drove into the garage I heard a sound when the van passed under the moving/colapsing barrier and heard the same sound again when I left the parking garage. Which makes me think I need to check the actual height. I'm quite convinced that the sound has nothing to do with the roof bars and probably came from something outside the van, as I passed the 2m barrier with no issues. But I will measure the actual height soon just to be sure.
Thank you @Johnboy, that does sound an excellent low profile result for your Kombi-rak.I was going to go and measure for you, but I forgot that I have taken the roofrack off as I have had a lot of long journeys recently (saves a couple of mpg). I was going to give it a clean and general inspection before putting it back on, but have not got round to doing this.
I have a guide system so I can put it back on in exactly the same place, so it is easy to take off and put back on without any alignment problems.
So as I recall, I previously measured about 2005mm average, but there was a difference between front and rear. The center of the van roof is the highest point - so there is a slight variation where you site the bars. Also there is what I call the alignment bar which (necessarily) sits on top of the roofrack which raises the height by approx 19mm. However I also made a low profile version which is fitted to my California which only adds 5mm (you can see it in the latter photo of your last post) - So that would give a max height of 2010mm on my van.
John
I have found myself in the same height restricted car park situations several times already with my wife as a walking aside monitor, particularly on the continent, although only an owner for 17 months.My old T4 had a height of 1950mm if I remember correctly. I ended up in a traffic queue for a multi storey carpark with a height limit of 1.9m I had no option but to go in because I had a huge queue behind.
My son got out and walked alongside as I went in until we parked - same on the way out. We got close, but no scrapes!!. I am sure they have to give a bit of a "plus" tolerance when stating a height limit. But I was taking a bit of a risk.
Regards fuel consumption with roofbars. Virtually impossible to compare (maybe over long term testing) as it is hugely dependent on headwind/tailwind, speed and driving conditions.
Being the nerdy type, I do have my own set of calculations which say approx 1mpg at 70mph for Wingbars. Not really been able to verify tho'
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