What's the deal with roof load ratings?

[@ernestford1182]

Mic - in the accessory brochures, Suzuki has the following wording for the three door Jimny - "Please observe the max. roof load of 30kg. (including own weight of multi roof rack and other carrier modules)." For the five door, it states "The max roof load is 30kg. (including own weight of Multi Roof Rack and other carrier modules)." I interpret this to mean 30kg as the dynamic roof load limit.

[@StephenUeckermann]

Mic, I think it is important to point out that these dynamic loads are there for safety reasons when driving. An overloaded vehicle becomes "dangerous" when taking emergency avoiding action such as swerving or braking heavily. The handling can be adversely affected by a higher than recommended centre of gravity. I have seen many vehicles with loads of jerry cans, tents and ammo boxes on a roof rack which are well beyond safe handling loads.

[@oribi_overland]

In principle, every vehicle must be able to carry its own weight on its roof. This means that if a rollover occurs, the cabin must not deform in a life-threatening manner. In this respect, every roof can withstand significantly more. The only stupid thing is that in an accident you don't always land flat on the roof, but usually on a corner. Regardless, there are different regulations in all countries. While in Switzerland the roof load is stated in the vehicle documents and should theoretically be checked on the go, in Germany, for example, there is only a note from the manufacturer about the recommended roof load. In the event of a dispute, the recommendation could cause an insurance company to assign partial blame. The police or the German TÜV, on the other hand, can and may only check the permissible total weight of the vehicle. Everything else is considered cargo and only needs to be “adequately secured”. This also applies to everything that is attached to the roof (including roof racks, tents, etc.). However, a vehicle receives registration in its home country and, in principle, what applies in its own country initially applies.

[@gerhardstrydom5249]

Mmmm...spare tyres, jerry cans, water container, highlift jack, rooftop tent...seems few vehucles will be truely legal🙄🤔

[@shaunmoller2997]

Thanks Mic this help a lot

[@drivelazy]

Team is 5 door jimny tuned suspension available? Or still in making?

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Still in the making. Please send us an email and we'll keep you posted. [e-mail].

[@nontombi2638]

Does upgrading the suspension help with the load rating?

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Nope. The load rating is determined by the vehicle manufacturer and stated at the time that the vehicle is homologated for sale in SA. No accessory can change this.

[@SteveNuns]

The Jimny you took to Zambia had a roof rack and tent and some other stuff. So this setup exceeded the spec?

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Indeed. The Jimny I drove was 220kg over GVM in total. The weight of the roof rack and the tent was around 75kgs. Ironman 4x4 offer a GVM suspension upgrade kit which is street legal in Australia. This kit adds 350kg to the GVM rating of the vehicle, is ADR certified and includes a handling and brake test. It is not legal here in SA and we will, in all likelihood, not be able to get it legalised over here given the attitude of the local authorities when we have tried. It is the only reason that I elected to travel with our Jimny with 220kg over the standard GVM rating having fitted our GVM upgrade kit. I would have been in trouble at a weigh bridge but definitely not from a safety point of view. I also think that the 30kg dynamic roof rating has a fair amount of safety factor built in. The Frontrunner roofrack that we used has three mounting feet on either side which are gutter mounted feet and located directly above the strongest parts of the roof structure at the A, B and C roof pillars. I was never in any doubt that their would be an issue with this load. I have however seen disasters waiting to happen on some Jimny roofs. Also, the more weight you put up there, the more handling and thus safety suffers.

[@SteveNuns]

@@Ironman4x4Africa Nice explanation. Thank you.

[@dre7767]

Why doesn't Ironman SA not bring in suspension systems for Subaru Foresters, XV and Outbacks?

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Ironman 4x4 make a stunning suspension product for the Subaru vehicles and they sell them by the bucket load in the USA. We trial fitted these kits over here and unfortunately the resultant lift was way too high causing drive line issues. It would appear that there are subtle differences between USA built Subarus and the one's we get from Japan. Very sad.

[@dre7767]

@@Ironman4x4Africa dont they sell the same kit in Australia and the cars are the same as South Africa.

[@OverlandingwithBruce]

Sorry Mick you are wrong about the new defender. Its dynamic load on the 110 is 168kgs and on the 90 118kgs. Static is 300kgs

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Hey Bruce. Thanks for the info. I couldn't find any good info on the Defender before the video and merely went by what Ronnie Dahl had in his video. As I stated, the info is sadly not as readily available as one might expect. I did do some more digging and found the Aussie Land Rover website has the specs, albeit well hidden. I can see where Ronny may have gotten his info. The Dynamic Load Rating for the Defender 90 is indeed 80kg with All Season tyres but 118kg with All Terrain tyres. The Defender 110 is 100kg with All Season tyres and 168kg with All Terrain tyres. Static is listed as 300kg for both models.

[@OverlandingwithBruce]

@@Ironman4x4Africa sorry to be negative but I saw that “test” by RD and he didn’t even bother to learn how to use the off road modes correctly, so I would not trust anything he says. It’s like driving an old Land Cruiser with manual locking hubs and not knowing how to lock them then claiming its useless off-road. After watching that episode he lost all his credibility to me.

[@paulsmit8147]

🤙👍