Bongo Fury

I have a petrol W reg V6 bongo, i need a roofrack but cannot seem to find one ?

Bogmonster40 wrote:I have a petrol W reg V6 bongo, i need a roofrack but cannot seem to find one ?

I presume it is a lift-top / AFT Bongo? If so, I think the Bongoshop, Bongobits etc. sell transverse bars and then you (presumably put a rack onto those). ther is also the very rare, but very lovely, heavy duty alloy job designed for the AFT Bongo and that came in with some imports and can occasionally be got 2nd hand on ebay (for a price!).

But I'm mixed about putting roofracks on Bongos. They offer enough air resistance as it is, whereas there is a big dead air space, reachable without a ladder, behind the tailgate. Also, I'm not convinced it doesn't promote problems over time with the lift raising mechanism, whose motors are mounted into the roof plastic and both of which, in my 16yr old Bongo, have broken loose and had to be repaired (and that's without a roofrack).

A Fiamma back rack and box, although not cheap, offer a very elegant weatherproof solution (or a towbar mounted Bakrak and box, which may be cheaper, if you have a towbar). Only caveat then is that it would be worth fitting airlift bags to rear suspension to prevent it grounding when going over big dips in the road and with a full load (the Bongo is known for this).

Have to agree with that, its much easier to get at and you can take it off when not needed;

Someone also had one mounted on a bike rack (less the bikes of course) the was a picture in the last few days, that avoids the need for a towbar of course as well.
Here is the Thule take on it http://www.roofracks.co.uk/thule/roofbo ... up-973.php but I am sure a saw a photo of one fitted on a Bongo

Hi I have the roofbars from the bongo shop on mine and they work well carry my 15ft canoe no problem. Just don't open roof with anything on top.

Just bought a ladder from ebay so easy to get up there now.


Simon

g8dhe wrote:Have to agree with that, its much easier to get at and you can take it off when not needed;

Someone also had one mounted on a bike rack (less the bikes of course) the was a picture in the last few days, that avoids the need for a towbar of course as well.
Here is the Thule take on it http://www.roofracks.co.uk/thule/roofbo ... up-973.php but I am sure a saw a photo of one fitted on a Bongo

That's the set up we've got but now wishing we had got the one that when on the back rather than the tow bar as you can't open the back with this set up.

Saw an interesting take on that problem the other day, a Towbar hitch that could be telescoped outwards sufficiently far to allow opening the door, not used for when driving of course, but adequate for static use to allow the door to open. Not sure if it was a DIY job or a standard bit but I plan to do some searching to see what might be available.

g8dhe wrote:Saw an interesting take on that problem the other day, a Towbar hitch that could be telescoped outwards sufficiently far to allow opening the door, not used for when driving of course, but adequate for static use to allow the door to open. Not sure if it was a DIY job or a standard bit but I plan to do some searching to see what might be available.

Let me know if you find out.. would most certainly help. We were thinking of ebaying our whole kit the box and the bike rack it currently sits on. Then we could buy the other kind... maybe I should look a swap

g8dhe wrote:Saw an interesting take on that problem the other day, a Towbar hitch that could be telescoped outwards sufficiently far to allow opening the door, not used for when driving of course, but adequate for static use to allow the door to open. Not sure if it was a DIY job or a standard bit but I plan to do some searching to see what might be available.

Our Maxxraxx bike rack does something similar to that - not sure if that's what you mean? Can post pics if you want?

Cheers

Andrew

Yes please - pics would be great..

My roof rack is made completely of plastic and doesn't effect the operation of the roof at all but i did have to make some extensions to get the single and the double kayaks on

Yep sorry, I should have explained I was thinking about the big fancy heavyish one that is made expressly for AFTs - your plastic one would be fine I'm sure (did you get it from Alant54 as I know he got a batch made up some while back)

I made one with a mate, it's steel and quite heavy but it seems fine on the AFT (doesn't affect opening when nothing else on there). Of limited use if I am honest, I only use it for bulky lightweight stuff (camping chairs, boogie boards etc). I've also previously made bars (originally for a surfboard) from an old set that I bought in a car boot sale and used a bakrak with both bike racks (shown) or cushion box (which does work quite well) for wetsuits and 'messy stuff'.


All solutions have their merits but to be honest, all are a bit of a faf and I try to just take less stuff now. Currently I use a Maxx Raxx for bikes (4 of them), just brackets with straps for surfboards (no roofbars or rack) but I suspect one day I'll get the bakrak out again.

Using the maxx raxx for the bikes does mean that it tilts far enough away from th etailgate to allow it to open but clearly, it's only for bikes not boxed (have a look at their website). Bakrak doesn't tilt, make sure you can reach everything you want from the inside !

Roofrack



Brackets to use when strapping surfboard to roof plus backrak attached for 2 x bikes and a boogie board bag.


Maxxraxx bike carrier - granted it looks messy but it feels solid and the easiest way I have found to carry 4 bikes around. If you can hold the weight then it will tilt and you can open the tailgate - suggest you only do it if you really really have to as 4 bikes are heavy!

that plastic one looks neat. My main use for mine would be to carry a set of ladders though, so not sure if the plastic ones would be of any use ??

Bogmonster40 wrote:that plastic one looks neat. My main use for mine would be to carry a set of ladders though, so not sure if the plastic ones would be of any use ??

If you just want to carry ladders, then roof bars would probably do. I've got some Thule roofbars that fit, but they were already on the bongo when I bought it, so not sure which size they are, as Mazda Bongo doesn't come up in Thule's list:

http://www.thule.co.uk/appguide/carMakeList.asp

I'll have a look tomorrow if you like to see if there's a number on them.

Cheers

Andrew

Pretty much any roofbars can be made to fit - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... rs#p215461 - the thread scans a bit wierd cos "somebody" seems to have disappeared along with all their posts.