The Wedgetail platform roof rack has been developed to fill the need for a new generation composite assembly platform roof rack with the strength to maintain its full load rating on the toughest of off-road tracks.
Built to fit a wide range of 4x4 utes and wagons and selected vans, the Wedgetail platform roof rack is fitted onto a set of mounting rails that are bolted to mounting lugs connected into the sub-structure of the roof or onto the roof gutters and held in place by bolt-on clips.
These mounts spread the weight of the roof rack and its load over the whole mounting system and have the strength to cope with extended periods of off-road use.
Design
The Wedgetail rack was developed by our team of engineers to take advantage of custom designed components and new composite materials. Super strong aluminium was moulded into two profiles for use in the platform frame and for the crossbars. A number of materials were tested for use as the corner fittings until the final components were approved.
Testing
A series of prototypes were manufactured and stress tested on a range of vehicles and on the toughest offroad tracks with the maximum load allowed. The Wedgetail rack went through two years of development and testing before it was approved for manufacture.
Frame and crossbars
Manufactured using 6060 grade aluminium and extruded in Australia to custom profiles for use as frame components or as crossbars. The frame components are designed for maximum dynamic strength while the crossbars are designed to withstand the direct downwards pressures generated by the weight of items carried on the rack or by accessories fitted on the crossbars.
The frame bars are pre-punched with holes at between 250 and 310 mm spacing for locating of crossbars and fixing of wind deflectors.
All bar components are powder coated in matt black.
Wedge-lock corner units
The corner units are moulded using a composite of nylon and glass-reinforcing mixed with other strengthening substances. Once cast the corner units are machined to remove surplus materials and mounting holes are drilled.
The Wedge-lock corner units have a flanged nut inserted into the outside of the bolt hole. The ends of the corner units are fitted into the frame rails and 8 mm stainless steel bolts are used to fix them in place, creating a strong joint.
