Roof rack over moduletop?

[Bernard]

I have a Mk2 Berlingo with the moduletop glass roof and its attached roof bars. Having read reports of leaks starting after putting loads on these bars I have been very reluctant to use them. My car has the same mounting lugs in the roof gutters that the van and non-moduletop versions have so my thought is would one of the full-length roof rack fit over the moduletop? I imagine that the roof bars would need to be removed at least but would it have enough clearance or would it foul with the bar mounts?

Hoping that someone has tried this before and knows the answer!

Many thanks in advance,

Bernard.

[ffrenchie]

I removed some Halford type bars from my niece's Peugeot Partner with modutop and they were over so some will fit without removing originals. I would go to a supplier and try some out before committing myself.

[Bernard]

Thanks for that ffrenchie, good to know some will fit. The rack I had in mind was one like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Berlin...5694802%26
not sure if this is a Citroen original?

[crickleymal]

I bought an industrial strength roofrack off ebay and it fits over the modutop bars. The bars aren't any higher than their mounts so you'd have to saw the mounts off too if the rack is too low.

[landcrab]

hi i have a 2005 desire with the moduletop roof. like you i heard that it wasnt a good idear to put weight on it. i picked up a pair of roof bars (they came from halfords ) that go across the car and they clear the fitted bars ok.mine fit into the small square boxes of which there are six welded onto the roof.

[pidgeonpost]

Got me worried now. I've used the standard reversible bars a couple of times as a roof rack. I can't remember what the max recommended load is - something like 35kg I think - and I was below that, but I'd be interested to know where the leak occurs. Does water leak down the threads of the fixing bolts, or is it the case that the weight of the load induces a leak elsewhere?On our car there are rubber washers somewhere in the equation, and these could do with replacing as they have got a bit tacky over time.
I'd been wondering about getting a set of bars to enable me to carry a bit more weight, and this is making me wonder a bit more seriously. No sign of any leaks though........yet.

[crickleymal]

I believe it's the rubber seal round the edge that goes. Before I knew about the potential problem I put a canoe on the modutop, strapped it down and drove from Gloucester to the Lake District. I have also put two canoes on there (25kg ish) and driven to local canals. Not had a problem since.

[Bernard]

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'm going to have to find someone who will let me try their rack on my car!

Cheers,

Bernard

[tucker]

I've used the modutop bars on mine for 9 years on a regular basis for roof boxes and ladders etc and it's never let a drop in.

Off camping in a couple of weeks with the roof box on there.

Some may have developed leaks where the rubber seal has perished, but I don't think it's linked to using the bars personally.

[spiritdemon]

Our modutopped 04 Berlingo was used and abused for the 8 years we had it and our local Citroen specialist was horrified to hear this tale of our touring holliday in France.

After a superb and trouble free month in Northern France from Brittany to the low countries we returned to our ferry port for the last night and the hotel we had booked said it had secure parking. Tired as we were, we failed completely to notice the restricted headroom sign and parked with a peculiar swishing sound in the underground car park. Leaving the car we could follow the groove in the roof which marked our course of entry and decided that we should worry about the exit and the top box tomorrow.

The morning after we got up early in case we had to go back out the in door as the exit seemed even lower, but having parked back out in the sunlight there was no damage to the contents but the top box looked more like a squashed frog than ever, and a heavily stood on one at that.

My independent dealer said we were lucky not to have been boarding the ferry with the roof balanced on our heads in the car. The top box had been filled with camping gear, bed rolls and sleeping bags and must have been fairly weighty in its own right but the only lasting damage was the jaunty angle the squashed frog adopted till a hair dryer loostened it back to a little of its previous incarnation once we got home. How much pressure the roof had taken underground doesn't bear thinking about.

After such a misadventure you would have expected the worst regarding leaks but it wasn't till years later we found that the roof suddenly developed a huge leak right over the front passenger seat. A cursory inspection showed the culprit was a pine needle pushed under the rubber seal from a Christmas tree and its removal was all that was needed to stop the problem.