Land Rover Roofracks

[fc101daz]

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can supply me with good photos and/or diagrams for military roofracks fitted to 110's?I have seen some really nice basket style ones fitted to REME vehicles I think and would like to make a copy of one for my 110,but don't seem to have had the good sense to photograph them!!!!I have also seen 3/4length boxbar types also.

Any help is much appreciated

Daren

[Adam Elsdon]

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can supply me with good photos and/or diagrams for military roofracks fitted to 110's?I have seen some really nice basket style ones fitted to REME vehicles I think and would like to make a copy of one for my 110,but don't seem to have had the good sense to photograph them!!!!I have also seen 3/4length boxbar types also.

Any help is much appreciated

Daren

 

I seem to remember something about the roofracks being COTS (Commercial of the shelf) items, try brownchurch or safety devices, i think it was one of those companies that supplied MOD.

[Tony B]

Most are commercial with added weld mesh to stop bits falling out. I know where some 109 roof racks are going cheap, don't know if theres a 110 rack in the pile. If you want a 3/4 might be worth cut and weld.

[Richard Farrant]

I seem to remember something about the roofracks being COTS (Commercial of the shelf) items, try brownchurch or safety devices, i think it was one of those companies that supplied MOD.

 

Were Brownchurch full length roof racks ever fitted to Land Rover Series 3 LWB, with canvas tops, ......... possibly in the first Gulf War ? :???

[84KB11]

I have 5 ex-military LWB 109's that are all fitted with full length brownchurch roof racks.

Mine are hard tops though, never seen one fitted to a soft top.

I'm sure I have seen a pic somewhere of the same style rack fitted to 110's, will see if I can find it again...

[Richard Farrant]

Were Brownchurch full length roof racks ever fitted to Land Rover Series 3 LWB, with canvas tops, ......... possibly in the first Gulf War ? :???

 

Sorry.....trick question I was waiting for someone to say that you cannot fit a roofrack to a soft top.

 

Well, we actually did fit a few on soft tops at request of the unit who supplied the racks, an Intelligence unit, no surprises there :-D. They arrived one afternoon and vehicles were to go next morning, so a bit of head scratching and bandying ideas between a few of us and we did it without touching the canvas. And on return from the Gulf, the racks were removed and they survived without fault.

 

It is amazing the number of non standard additions on vehicles, if you turned up at a show with something like this, some wiseguy would tell you it was wrong :nono:

[abn deuce]

Please to tell us all how you engineered a solution that left the canvas untouched . might it have involved some frame or support going from the body to the racks them selves ???

[Richard Farrant]

Please to tell us all how you engineered a solution that left the canvas untouched . might it have involved some frame or support going from the body to the racks them selves ???

 

 

Relatively simple really, used the normal fixing at front on windscreen hinge points ( I think, long time ago now) and ladder at rear to body rear, another support at rear, to locate. The sides were the problems, in order to take the weight. Two folded plates per side were made up to sit over sides of body, and with step supports coming out below canvas sides, these had triangulated supports to the rack in order to stiffen it up and stop twist or swaying. Must have worked well any way.

[Tony B]

There is LWB ex military runing round here that has a hard top, rear door and military canvas sides. Was that one of yours? Don't know the owner but know where I can find it. The one time I've seen it with the sides up it has weld mesh on the inside. Wondring if it was some sort of prisioner transport. I'll try and get a picture.

[Adam Elsdon]

I know an army signals unit that used to have hardtop FFR Landrovers with the canvas over the top, never quite worked out why, whether it was to keep the interior cooler or whatever, not to sure. Our hardtop FFR's were so heavily camouflaged in position it wasnt identifiable as a Landrover and wouldnt have mattered.

 

Going into an AlienFTM moment! We were on an exercise at RAF Chivenor, when it had just been closed, providing the comms for another squadrons Tactical Evaluation (TACEVAL) we had a large quantity of Bedford trucks and Landrovers and a Satcom Landrover.

We were required to setup our equipment on the side of a large building that was being used as an HQ, so we were limited to camouflage options, so we put up tarps from under the guttering of the said building, in a very large lean to effect, with a drop for a wall, making sure it was all pulled taught, the generators and satellite dish that had to go outside of the tarp "building" we camouflaged with hessian and cam net, to give a bushes and vegetation effect.

 

During the exercise an "Enemy" Jaguar done a high speed low level recce pass and the pictures taken processed by the photo interpreter intelligence types. Ours was the only unit on that exercise where they couldnt identify quantities or vehicles in use, or infact any of our comms kit including the satellite dish, they knew something was there, but that was it!

I seem to remember that the units who were being evaluated didnt fare so well...

Edited August 28, 2008 by Adam Elsdon
Because i can!

[Tony B]

Seen that canvas over metal. It was thought up as ground planes for certain antenna. This one has the metal ridged roof outside, very weird when you first see it. I'll get a photo.

[fc101daz]

Hi All,

Thanks for all your replies so far.The idea they are civvy makes more sense.I am away in Bonny Scotland for two weeks and so can't go online every day,hence my lack of communication.I may have just scored me a rack from a 90 on Jersey Insight ads which would give the look I am thinking of I hope.Will let you know.Still post pics if you can find them.

Regards

Daren

[Tony B]

Are you on the rock then?

[fc101daz]

Yeh normally,but like I say am away at the moment.

Daren

[AlienFTM]

I know an army signals unit that used to have hardtop FFR Landrovers with the canvas over the top, never quite worked out why, whether it was to keep the interior cooler or whatever, not to sure. Our hardtop FFR's were so heavily camouflaged in position it wasnt identifiable as a Landrover and wouldnt have mattered.

 

Our CO had a ragtop FFR with a three-set installation and an operator in the back. If I tell you his operator was nicknamed Woodgnome on account of never coming out of his little hole on exercise, you can imagine how it was.

 

Being Recce meant that we were always sharp. Even Command Troop of a Recce Regt tended to be forward of the main battlegroup positions. We were paranoid about our cam. We used an awful lot of cam net and hessian, even on a single Land Rover. When we moved, this all (apart from heesian over shiny surfaces and wheel arches) got rolled up onto the roof in such a way that upon arrival at the other end, it rolled straight back out. It had to be tied down tight so that it didn't unfurl in transit. This led to the canvas roof between the spars being depressed right down into Woodgnome's living space.

 

If he had thought of a mod like this to give him some Lebensraum, he'd have been delighted.

[Tony B]

Yeh normally,but like I say am away at the moment.

Daren

I see, Not trying to avoid me by any chance? :-D