Roof Load Capacity

July 5, 2007

strange question but I am trying to get some Thule (make) roof bars and i have been told that "Thule's application guide specifies a maximum total roof bar load of 40kg on this vehicle" - contacted Thule who said when tested they felt 40kg was limit - it appears that the 40kg limit is not on the bars themselves (they can take a lot more) but on the vehicle/vehicle roof . However, I am told by local toyota dealer that toyota (make) roof bars have a limit of 75kg and that this is ok for the car/car roof. However, toyota roof bars are quite wide and the "u" bolts i have from a toyota roof box!! and Thule bike carriers are not wide enough to fit toyota (make) bars. This means i would have to buy a new box and bike carriers - which I do not want to do, if i were to buy the toyota (make) bars. I told thule this and they said perhaps the bars fix to the roof diffferently. However, I have seen both makes of bar and they do not appear to be that different - they both clamp on the door pillar/gutter. I am now sceptical as to whether 40kg limit is right as I can't understand the huge difference. Of course, they say check the handbook/vehicle spec etc but no information is provided about roof capacity limit. Any views/advice greatly appreciated especially from any Toyota employees/technicians that may read this!

April 10, 2008

Did you ever get an answer? I have the same question and wandering which roof carrier to get to be able to use the 60 kg max that Toyota says the Auris do have.

April 11, 2008

No, I didn't - and as yet I have not tried to load 4 bikes (which is what I want to do) on the roof, although I want to try at some point but a sensible answer from someone in the know would help - incidentally where does the 60kg come into it as I don't remember Toyota mentioning that figure?

July 20, 2009

I just receive confirmation from Toyota that the MAX roof capacity limit is 75 kg. :thumbsup:

July 22, 2009

So it is basically the same as Thule roof bars + mounting clamps.

Just keep in mind to substract the weight of the Roof Rack itself to calculate the roof load. Thule gives the weight of the system in the manual. For auris, with aluminium bars, in my case it is around 7 kgs. So you have 75 - 7 = 68 kgs of load. Then I need to take into consideration the weight of roof box or 2 bike racks and finally I know how much I can put on the roof.