# Roof Rack and Ladder Install > Cross bar, platform and drop down ladder rack installation with sealed mounting, load ratings and a remeasured overall height. Source: https://fleetservicesocrv.com/services/equipment-and-upfit/roof-rack-and-ladder-install Business: Fleet Services OCRV, 23281 E La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone: (714) 909-1844. Serving Santa Ana, California, about 17 miles from the facility. Roof rack and ladder installation fits load carrying systems to van and truck roofs: cross bar racks, full length platforms, drop down ladder racks, over cab pickup racks, conduit and pipe carriers, and rear door access ladders. Mounting uses factory points or sealed backing plates, and overall height is remeasured after the install. ## Specification - Price range: $400 to $3,500 - Labor hours: 2 to 14 hours - Turnaround: Upfit install - Insurance: typically customer pay or fleet account ## Symptoms - Water staining on the headliner near roof rack mounting points - Rack moving or creaking against the roof over bumps - Dished or deformed roof panel under a concentrated load point - Wind noise that appeared after a rack was installed - Drop down rack arms that no longer hold position under a ladder - Height decal in the cab that no longer matches the vehicle - Corrosion around rack fasteners on an older installation ## What rack styles are available and what do they carry? Cross bar racks are the simplest, two or three bars spanning the roof with ladders and material strapped across them. They are light, cheap and effective for a crew carrying two ladders. Full length platform racks give a continuous working surface, carry more and distribute load better, and cost more weight and more money. Drop down ladder racks change how the crew works rather than what they carry. A gas strut assisted arm swings the ladder down to shoulder height beside the van, so a technician loads from the ground instead of lifting overhead. Arms commonly handle around 250 pounds per pair, which covers essentially any extension ladder a service crew carries. Then there is the specialty hardware. Conduit and pipe carriers, tubes in the 6 to 10 inch diameter band typically rated around 100 pounds, keep long material out of the cargo area entirely. Over cab racks on pickups carry lumber and pipe with the load spread between the cab rack and a bed mounted rear support. - Cross bar racks for crews carrying a small number of ladders - Full length platform racks for continuous load surface and better distribution - Drop down ladder racks with strut assist for ground level loading - Conduit and pipe carrier tubes typically rated around 100 pounds - Over cab racks on pickups with a matching bed mounted rear support - Rear door access ladders and grab handles for roof access ## How much weight can a roof actually take? Less than most people assume, and the limit is usually the vehicle rather than the rack. Manufacturer roof load limits on cargo vans frequently land in the 330 to 500 pound band, and aftermarket racks are commonly rated 500 to 1,000 pounds distributed. The lower of the two governs, and exceeding the vehicle number deforms a roof in ways that are expensive to correct. Distribution matters as much as total weight. Load spread across a full length platform behaves very differently from the same weight concentrated on one cross bar, and a rack rating assumes the load is distributed the way the rack was designed for. Concentrating a heavy item over one bar is how a roof panel ends up dished. Height and handling are the practical consequences. Weight on a roof sits at the worst possible place for a tall narrow vehicle, and a fully loaded rack changes how a van feels in a crosswind on the SR-91 corridor. Crews notice it immediately. Keeping roof loads to long light material and putting dense items inside is the right discipline. ## How do you mount a rack without creating a leak? Use the factory points first. Most modern cargo vans have threaded roof mounting provisions specifically for racks, and those points are already sealed and already backed by structure. A rack designed for those points is stronger, faster to install and far less likely to leak than any through bolted arrangement. Where new penetrations are unavoidable, the detail is butyl tape at the mating face, a backing plate inside spreading the load into the roof structure, and a urethane sealant at each fastener. Silicone is not used, because it does not bond reliably to automotive finishes and it fails at the edges without any visible warning that it has let go. Then the penetrations get checked from inside. A roof leak in a cargo van does not announce itself, it soaks a headliner and drips onto inventory weeks later, and by then the water has been sitting in the roof structure. Verifying the seal from the interior before the van goes back is a few minutes that prevents a corrosion job. - Factory threaded roof mounting points used wherever the rack allows - Butyl tape at the mating face on every new penetration - Backing plates inside spreading load into the roof structure - Urethane sealant at each fastener, never silicone - Rain gutter clamp mounting on older vans built for it - Interior verification of every penetration before the vehicle leaves ## What changes about the vehicle after a rack goes on? Overall height, and it needs to be remeasured and re-marked. A van that cleared a Santa Ana parking structure yesterday may not clear it with a rack and a ladder on it, and drivers rely on the height decal in the cab. Measuring the finished vehicle at its tallest point and replacing that decal is part of the install here, not an afterthought. Fuel burn goes up. A loaded roof rack is a large flat plate in the wind, and on a fleet running freeway miles daily that shows up on the fuel card every month. Low profile racks and fairings reduce it. It never goes to zero, and it is the standing cost of carrying material on the roof rather than inside. Wind noise changes too, sometimes dramatically depending on bar shape and spacing. Aerodynamic bar profiles and correct spacing manage most of it. Drivers who spend eight hours a day in a van notice noise more than any other change, so it is worth specifying for rather than treating as unavoidable. Access changes as well, and it is the part fleets forget to plan. A rack is useless if a technician cannot reach it safely, so rear door ladders, grab handles and a step position that works for a person carrying material get specified with the rack rather than added after somebody starts climbing a tire to reach the roof. ## What does the work cost and how long does it take? Rack work carries the upfit install band, 3 to 10 business days, though most single vehicle installs finish quickly. Labor runs 2 to 14 hours and the published range is roughly 400 dollars to 3,500 dollars, with a simple cross bar set at the bottom and a full platform with drop down arms and conduit carriers at the top. The variable is mounting. A van with factory roof points and a rack designed for them goes on fast. A van needing new penetrations, backing plates and full sealing takes longer, and an older vehicle with an existing rack that has been leaking needs that damage addressed before anything new goes up. Combine it with interior work whenever possible. A van already at the shop for shelving, a partition or a floor can take a rack in the same window with almost no added downtime, which for a Santa Ana fleet means one 17 mile trip up SR-55 and SR-91 instead of two. Ask for the full interior and exterior spec at the same time. ## Questions ### How much weight can I put on my van roof? Check the vehicle limit before the rack limit, because the vehicle usually governs. Cargo van roof load limits frequently land in the 330 to 500 pound band while racks are rated 500 to 1,000 pounds distributed. The lower number wins. Also spread the load, because the same weight concentrated on one bar behaves very differently from weight across a platform. ### Will drilling my roof cause leaks? Not when it is done properly, and the best answer is to avoid new holes entirely by using factory roof points where the rack allows. Where penetrations are needed, it is butyl at the mating face, a backing plate inside, urethane at each fastener and interior verification before the van leaves. Silicone is never used, because it lets go at the edges without warning. ### Is a drop down ladder rack worth the extra cost? For crews handling ladders many times a day, yes. Lowering a ladder to shoulder height beside the van instead of lifting it overhead changes the physical demand of the job and reduces the odds of a dropped ladder. Arms commonly handle around 250 pounds per pair, which covers any extension ladder a service crew is carrying. ### Do I need to update my height decal after a rack install? Yes, and it is part of the install here. The finished vehicle gets measured at its tallest point and the cab decal is replaced to match. A van that cleared a Santa Ana parking structure yesterday may not clear it today, and the driver is relying on that number to make a decision at 20 miles per hour. ### How much fuel will a roof rack cost me? Enough to notice on a freeway fleet. A loaded rack is a large flat plate in the wind and the penalty shows up on every route. Low profile bars and a fairing reduce it, and it never reaches zero. That is the standing cost of carrying material on the roof, and it is why dense items belong inside the van. ### Can you install a rack at the same time as van shelving? Yes, and it is the efficient way. The van is already at the shop, the interior is already open for backing plates, and the whole exterior and interior spec lands in one 3 to 10 business day window. For Santa Ana fleets that means one 17 mile run up SR-55 and SR-91 instead of two separate trips.