Ansel and his roof platform question

[Alan Gales]

Of course I failed to show in that picture his large red illuminated male organ. Women always had to touch it. Not kidding.

That's funny!

You sound like a real fun guy. Randy, and I mean that as a compliment.

[Robert Langham]

I'd love to have ANY kind of a platform for a Toyota 4Runner. All I can find is cargo baskets that aren't big enough. There was a shop in town that made some stuff like that, but long gone. You can never get too high for landscape work.

[Jac@stafford.net]

No that was the mid 80's, I knew nothing of BM at that time, if it even existed.

First BM was '86.

Regarding the platform, my 2011 RAV4's roof rack can take a bit over 300 pounds, but it is not steady. The compliant suspension gives more when standing still than when driving. Standing on the roof rails one can wiggle the whole vehicle.

A tall collapsible crane would be better.

[neil poulsen]

Versus all the trouble of mounting a platform, it seems like a good Gitzo, Studex Giant 5 tripod would do the job. One could mount the ladder on top of the car. This would be studier, and more versatile. It's a lot easier to position a tripod than a station wagon.

[Tin Can]

First BM was '86.

Regarding the platform, my 2011 RAV4's roof rack can take a bit over 300 pounds, but it is not steady. The compliant suspension gives more when standing still than when driving. Standing on the roof rails one can wiggle the whole vehicle.

A tall collapsible crane would be better.

RY fold up leveling jacks could be used on a van or the older RV individual leveling jacks like I used on my AirStreams.

Stops Rock and Roll.

[JMB]

I have always loved Adam's car and platform. But I have resisted the strong temptation to follow his lead. I am absolutely certain that in an excited moment with my head under the dark cloth that I would step right off the platform.

[Tin Can]

I have always loved Adam's car and platform. But I have resisted the strong temptation to follow his lead. I am absolutely certain that in an excited moment with my head under the dark cloth that I would step right off the platform.

Always use a Sky Hook!

[russyoung]

I had one years ago on a 1987 (?) Ford van. Fabricated by a local welding shop, it was a pair of bars that ran from gutter to gutter. Spaced them 5 feet apart and attached an appropriately sized bit of 3/4 marine plywood. Had a permanently attached ladder on the right rear door. Getting ME up there was easy, getting the 8x10 kit up there, not so easy. The least little gust of wind rocked the whole vehicle. The higher perspective was superb in the SW deserts but there were so few days still enough to use it.

[brucetaylor]

I always wanted a roof rack too, just like the AA picture. I even bought the SUV with that in mind as a goal, in '93. Still have the vehicle, never got around to building the rack (rain gutter supports, off the shelf from Yakima). So this thread inspired me again to think about it, especially after a trip to the desert a couple of weeks ago. And I was thinking about the steadiness issue too-- everything would have to be extremely still not have everything shake! Randy's jack idea would work, but jeez-- an awful lot of set up. With my luck the shot would be gone by the time everything was ready.

So, much as the romance (for me) of AA up on the roof of his TravelAll has for me, a ladder and my Ries with the extension legs is probably a better idea.

I have a camera crane that would support the 8x10 Deardorff, but that sounds like a lot more work that setting the vehicle up on leveling jacks!

[Vaughn]

This is my ride -- well, a far better-looking example than mine, but otherwise a carbon copy.

But this topic has got me thinking. At 6'3" and 250 pounds, the upstairs sleeping area is a bit confining for me, and my kids are leaving for college etc. Since I do not need it for sleeping, and a roof platform would not be a great fit, how about a photo turret instead? Roll-up canvas sides for the pop-up and an attached tripod/head, and a box for me to stand on. Not a great height increase for the cost.

But imagine pulling into a nice overlook at the Grand Canyon or perhaps in our National Capital, pop the top (it rises so nicely on its own struts), roll up the front of the pop-up (the sides would be great as lens shades), slap the 8x10 or the 11x14 up on the mounted tripod and head, and then wait to be surrounded by a SWAT team. A SWAT team whose members have all seen and loved Back to the Future and who occasionally still have nightmares about being chased by terrorists firing machine guns from the sun roof of a 1968 VW microbus.

Other than that, it is a fun idea.