Ali vs steel

Hi all,

Looking for some opinions on an Ali Tracklander vs a Steel one. I have the opportunity to buy a steel one at about half the retail however wanted to know what your thoughts were/are on steel.

Obviously the Steel one is heavier, what else?

Cheers
Mark

What exactly is a tracklander?

Tony

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Originally Posted by YNOT

What exactly is a tracklander?

Tony

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Roof racks I believe??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by markmclauchlin

Hi all,

Looking for some opinions on an Ali Tracklander vs a Steel one. I have the opportunity to buy a steel one at about half the retail however wanted to know what your thoughts were/are on steel.

Obviously the Steel one is heavier, what else?

Cheers
Mark

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Personally (if it's a roof rack where talking about), I would go alloy. Half the weight, no rust, and easy to take on and off as required.

Correct, tracklander is a popular brand of roof rack.

Cheers

If I was going on long trips with lots of corrugations, I'd enquire whether the alloy was more or less likely to crack.

The other issue with alloy is that once cracked, not all bush workshops will be equipped to weld it.

Despite the fact that I have a cheap heavy second hand steel rack on the roof of Silver, I'd prefer alloy for what I use it for.

The weight of the rack eats into your total allowable roof load, as well.

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Originally Posted by Silver

If I was going on long trips with lots of corrugations, I'd enquire whether the alloy was more or less likely to crack.

The other issue with alloy is that once cracked, not all bush workshops will be equipped to weld it.

Despite the fact that I have a cheap heavy second hand steel rack on the roof of Silver, I'd prefer alloy for what I use it for.

The weight of the rack eats into your total allowable roof load, as well.

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Good Point never thought of outback repair.
Steve.

Aluminium has fatigue limit issues. In fact some types of aluminium alloys will crack eventually from the load of feathers falling on it. It'll take a long time but it will happen. Steel is also an alloy but is far better at dealing with fatigue, and often can be designed in a way that it can withstand infinite load cycles without a fatigue failure occurring.

Alloy all the way

ill be the odd 1 out ive got steel ironman on mine lol i dont notice the weight at all

Anyone else ?

My 2CTs worth is that the extrusions they use now ,more than strong enough for the rigours of the outback, nice ABS plastic mounting system, I'll stick with my Rhino thanks,
proven and tested. and you can buy heaps of accessory holders ,etc. no brainer for me
Sheeesh old thread

I've got an old ally (TJM I think) full length rack and I can take it off myself no worries. It also has full length runners that sit in the gutter the entire length of the rack to help spread the load. Maybe something to consider?