Would the roof of a modern car hold up if an adult climbed on top of one?

[raccoon]

Just say, what if somebody weighing 150-200 lbs. climbed on top of your average car, say a Camry,
would the car hold their weight?

[EOTE]

1. It sure as hell should.

And just about any (non-convertible) car made after 1940 or so. The roof is supposed to provide structural support. If it can't hold 200 lbs or so, it's not providing very much structural support.

[raccoon]

2. Thanks. Here's what got me thinking about this.

Yesterday my cat got onto the roof of my apartment (one-storey). Not bad for an almost 13-year-old cat!
I was concerned about her getting down, but she managed it herself.

Before she did, I thought of helping her get down. If I’d been a kid, I’d have climbed on top of the car.
(Of course if I were a kid, I couldn’t drive the car over close to the apartment.) But I’m too old to be climbing
on cars now. And I weigh a lot more now than I did as a kid. And in those days, cars were made of metal inches thick.

[snooper2]

3. dupe

[snooper2]

4. dupe - stupid browser

[snooper2]

5. car will hold another car sitting on top of it

But even just standing on it you'll probably dent the shit out of it....

[RedCloud]

10. I would pass that thing before it got to the tunnel!

[bluesbassman]

6. Two different questions.

It most certainly would support the weight. Modern uni-body cars are structurally very strong. However, the sheet metal used today is very thin as compared to say a '55 Chevy and would be much more prone to localized damage at the contact points, so as far as "holding up" I would say no.

My recommendation is to not use your Camry as scaffolding. :)

[raccoon]

7. I don't plan to, unless it's a dire emergency. nt

[hunter]

8. Hold up an adult, yes. Bounce back good as new, no.

My cars all bear the scars of climbing kids.

[HopeHoops]

9. Well, definitely not a Toyota. Maybe a Ford, but not as well as they used to.

When my 70 Maverick hit 100K, I pulled over, got out, and pretty much jumped up and down on the roof - didn't even dent it. Damn I got some weird looks from people driving by.

[Taitertots]

11. I know from experience that it will bend in

For the record, I wasn't the person on the car and it wasn't my car.

[ElboRuum]

12. Should, might dent it if they concentrate their weight, like if they stand on it.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. I saw some serious dents put in the roof of the cab of a truck by a couple of girls

that didn't weigh more than 125 lbs. each. The owner was not happy that they had used his vehicle as a bench.

[david13]

14. Depends on the car. Toyota and Honda tend to be more crash

worthy than many a ford, so don't count on the ford too much. Part of crashworthyness is what will the car do in a roll over. Will it support it's own weight. The stats are out there, if you can find them.
dc

[krispos42]

15. I believe that car roofs have to support 150% of the car's weight

Federal regulation, so yeah, standing on a car roof won't crush the pillars or crack glass.


There's a chance you might dimple the metal, though. It's thin and, let's face it, not the toughest alloy around. It's sheet steel, designed to be very malleable and easy to fabricate. Some weight might make the roof "pop" downwards temporarily; more weight might make a shallow, permanent dent.

If you have to do it, try to stay around the edges of the roof, where there is more support.

I speak from experience; I had to do this a couple of times on my 1989 Oldsmobile to hang up stuff in the garage. For the record I weigh 250 lbs.

[Incitatus]

16. Yes, I know this for a fact.

The roof of a modern car can hold a 170 lb person when it is traveling at 60 mph. I used to do some dumb shit.