Gobi rack experience

[The Raven]

Hey Folks,
Just thought I would give a quick first impression of my gobi Recon rack.

Good-
Great quality rack, well put together with quality hardware and great fit
Lots of instructions
Well packaged
Not obtrusive and no wind noise
Solid enough to stand on
Easy to mount with all the supplied hardware. Only factory bolt that was used was one bumper nut.

Bad-
-Screwed up my shipping info and instead of getting in touch waited an addition 2 weeks to ship until I contacted them and the retail distributor..TRAILDUTY
-Pinches rear body panel on install may cause rust in the future
- Gobi customer service is abysmal as I also ordered quick connects as well but did not receive. they will not respond. TRAILDUTY is doing the same thing
-Instructions leave some stuff out, and leave you scratching your head at times.
- one part involves leaving the top part of the rack vertically on a 41" table while attaching the hardware to the rear. Not possible alone so I simply just put the rack on the roof and attached it from there...much simpler.
- Will be fun to lose the hardtop in the spring with the rack in the way.

 

[X-plorenow]

Good feedback, thanks! These are the little things that we don't always hear!

 

[greater mn]

Hey Folks,
Just thought I would give a quick first impression of my gobi Recon rack.

Good-
Great quality rack, well put together with quality hardware and great fit
Lots of instructions
Well packaged
Not obtrusive and no wind noise
Solid enough to stand on
Easy to mount with all the supplied hardware. Only factory bolt that was used was one bumper nut.

Bad-
-Screwed up my shipping info and instead of getting in touch waited an addition 2 weeks to ship until I contacted them and the retail distributor..TRAILDUTY
-Pinches rear body panel on install may cause rust in the future
- Gobi customer service is abysmal as I also ordered quick connects as well but did not receive. they will not respond. TRAILDUTY is doing the same thing
-Instructions leave some stuff out, and leave you scratching your head at times.
- one part involves leaving the top part of the rack vertically on a 41" table while attaching the hardware to the rear. Not possible alone so I simply just put the rack on the roof and attached it from there...much simpler.
- Will be fun to lose the hardtop in the spring with the rack in the way.

I've had the Gobi since May... and had heard about delays in shipping and missing parts. I ordered mine in early May for Northridge 4x4... it was delivered a week later. Might not be the norm... but didn't have any issues there.

Totally hear you on the hardtop. Took the top off by tilting the rack back as suggested... what a pain. My solution was to rig up a hoist in the garage (much like the ones folks use to pull their hardtops off) and simply disconnect the rack from the front light bar and the hinge posts then take the rack completely off. Once you set up the hoist system (which takes some time obviously), you'll be far better off taking the rack off when you want to take off or put on your hardtop.

 

[sbly]

The Gobi was rock solid during our trip to the Arctic Ocean.

 

[bluehash]

Thanks for the review.. I think they have a deal right now. I might order mine from northridge as they have good customer service. How about wind noise? and gas mileage
Also what accessories did you order with it?

 

[The Raven]

Got it with the ladder and wind deflector. Also ordered the quick disconnects....but they have yet to arrive. Would love to get a couple other things for it....but the CS and time delay kind of kill the deal for me.

Wind noise is non-existent. Can't comment on gas mileage yet.

One thing
I have noticed is the antenna hits the rack....very annoying.

 

[Vince1]

I've had a Gobi for a couple years now. It robs about 2 MPG on average. Not much wind noise, but some at highway speed...make sure you have the fairing installed correctly.
I don't use the quick disconnects. I have dual ladders and highly recommend them. Other accessory I have is the sunroof insert. I mounted some Rotopaks on it for trips, but mostly it sits stored in the garage. Some rust on the flat part of one of the ladders....looks like bad powder coat. Rest of rack is fine, but this summer I ordered a kit from them that replaces all the wear bushings and pads. I installed four 6" LED light bars in front and two 4" bars in the rear, all wired through the tubing (rear with waterproof disconnect). When camping I mount and ARB RTT and awning to it and it is very stable. In winter I mount a Yakima ski rack and it works well. I highly recommend adding some rock rails that you can stand on (I use the ACE ones) as it makes side rack access much easier.

 

[bluehash]

Thanks!
Vince1, what gears do you have?

 

[Vince1]

Right now, I'm running 4:88s with 35" tires, but with a 5.7L hemi and 545fre trans, so YMMV.

 

[dstock]

I've had the Gobi since May... and had heard about delays in shipping and missing parts. I ordered mine in early May for Northridge 4x4... it was delivered a week later. Might not be the norm... but didn't have any issues there.

Totally hear you on the hardtop. Took the top off by tilting the rack back as suggested... what a pain. My solution was to rig up a hoist in the garage (much like the ones folks use to pull their hardtops off) and simply disconnect the rack from the front light bar and the hinge posts then take the rack completely off. Once you set up the hoist system (which takes some time obviously), you'll be far better off taking the rack off when you want to take off or put on your hardtop.

I have a hoist for my hard top and so I did the same thing when I took off the Gobi rack and just used the hoist, piece of cake!

Surprised at the OP's experience with TrailDuty, I found them to be super helpful in dealing with Gobi as it took 8 weeks to get mine. For sure Gobi could use some help in the customer service department, but I have zero complaints with TrailDuty, they were outstanding in my opinion.

 

[The Raven]

Yeah,Trailduty has been helpful but have had to stay on them. They were supposed to contact Gobi today....but have yet to hear from them....for as much as I paid they should not be so laid back about my order.....

...off to send another email to them....."sigh"

 

[dstock]

Yeah,Trailduty has been helpful but have had to stay on them. They were supposed to contact Gobi today....but have yet to hear from them....for as much as I paid they should not be so laid back about my order.....

...off to send another email to them....."sigh"

Sorry to hear that, any of my inquires had quick responses from Trailduty, but they also mentioned they were having a tough time getting info from Gobi.

I called Gobi direct a couple of times and got varying answers as to ship dates. A friend of mine ordered some accessories direct from Gobi and after a month of "we are shipping it out tomorrow" he called to cancel his order. Lo and behold his parts shipped that very day.

Don't get me wrong, love my Gobi, super solid, very happy with it. I guess I can say it's worth the wait!

Good luck, hope your issues are resolved soon.

 

[slvyj]

I've had no problems at all with Gobi. Because I live local, they even installed my rack for free, plus I saved on shipping. It did take 6-8 weeks to order but I was told that up front when I placed the order.

 

[bluehash]

Right now, I'm running 4:88s with 35" tires, but with a 5.7L hemi and 545fre trans, so YMMV.

Thanks!