Anyone installed a Frontrunner Rack or pulled their headliner?

[leftcoastal]

Got a 2006 HSE and getting a Frontrunner Slimline II rack. Has anyone tackled this install or pulled the headliner? I've got RAVE on an old computer that recently died ugh. Also didn't see anything in the search or YouTube.

From what I gather you pull the tracks, dry fit the rack, drill the six mount points, lay down the gasket,and mount with Frontrunner hardware.

Am I relying on the gasket or to use a polyurethane sealant after mounting?

 

[nwoods]

What I did was mount the rack to a Thule load bar system. It was super easy. The Thule pylons came with these little rectangles of metal that fit in the U-shaped channel of the roof channel, and then you turned them so that they clamped tight against the edges and flanges of the U-shaped channel, and there were hex keyed set screws that held the pylon tower to the metal wedge clamp thingie. Occasionally those set screws would loosen up (I'm looking at you Death Valley washboard!) but a few turns of a hex key wrench and we were back in business. I just used a U-bracket to clamp the rack to the load bars. Hardest part was trimming the 50" load bars down to fit under and within the footprint of the rack.

No fussing with the roof liner on the interior!

Tip! Make sure the roof channel is securely tightened down. I think I removed the fasteners and reset them with red locktite and torqued them down good and tight.

Not an exact photo, but close enough

 

[leftcoastal]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I was considering going with the factory LR rack to mount the FR but didn't want the added height and would like to add more weight.

What year rover so you have? Do you have the 6 mounting points? Did they not lineup?

 

[GBGCR4x4]

I'd reach out to Front Runner directly. They have lot's of install videos that could prhaps help you! Their customer service is great. I have a slimlinee and installed myself, but it's a gutter mount..

 

[Errant]

An '06 LR3? And are you using the FrontRunner side rails? If so, there is nothing to drill other than the ditch moulding.

 

[SkiWill]

I did it with an LR4 and usually the LR3 is pretty similar. I second calling Frontrunner as they have very good customer service. I did not have to drill any holes in the roof. The side rails mount under the existing moldings. What the directions will not say is that you need to soak those 15 year old bolts under or attaching the roof rails in a lot of penetrating oil and be ready to cut the heats into a square shape so you can get a square drive socket on them. The Allen/hex key in the middle of the bolt rounds out very easily. I think it took me 3x as long getting the old bolts out as it did to install the rack, which, by comparison, was very easy. Also, the wind fairing available for the LR3/LR4 make the rack much quieter. The one that came with the rack was fairly useless in my experience, but your experience may be different.

 

[DiscoDavis]

I have the front runner rack rails not the deck and when I pulled the rails off it looked like it was all using the factory bolt holes. They are in the place of the existing LR roof rack rails.

 

[nwoods]

My LR3 was an 2005, and I had factory rails/gutters that my Thule pylons clamped onto. No drilling, no removal of the bolts that anchor the rail to the roof, although I did have to tighten my bolts periodically.

 

[leftcoastal]

I've got a Range Rover HSE L322

Got the rack today. The rail system got bent in transit I think as two ends are dog eared with metal coming through (or are they crimped on one end?). I dry fit the rail system anyhow. The mounting bolts just fall into the threaded roof mounting points, undersized ugh. They looked rather weak so I will get some 304 stainless bolts.

Tried calling Front Runner and no one is there to pickup?? I suspect the big washers and bolt drill through design is to lessen liability for them?

I did reach out to Lucky 8 and they sent me their directions. Looks like the rail mount is universal and needs to be marked up and drilled.

With the drill through washer design I'm a bit curious as to the load capacity with this rack as it's not advertised on their site. Anyone know? What's the LR3/4?

 

[leftcoastal]

Dog eared corners

 

[leftcoastal]

Since i have some LR enthusiasts in the thread. Is anyone running a light bar? I've got a 40"er that I plan to put under this rack and haven't sorted out where to run the wiring. How are you guys doing it if so and what kind of switch?

 

[A.J.M]

When I fitted a FR full length to my D3.
I removed the factory roof rails bits and drilled 2 holes in the front black strips that run from the windscreen to the panoramic roof.

the FR rack sits on the foot rails which bolt onto the holes in the roof for the rails.

fit each foot rail then with help lift the tray up and fit on top.

I would suggest you use copper grease to stop rust on the bolts in case you need to remove in the future.

 

[leftcoastal]

When I fitted a FR full length to my D3.
I removed the factory roof rails bits and drilled 2 holes in the front black strips that run from the windscreen to the panoramic roof.

the FR rack sits on the foot rails which bolt onto the holes in the roof for the rails.

fit each foot rail then with help lift the tray up and fit on top.

I would suggest you use copper grease to stop rust on the bolts in case you need to remove in the future.

Thanks that makes sense.

Do you know the load capacity for your D3?

 

[NorthwestDriver]

Good reading on load capacity:

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Load capacity on roof rack

Community site dedicated to Discovery 3, 4 LR3 and LR4 Owners and Enthusiasts. Totally free to join - message boards, galleries, wiki, off road events, social meetings.

www.disco3.co.uk

Land Rover suggests 75kg/165lb for dynamic loading. You can decide for yourself.

Personally, as much body roll as this thing has at highway speeds while unladen, I prefer to put load as low as possible.

 

[A.J.M]

LR will state the roof load is 75kg.
FR say the rack can take 300kg.

I’ve had more than 75kg on it and didn’t feel like it was going to fall over.

but then I have a fully working air suspension set up which helps keep the ride planted.
My rear upper suspension arms were replaced only 14,000 miles ago with genuine parts so it’s sorted that side.