FrontRunner Slimline II roof rack installation on WK2

[drcoopster]

I'm installing the Front Runner roof rack on my 2014 WK2. The same kit is used for all WK2 models. I ordered it from Front Runner Outfitters and it arrived to me in Texas three days later via FedEx. Although they advertise free shipping for the roof rack kits, I added a few small accessories (RTT mount kit, spot light mount kits) which bumped the shipping up to around $40 even though they fit them into the roof rack box.

Boxes have arrived!

The WK2-specific roof rails and associated hardware were in the long thin box.

The rack kit and a few accessories that I ordered were in the larger box.

I laid the parts out on the floor, upside-down since most of the hardware is installed from the bottom.

I attached the side rails. Everything went together pretty easily but the last slat needed a few light taps of the mallet to get into position.

I attached the corners.

Wind deflector on.

The wind deflector is made up of two pieces, and goes on the bottom of the rack.

It's easy to mount and there are some rubber pads that should prevent the deflector from vibrating against the rack itself.

Note: read the vehicle-specific instructions before beginning to assemble the rack. I had to remove and reinstall the wind deflector to put some bolts in the slots for mounting to the vehicle. Not that it cost me much time, but it's nice to not have to undo and redo things.

Overhead view of the WK2 in my driveway with the factory rails. These will be completely removed and replaced with the Front Runner rails.

Stay tuned...

 

[proper4wd]

I really like my WK2. I just wish I had the foresight to get the QTII option instead of the single speed case

Now, with Front Runner making a rack and ARB having a really nice bar, she would meet all of my needs!

Sadly now she has been reassigned to winter car duty for the girlfriend and has been replaced with a new Xterra. I will be following your WK2 project though!

 

[drcoopster]

I removed the driver side OEM roof rail. The instructions said 6 bolts on each side, but on my 2014 WK2 there were only 4 per side. The black plastic on the ends clips onto the standoffs rather than bolts to them.

I mounted the driver side Front Runner roof rail. This part was easy. There are six bolts that hold each Front Runner rail to the roof using the factory mounting points.

Here you can see the height difference. When just the rail is mounted, it feels a little flimsy, but everything stiffens way up when the rack is bolted on.

The Front Runner rails come with some little foam donuts to slip over the factory standoffs. They don't provide any support; the rails mount very firmly to the factory standoffs.

Here's another closeup of the mounting points. While the rack is made of extruded aluminum, the rails are made of steel and are nicely powder coated.

Here you can see the six mounting points. There's a lot of overhang past the front mounting point but it seems to be well-supported.

I mounted the passenger side roof rail. Make them snug, but don't fully tighten down the bolts on the passenger side yet.

It took a lot of tapping and measuring to make sure everything was aligned properly when the rack was installed. It's all good, just take your time. Here's the final product. The rack is roughly 4 feet wide and 5 feet long.

The wind deflector is close to the sunroof, but there is still enough clearance for the sunroof in the "vent" position. I rarely have the sunroof in the vent position, so I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

There's plenty of clearance for the XM antenna.

For height comparison, I have the WK2 with the air suspension lowered to the "park" height next to an LR3 at standard height. They're roughly the same, so it'll easily fit in my garage (standard 7' door height) with nothing on the rack, even at normal height.

All said, I think that this is a great piece of kit. :friday:

If anyone has questions or wants any detailed photos, post up and I'll see what I can do.

 

[Terex]

Thanks for the write-up and photos. I have their rack on my JKR and it was a fairly time consuming and fiddley install in comparison. I'll probably go with the FrontRunner on my GC at some point so I can interchange the mounting bits for extra equipment. Their stainless steel table is great. The first mod on my Overland Diesel will be the DEF module armor plate, then either the roof rack or rock sliders, and then the ARB bumper and Warn winch if I go all the way.

 

[drcoopster]

Thanks for the write-up and photos. I have their rack on my JKR and it was a fairly time consuming and fiddley install in comparison. I'll probably go with the FrontRunner on my GC at some point so I can interchange the mounting bits for extra equipment. Their stainless steel table is great. The first mod on my Overland Diesel will be the DEF module armor plate, then either the roof rack or rock sliders, and then the ARB bumper and Warn winch if I go all the way.

Be aware that the table probably won't fit under the rack from the rear because of the antenna.

 

[drcoopster]

So without the wind deflector I'm getting some horrific resonant buzzing at about 45mph and up. I will go through and loosen and tighten everything to relieve any tension in the metal and see if that helps. If not, the wind deflector will go back on for now and I'll pull the sunroof fuse if necessary to make sure that they don't inadvertantly make contact.

 

[drcoopster]

I put the wind deflector back on. I also verified that it actually does still have enough clearance when it's in the vent position. Since I rarely use it like that, I'm just going to leave it as-is. I also reseated some of the bolts that were a little bit suspect, so I'll check it out on the road tomorrow and see if that along with the wind deflector helped with the buzzing.

 

[epiccosmo]

I put the wind deflector back on. I also verified that it actually does still have enough clearance when it's in the vent position. Since I rarely use it like that, I'm just going to leave it as-is. I also reseated some of the bolts that were a little bit suspect, so I'll check it out on the road tomorrow and see if that along with the wind deflector helped with the buzzing.

First off, great write-up on the install!! Pictures are the best I have seen. The rack does sit a little higher off the vehicle than what I would like it to. Are you going to install the gobi ladder to help with loading and unloading? (see if I can get you to be the guinea pig for that as well!)

Okay, so the sunroof is still fully functional with the rack and the wind deflector on, correct?

How much noise does this add to highway driving?

After a week or two please post back on the mileage impact. I really like getting my 29 mpg and don't want to give up too much from that number. :ylsmoke:

 

[drcoopster]

First off, great write-up on the install!! Pictures are the best I have seen. The rack does sit a little higher off the vehicle than what I would like it to. Are you going to install the gobi ladder to help with loading and unloading? (see if I can get you to be the guinea pig for that as well!)

Okay, so the sunroof is still fully functional with the rack and the wind deflector on, correct?

How much noise does this add to highway driving?

After a week or two please post back on the mileage impact. I really like getting my 29 mpg and don't want to give up too much from that number. :ylsmoke:

The rack is about as low as it can possibly be and still clear the open sunroof and XM antenna by a reasonable margin. The load floor of the rack is about an inch below the height of the perimeter extrusions. The front 4ft of the rack will carry a RTT, and the remaining foot or so in the rear will be for gear or gas for the bike. I'm about 6' tall with long arms; when the air suspension is in the lowest setting I can easily reach what I need to reach, so no ladder on the radar at this time.

The sunroof is fully functional, however, in the vent position it has less than the 15mm of clearance recommended by Front Runner. I wouldn't run the sunroof in the vent position while moving if the rack was loaded because all it would take is a little bit of flex before the metal wind deflector makes contact with the sunroof glass. (That said, the rack is quite stiff. I would have no qualms about standing on it.) With the sunroof closed or open all the way, I wouldn't worry.

With the sunroof open, it is of course very noisy, but with everything closed up it's pretty quiet. There's a wooshing noise, of course, but no howling or singing or whistling like you get with some unfaired roof bars--the factory load bars on my LR3 were more annoying. My perception is that AT tires add more noise than the roof rack when everything is buttoned up.

Fuel economy TBD. My initial driving with it shows about a 10% increase in fuel consumption: I got about 26mpg for a loop that I usually get closer to 29mpg on. I keep track of every tank so we'll see how that plays out over time.

 

[Terex]

Be aware that the table probably won't fit under the rack from the rear because of the antenna.

Understand. Would be looking at side slide somehow. Table is a problem with my two door JK also. Found out that freedom top panels can't be removed with table brackets and wind deflector in place. Thinking of installing quick disconnect for the deflector, or fabbing a flexible wind deflector. And yes, noise is terrible on the JK without deflector too. It also helps to fill slots on front couple of slats to reduce wind noise.

BTW, mileage on my JKR didn't drop with the rack. Really surprising. I still get around 20 mpg combined.

 

[drcoopster]

I'm not sure it's possible to actually hurt the aerodynamics of a Wrangler.

 

[drcoopster]

It's worth noting that even though the rack sold by Front Runner for the WK2 is 4ft by 5ft, the way that their racks mount mean that a larger (wider and/or longer) rack could fit as long as you had the vehicle-specific roof rails.

 

[Terex]

I'm not sure it's possible to actually hurt the aerodynamics of a Wrangler.

My poor, little, yellow brick.

 

[drcoopster]

Fuel economy TBD. My initial driving with it shows about a 10% increase in fuel consumption: I got about 26mpg for a loop that I usually get closer to 29mpg on. I keep track of every tank so we'll see how that plays out over time.

I'm seeing a drop down to ~25mpg for the last few tanks from an average of ~27mpg before that.

EDIT: the graph above can be a little bit deceiving since it starts on an abnormally high tank (lots of 55mph through central Oregon). Here's the whole chart of every tank since new:

The abnormally low tank from late September is from doing 80mph across I-40 in west Texas and New Mexico with a stiff headwind and a trailer. :smiley_drive:

 

[SSF556]

Is this an ecodiesel? If so you will see a drop in mpg because of winter grade fuel.