FrontRunner Slimline II roof rack installation on WK2

[drcoopster]

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

Yes, it's an EcoDiesel. But I don't believe that we get winter diesel here in the DFW area; even in the dead of "winter" our average overnight lows are well above freezing. :sombrero:

 

[SSF556]

Even in Dallas you could see winter blend diesel fuel, especially when some of the refineries are sending diesel fuel north via pipelines that originate in TX or LA. Winter blend diesel is probably getting distributed at this point. I generally see a 2 mpg drop during winter in my WK CRD and I am in SC.

 

[drcoopster]

Even in Dallas you could see winter blend diesel fuel, especially when some of the refineries are sending diesel fuel north via pipelines that originate in TX or LA. Winter blend diesel is probably getting distributed at this point. I generally see a 2 mpg drop during winter in my WK CRD and I am in SC.

I'm sure it's possible, but I haven't seen any significant drop with the season in past years that I've been running a diesel here. The obvious answer is that the roof rack adds drag.

Although we're in an abnormal cold snap at the moment, it was still summer until about 2 days ago.

 

[PDragon]

Great work on the Slimline!
A couple of questions, if you don't mind:

1. If clearance wasn't an issue, do you think the table would fit under the rack?
2. With an appropiate mounting kit, do you think the size of your slimline II would work for the GC WK?

Thanks

 

[drcoopster]

1. If clearance wasn't an issue, do you think the table would fit under the rack?

A table would be hard to fit under the rack on the WK2 because of the shark fin style XM antenna. If that weren't there, then there'd be plenty of room as long as you keep it behind the front portion of the sunroof or remember not to open the sunroof in the vent position.

2. With an appropiate mounting kit, do you think the size of your slimline II would work for the GC WK?

I would expect that the size would be fine; this one is roughly 4 feet wide and 5 feet long. In fact, you could probably go with something up to a foot longer (such as FrontRunner part RRSTD09, which is a Slimline II tray roughly 4 feet wide and 6 feet long) if your mounting method would support it. The vehicle mounts mount to the bottom of the rack using the T-slots in the planks in the same way that accessories mount to the top of the planks.

 

[Terex]

A table would be hard to fit under the rack on the WK2 because of the shark fin style XM antenna. If that weren't there, then there'd be plenty of room as long as you keep it behind the front portion of the sunroof or remember not to open the sunroof in the vent position.

Pretty sure you can mount table from the side.

 

[Terex]

A table would be hard to fit under the rack on the WK2 because of the shark fin style XM antenna. If that weren't there, then there'd be plenty of room as long as you keep it behind the front portion of the sunroof or remember not to open the sunroof in the vent position.

Pretty sure you can mount table from the side. Edit: Never mind, just went back and looked at your pictures. I think the table can be mounted in a transverse position on Wranglers. Mine is back mounted on my JKR 2-door, but would probably fit under front of rack with side exit.

Again, thanks for posting info. Still thinking about whether or not I'll put one on my Overland.

 

[drcoopster]

Pretty sure you can mount table from the side. Edit: Never mind, just went back and looked at your pictures. I think the table can be mounted in a transverse position on Wranglers. Mine is back mounted on my JKR 2-door, but would probably fit under front of rack with side exit.

Some of the mounting arrangements allow it (like most of the gutter mount variations), others don't. Depending how large and thick the table is, you might be able to do it from the side on the WK2. The opening on each side would fit a flat object 29 inches wide and 1.5 inches tall—I just measured it.

 

[PDragon]

Thanks!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[drcoopster]

I had two road trips over the past two months: one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. I removed the roof rack for the Christmas trip to see what kind of effect it had on highway fuel mileage. Both trips were all highway driving to mid-Atlantic east coast states and of similar mileage. I record every fill-up on Fuelly so it's easy to see the data:

Fuel economy was decreased by 20% with the roof rack on. I'll be keeping the roof rack off from now on unless I'm actually using it. Don't get me wrong, it's a great rack and I really like it, but there's no sense having it mounted if it's empty.

 

[SSF556]

yea....roof racks look cool, but for the most part they are a economic liability....especially for highway travel

 

[macrophyllum]

Some of the mounting arrangements allow it (like most of the gutter mount variations), others don't. Depending how large and thick the table is, you might be able to do it from the side on the WK2. The opening on each side would fit a flat object 29 inches wide and 1.5 inches tall—I just measured it.

I have the same rack on my WK2 Diesel. I talked with the Front Runner folks a lot before buying it and they seemed to think installing their table on the side would work. I'm still wondering if someone will guinea pig the Gobi rear ladder with the Frontrunner Slimline II rack on the WK2 :bowdown:

 

[kojackJKU]

That is the reason I am going with the teraflex nebo on my JK, No cross bars unless needed, no loss in gas milage...and yes, its is possible to make a wrangler worse aerodynamically. ha ha. The other good thing with the tf rack, is that where I have 4 vehicles with racks, I can use one set of attachements for everything.

roof racks KILL milage, so if not needed take em off.