JKU Rhino Pioneer Rack system?

[zimm17]

I finally have a house with a 8' garage door and looking at expedition racks to hold a solar panel, traction boards, starlink, and roto-pax. The JK pioneer kit looks pretty good. Any one with first hand experience? Or should I look at something else?

I'm looking at the Rhino Rack Pioneer 5 platform with backbone system. $800 for everything. Looks like it'll do the job. They also have the newer Pioneer 6 platform for a total of $2100. That's a huge difference.

 

[406to417]

I had the AEV version. It was a sturdy son of a gun.

 

[zimm17]

I had the AEV version. It was a sturdy son of a gun.

That's just a rebranded Rhino right?

 

[406to417]

That's just a rebranded Rhino right?

From my understanding the only thing different is the mounting. The AEV version mounted directly to the roll bar.

 

[Rubiconx1]

I added a rack to my JK to carry more gear on trails like the Rubicon and MPG went down by 5mpg. Took it off and it now sits in the second floor of my shop until I get motivated to modify it and install it on my 47 cj2a truck conversion I built years ago.

However, I still needed to carry more gear for overlanding, so took a different approach:

1. I removed all of the seats in my Rubicon 4 door
2. replaced the front seats with PRP because I needed the front seats to fold all the way forward to the dash…the stock seats would not.
3. built a flat platform with a steel frame and 3/4 plywood in the rear of the jeep with with storage doors in the front and rear to access the storage under the platform. I carpeted each section of the platform so it looked factory
4. I made a 3 piece mattress using 4 inch medium density foam for the rear of the jeep. Individual pieces are easier to stack than a roll.
5. Front Side stasher bags on the sides over the fender wells, and rear side stasher bags in the rear over the fender wells. These things hold a lot of gear.
6. 33 inch aluminum box over the rear tire to store recover gear, 4 piece shovel and small Rigid chainsaw. Box is even with the rear of the hard top
7. Two Rotopax water and two Rotopax 3 gallon gas tanks on each side of the spare tire on side racks I built.

The above changes converted my jeep into an overland rig with sleeping inside and storage under the platform. Added things like nesting bowls and pans to save room, compact stove and gear is stored in plastic boxes for easy stacking inside the jeep. I have room for a portapotty (and shower tent for privacy for wife) and fridge with everything packed in the jeep. I also carry an easy up shade in case of weather.

This setup provides for multiple day overlanding in the jeep without the overlanding trailer (now sold) or roof racks, and maintains my 19mpg on the highway.

 

[zimm17]

Interesting chain of events there. I just got back from a week overlanding (Kentucky Adventure Trail) in 20 degree temps. I slept inside on the right while my fridge and gear were on the left. I fit just fine. What was bothering me was having to put the starlink up on the roof to get a good signal. Also I have traction boards, but no place to mount them, same with rotopax.

The gear that "lives" in my sleeping area gets stuffed under the Jeep at night in water proof plastic bins.

I only get 13mpg (37x13.5 tires) and 4.88 gears. I never go past 72mph so I wonder what the MPG hit would be. The Pioneer seems to be pretty low profile.

But now I'm thinking about ditching the solar idea and using a DC-DC charger for the ecoflow. Since I drive most of every day I'm out, charging will be more reliable than trying to use solar. Maybe I don't need a rack if I can solve the star link issue.

 

[Rubiconx1]

Interesting chain of events there. I just got back from a week overlanding (Kentucky Adventure Trail) in 20 degree temps. I slept inside on the right while my fridge and gear were on the left. I fit just fine. What was bothering me was having to put the starlink up on the roof to get a good signal. Also I have traction boards, but no place to mount them, same with rotopax.

The gear that "lives" in my sleeping area gets stuffed under the Jeep at night in water proof plastic bins.

I only get 13mpg (37x13.5 tires) and 4.88 gears. I never go past 72mph so I wonder what the MPG hit would be. The Pioneer seems to be pretty low profile.

But now I'm thinking about ditching the solar idea and using a DC-DC charger for the ecoflow. Since I drive most of every day I'm out, charging will be more reliable than trying to use solar. Maybe I don't need a rack if I can solve the star link issue.

Agree, our gear sleeps outside while we sleep in the jeep. We have waterproof totes, so nothing gets wet.

Like you, I also have 37 inch tires, but kept the 4.10 gears and manual transmission so still get great mileage. I swapped the gears in my sons Gladiator to 5.38 a couple of months ago to improved towing, and his mpg declined in the range of your mpg. Since I can do the gear swap myself, it’s not a lot of money, and I’ve thought about the swap in my jeep, but want to keep my mpg at 19.

we use a Bluetti power supply to power things when we are camping and just charge it with the jeep while driving. Like you, I thought about solar on the jeep (we have solar on our motorhome for boondocking), but the Bluetti has done the trick for the jeep so no need. When I was thinking about solar, I was going to use smaller panels and attach them to the inside of the jeep using aimed through the rear windows. I would lose some performance through the window, but it would have been worth testing the performance for low cost.

 

[Jupiter58]

I made a similar set up as rubiconx1.
Plenty of room for 1 with my fridge inside and have plenty of storage. I kept the stock front seats. If I was traveling with the wife I would put the fridge inside the front seat for the night.
I also found a 13 gallon rv water tank that fits perfectly in the rear passenger footwell and have a 12v pump tubed in.

I am not sure what you will be putting on the roof rack? A tent?

 

[zimm17]

I am not sure what you will be putting on the roof rack? A tent?

It was in my initial post. Now I probably won't even do the solar panel.

...looking at expedition racks to hold a solar panel, traction boards, starlink, and roto-pax.

 

[Jupiter58]

It was in my initial post. Now I probably won't even do the solar panel.

Ahhh, thanks! I saw some interesting designs on Amazon. This one has ladder sides and mounts in the gutters on the front and under the roof in the rear.

https://a.co/d/8SAeAsj

The one I have (just the mounts) uses the rear lift window brackets to mount in the rear. Perfect for mounting my rear awning.