Roof Rack Time

[jh.]

Well, for those of you that are going to The Overland Expo this year, The whole front runner crew will be there. They just confirmed that they will be there and will be bringing 3 of their trucks to the expo.

Anyone else going to OX13 this year?

Unfortunately no...a family wedding barely takes precedence. Would love to see them in person...

 

[Juddy]

Those new flat pack Frontrunner racks are a direct copy of the long running Patriot design.....

 

[Colin Hughes]

I went to install my Maggiolina Extreme on my relatively new FR rack this week. It doesn't fit! Too long by a couple of inches. I had all the measurements before purchase and it should have fit. Too much jury rigging will be required to get it to work and I don't feel comfortable that the results will allow it to mount properly. Disappointing. I've gone back to my Thule bars and will get L brackets for the awning. FR is up for sale.

 

[FRBlake]

I went to install my Maggiolina Extreme on my relatively new FR rack this week. It doesn't fit! Too long by a couple of inches. I had all the measurements before purchase and it should have fit. Too much jury rigging will be required to get it to work and I don't feel comfortable that the results will allow it to mount properly. Disappointing. I've gone back to my Thule bars and will get L brackets for the awning. FR is up for sale.

Have you tried removing the side profiles and using just 2 slats like load bars on a couple of the feet. It's really simple and can work as a fix when you are using the tent....

 

[Colin Hughes]

The idea was to have a rack that could hold the awning, tent, etc and having to take it apart and put it back together just to use the tent is a waste of time. I wanted to set it up then put a lift in my garage to take it on and off as needed, that way I didn't have to worry about fuel costs for my daily commute. I have Thule load bars and the tent is on those now as I'm heading out camping this week-end. I'll get a couple of L-brackets for the awning and drill a couple of holes in the Thule bar to securely mount them and that will work to hold it. I've got the rack up for sale locally at $650 and will likely post it here when I have a chance.

 

[FRBlake]

The idea was to have a rack that could hold the awning, tent, etc and having to take it apart and put it back together just to use the tent is a waste of time. I wanted to set it up then put a lift in my garage to take it on and off as needed, that way I didn't have to worry about fuel costs for my daily commute. I have Thule load bars and the tent is on those now as I'm heading out camping this week-end. I'll get a couple of L-brackets for the awning and drill a couple of holes in the Thule bar to securely mount them and that will work to hold it. I've got the rack up for sale locally at $650 and will likely post it here when I have a chance.

That's a bummer. How much wider is the tent than the rack?? Or was it a length issue??

 

[RangeBrover]

Sorry to hear about your predicament, the Front Runner and the Baja Rack are still the best options though. The Voyager racks are crap, I almost ordered one till my wheeling buddy bought one for his LR3. It was overly heavy and the powder coating job was crap, I wouldn't go near them.

 

[Colin Hughes]

@ blakemoo - it is a length issue, width is no problem. The tent is about 1.5" too long and needs to sit on the lip at one end. Because the Maggiolina brackets need to drop down to open, and they are right against a slat or rear rail, they won't open. To make it work, I'd need to cut the front and rear rails and into the slats as well.
Funny thing, I drove the Disco with the roof rack on for a few days, mileage wasn't too good. Pulled the rack off, put the Maggiolina on with the Thule bars and my last tank of diesel averaged 27 mpg (imperial).

 

[jh.]

Sorry to hear about your predicament, the Front Runner and the Baja Rack are still the best options though. The Voyager racks are crap, I almost ordered one till my wheeling buddy bought one for his LR3. It was overly heavy and the powder coating job was crap, I wouldn't go near them.

Thanks...that's what I needed to know.

 

[mrwizard]

The classic look of a full basket rack is awesome, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on cost. I picked up four Thule high mount cross bars and loved every second of it. Well worth it. Bikes, tent, gear...did everything I needed it to do. I thought about getting a Thule basket for the front, but we sold the Disco late last fall before I got to it. Now I just have four cross bars...sad day. At the very least, the bars are transferrable to the next expo rig. Also, without any gear loaded I only calculated a .5 mpg loss, which made it easy to leave them on full-time.

 

[yubert]

Thanks...that's what I needed to know.

If you want to know even more, Google "NWP Rover Racks".

It seems Voyager Racks has had 3 name changes in the past 6 or so years. They were first known as NWP (North West Products) and had a bad reputation for shoddy welds and powder coating. Then they moved to Florida and for a fresh start, changed their name to Rover Racks. And I suppose the new name change is so they're not limiting themselves to just Land Rovers or for another restart.

 

[jcb-memphis]

I had the BajaRack on my Disco II.

Awesome product.

+1


Their ladder is nice, but needs to be tightened every now and then.

2002 d2

 

[jh.]

Think I've settled on the Baja Rack. Is there an appreciable difference between the standard and roof top tent models (other than the $50)? Is one more flat than the other? I'd prefer to not have the large dip in the front but am also not going to go with an RTT. Thanks!

 

[Fivespddisco]

Think I've settled on the Baja Rack. Is there an appreciable difference between the standard and roof top tent models (other than the $50)? Is one more flat than the other? I'd prefer to not have the large dip in the front but am also not going to go with an RTT. Thanks!

The rooftop tent version has the cutouts on the side to make installing the tent easy.Besides that are identical. If you're not using the rooftop tent I would get the standard model.

 

[jh.]

The rooftop tent version has the cutouts on the side to make installing the tent easy.Besides that are identical. If you're not using the rooftop tent I would get the standard model.

Thanks!