goatherder

That's right, I got 3 of these things. Got the first one for my stepson. 91 Laredo. Got him a steel front bumper from Logans for Xmas last year. After installing that, his Jeep looked so good I got green with envy. So I bought a 97 for myself, and plan to build it up as an overland vehicle.

A few weeks ago I was driving around the neighborhood and ran across a damn-near-mint 2000 with 120k. One owner. So I bought it for my daughter as a grad present. Added a new set of Toyo AT's, filled it with Mobil 1 and she's off to the races. How could you possibly get any more car for 5 grand?

So my 1997 is just a white XJ with no frills. It doesn't even have a factory roof rack. I want to add a real roof rack for overland use...and not spend a sh!tload of cash on it...so ARB's and the like are out. There are lower priced racks available but they all seem to mount to the factory roof rack (which I don't have)

What do you guys suggest?

andrewmp6

Have you seen http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJRK-A.html or http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJRK-P.html

goatherder

Pretty nice. Not cheap, but nice. No mesh bottom though...which I think would be an asset.

I wonder if the gutter mounts can be installed so as to keep the paint (aka anti-rust coating) intact.

andrewmp6

Only other one i found http://www.rocky-road.com/cherokee-roof-rack.html but its priced about the same as the jcr offroad ones tho.

SteveMongr

Nates4x4.com
Full size rack 72" x 48" x 4" with gutter mounts
$300 delivered, bare steel.
Center section can be removed for 48" x 48"
Always in stock, ready to ship.

exjay1027

They made Laredo xjs?

goatherder

Nice.

I found another cheap solution:

http://www.prolineracks.com/car-rack-special.html

And a gutter mount cross-bar system:

http://www.prolineracks.com/spec-cartop-carriers.html

I'm thinking I could easily modify the cross bars to drop the rack down between the gutter mounts a couple of inches. (I have a TIG / Plasma setup)

SteveMongr

Yes, my 1991 XJ was a Laredo.

goatherder

I guess it needed flotation tires...

What happened? Flood? Tide? Float testing?

SeriousOffroad

Added a few this month....
http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.com/new-products

exjay1027

no that's the marine package

never knew that sry to get the thread off topic

macgyver35

I'm partial to my Surco 45 x 60, and I'll tell you why...

• Made in USA
• There's a limit to how much weight your roof can hold. Many agree that it's best not to go above 300 pounds or so. In that light, why have your total weight limit take a big hit with a heavy steel rack? The Surco is aluminum, so the whole things weighs about 25 pounds.
• Given how light it is, I can take the whole thing off by myself in 5 minutes using only one hex wrench.
• Being aluminum, the rack itself and the mounts won't rust, even if the finish is damaged.
• Surco sells mounts that attach to the factory "front-to-back" roof rack rails. This avoids gutter mounts which can damage the paint and rust protection. Also, I've heard too many horror stories about gutters starting to rust and cracking and breaking. One guy told the story of his whole rack coming off on a trail ride. Rotted gutters where the mounts were.
• It still holds quite a bit of weight. I've had over 300 pounds of plywood sheets stacked up there with ratchet straps and it held up just fine.
• It's flat on top, so you can haul plywood, fence panels, 2x4's, etc up there pretty easily.
• It has sides tall enough (5 inches) that once you mount many of the available LED lights, the top rail can still be above the lights so as not to interfere with the above mentioned plywood hauling. The square braces that go between the upper and lower rails make great mounting points for lights, Go Pro, or Quick Fist clamps to haul shovel/axe/jack.

Here's some pics. I've taken all my old lights off in these, and I'm waiting to put some new LED lights that I bought on there. When I go off road the QuickFist clamps hold my axe and shovel. I just bought a Go Pro mount that will go on the front center brace. I had mine for three years hauled lots and lots of home improvement stuff home from Lowes and Home Depot, and never had an issue.







bumper 4




rack1




rack2




Armor All Outlast

caged

those are nice racks.

my warrior products rack is very similar. i especially like the mounting points how you can tighten it all down.

has a hi-lift mount, shovel and axe mounts.

http://www.warriorproducts.com/wp-co...35-300x168.jpg

goatherder

Really good information guys, thanks for all of it. I will make a decision and order a rack soon. Or maybe I'll just build one.

I had an idea to build a 4' x 6' frame from 5" aluminum channel, then use 3/8" MDO plywood for the floor. (MDO is used for road signs). Make a fiberglass fairing for the front (easy) to cut the wind. About 60lbs for that but I could stand on it.

I could use 1.25" stainless angle, screwed and glued to the roof as rails to anchor it to. Then I'd not be depending on the gutters...