I need some ideas please. Idk whether i want one or not. Who has them? Whered you buy it? Whatd you make it out of? Any build threads? I know i can search but while i wait for my hard drive for my laptop i have to use my phone so its a pain to navigate with

 

It's on a WJ, and sorry for the cell phone quality, but this gives you an idea of the Rola basket I just mounted yesterday morning. I bought it from www.ecustomhitch.com for $142 shipped which was the best price by far that I've found online. The Rola gets good reviews as being a very good piece of equipment for the price you pay. It is only 4" deep v/s the typical 6", but I like the lower profile design. This was before I put on the wind screen that comes with it.

 

Ahhhh i really like that. I wish you were closer i wanna like try one out lol. I gyess for that price i could just sell it lol..... Hows it mount? I put about 300 highway miles on her a weekend how is it at 60-70mph?? Like wobbly? Or anything

 

It is currently mounted to the factory crossbars, but I plan to fab some mounts to slide it into the tracks and bypass the crossbars. It is very solid though. In this picture I have it pushed further forward than where I have it now. At first I had a lot of wind noise at just 35mph and it got worse as I went faster, but after pulling it back then I can barely hear it with that wind screen in place, and with the radio on low I can't hear it at all, but I've only had it up to 55mph so far. Not sure yet what will happen to my fuel mileage but some guys said they only lost about 1mpg with this one mounted so that would be ideal.

 

If you get a chance mind snapping a pic when you can so k can see you have it set and the windscreen. I defi.ately like it and cant go wrong for the price

 

Here's my take on the Rola roof rack/basket.

Considering it was $140 shipped (maybe $143, close nough), I am very happy. I've never had experience with a big name like Thule or Yakima to compare it against so it seems top notch to me and I don't know how it would really get any better. Well I guess that's not entirely true, the welds aren't the most beautiful I've ever seen and the powder coat did chip in a very small place when I joined the halves together. Not a big deal.

It comes in 2 pieces. They also sell an 18" extension that would fit in the middle.



Having read about the potential of it rusting from the inside out, I put a layer of clear silicone around the "male" section before joining the halves, then ran a bead in the gap after they were together. I had read about this gap from other reviewers and sure enough had the same, which is due to a messy weld. If you do this you'll want to clean it up better than this picture because it looks sloppy with the rtv smeared on the bars like this. I pulled it off and will re-do it. I've also considered putting a couple turns of electrical tape on it like another guy did.



I also put a dab of rtv in the holes you use to mount the wind screen. I read that without a load shield actually increases wind noise and decreases mpg a couple so I left it off. After driving around I'm now curious about the wind noise claim and might attach it just to see. (Since initially writing this on a different forum I've attached the wind deflector and it did a lot to reduce wind noise, so I'm pretty sure I'll leave it attached.)



The brackets that it comes with are simple enough. The only issue with them is that the bolts stick up past the floor of the basket (seen below with a piece of cardboard placed across the bars), which is not surprising being that this is a universal fit and the WJ crossbars are pretty thin in comparison to something like a Tahoe. I'll just trim them down, maybe with a Dremel. When mounting it on the factory crossbars there is really only 1 spacing that will work (2nd gap from the ends, you'll know what I'm talking about when you mount yours).



I'm not a big fan of being a billboard for someone else and this sticker was peeling so that was a simple decision to pull it off. It came right off without having to clean any gummy crud off.



Tadaaaa! All mounted up. I ran to town to get donuts for my sleeping bride and kiddos and right away I noticed the wind noise was excessive, I mean just a ridiculous deep howling noise, and that was at just 35mph. After my stop I climbed up and pulled the rack all the way back to the last stop and the noise was greatly reduced. My trip only brought me up to 45mph and with it pulled to the rear I could still hear it with the radio off although nowhere near as intrusive as before, but with the radio on low I had to listen for it to really notice. Not sure what 55+ will sound like (can now confirm that with the wind deflector in place and the rack pulled further back that 60 mph is no problem and I don't really hear it). One other thing to consider is that I'm currently riding on the crappy street tires that came under the JK so I have no road noise whatsoever. I'll be going to a good AT soon so it might all balance out.



Later I wrote...

I attached the wind deflector and it made it much more quiet, and I also pushed the bars forward one setting and it is no louder than it was when mounted all the way back but it looks better and more balanced now. Sure wish I could get that Rola logo off it though because although it doesn't look particularly bad it's not quite straight and again, I prefer not to be a billboard if possible. It isn't a sticker but it doesn't scrape off easily either, so not wanting to scratch it up since it is just plastic, I'll just leave it alone.

 

Holy crap man lol what a review. Im sold on it. Im running on half bald 31bfgs so the ride is a little noisey lol. But i really like it. Now just getting the money up and buying it.... Will prolly be soon how much weight do you think shell hold? I wanna be able to throw my 31 up there and free up some rear cargo space

 

It will hold whatever your factory crossbars will hold, which I'm not sure what their capacity is. The rack itself is quite strong so no worries about it failing, but it is only as strong as what you mount it to. You'll definitely be fine with a spare tire up there, and while space would be limited after that I'm sure it would hold other things as well, such as a Hi Lift bolted to the side. Plenty of guys run around like that.

 

I know your sold on that rack, but here is another idea

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ho...welding-91566/

 

I found this on amazon.com and for the money it looks pretty good and has decent reviews. For $114.99, can't beat it.

 

I clicked on the Amazon link above and then saw this one, which looks exactly like mine but cheaper. Might be made by the same company.

 

Hey thanks a bunch guys. Like i said my phone is a pain in the **** so i dont get much time to search. Ik not sold on anything yet just seeing what options are out there. So ill check into them all....

 

I love this thread! Going to bookmark it to read later.also going to be buying one