Surco Roof Racks

Wanna get me a surco, but not sure on the size. what size is everyone getting? thanks.

Cherokeekid88 said:

Wanna get me a surco, but not sure on the size. what size is everyone getting? thanks.

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The two sizes most people run are the 45x50 and 45x60. I had a 45x50 and would've like something more like 50x60 for the extra room and because the 45" wide version seems a little too narrow to me. Also, the 45x50 is filled up very quickly with a spare tire and extra goodies (jack, straps, clothes, etc.).

I have the 45x60 love it. Surco gets a bit of a bad rap . But for normal use its fine.

bowhunter, thanks for posting pics! that helps me out on which size to get.

Any time

I have a 50x50 surco safari rack on my XJ. I think it is a cheap piece of crap. I also got the tire mount for it. Poorly designed, unless you have the cross rails close together (which on a 50x60 might be difficult). I dont have much into it and it does work for what I need it for. My advise, buy a steel rack not alluminum. I would check out the Zactual racks on E-bay.

I have no problems with my Surco. Have my 31" spare,Hi-Lift,Shovel and axe mounted. I used the j100 mounts for the factory roof bars and used 3 factory slider crossbars under the basket and have it bolted to them. Use the Surco as it was designed, hunting ,fishing and camping and some milder trails you will have no issues.

The 45x50 is good but with a Spare Tire in there I don't have much room for things around it. My advise would be go for the 45x60 if you plan on loading more into it

i have a 45 by 60 surco with the gutter mount mounting kit...31 inch spare, hi-jack, two jerry cans, and a grand total of 5 pairs of lights and i still have enough room for two coolers...bottom line i have no problem out of my rack at all...i would recommend it to ya anytime.

Cool. when you order it, do you have to get jeep adapters to install the rack itself? or does the rack come with all the hardware to install it. ill be getting some light mounts later on, but i just want the rack for now.

when you order the rack youll need mount.
j100 are the factory rails mounts

Which is what i used

gm100 are the gutter mounts


As far as light mounts make your own from 2" angle steel



Any question just ask

So they do make these roof racks in a gutter mount huh. I was wondering. Hey Bowhunter, what did yours run if I might ask?

I have had mine for over a year, price has changed some since then. I got it trhrough Summit. Best price i could find and they have aall the accesories.
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=400024

holeshot said:

I have a 50x50 surco safari rack on my XJ. I think it is a cheap piece of crap. I also got the tire mount for it. Poorly designed, unless you have the cross rails close together (which on a 50x60 might be difficult). I dont have much into it and it does work for what I need it for. My advise, buy a steel rack not alluminum. I would check out the Zactual racks on E-bay.

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this doesn't make sense... you mention that you think your surco is a POS, then you go and suggest a real POS rack! that zacatal rack is a piece of garbage.

I have been told that Zachtel is made of heavy gauge conduit. Cant confirm this because I've never seen one.

i got mine from autoanything.com...they were the cheapest i could find and they had the guttermounts i needed for my jeep...im pretty sure i got it for 250...hope you can find one...there worth ite

I will say that I think *my* surco roofrack is a peice of crap, very poor construction. I have the 45x50 one.

That said, I have never found need to replace it, and it has held up very well to abuse. Last year I slid down a bank into a tree (contact on roofrack).. it bent one of the gutter mounts just a hair, but it bent back ok when i got home, and has held up great. I've had several hundred pounds on it a few times, and on some hard runs.

shimmy said:

this doesn't make sense... you mention that you think your surco is a POS, then you go and suggest a real POS rack! that zacatal rack is a piece of garbage.

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heh yeah he can have my zacatal rack.

thing slides all over the place with only a stock size spare up there.

Fantobacon said:

heh yeah he can have my zacatal rack.

thing slides all over the place with only a stock size spare up there.

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I don't have a dog in this fight but, the Zacatal rack that my wife bought me for Christmas was a POS. Perhaps the earlier ones were better but, mine was not made well at all. To compound the proplems with mine is the fact that the seller "Juis" must not be able to speak english. I asked a question before I had my wife order it but it, and whoever answered my question wanted to know a source of racks fo a GM 2500HD. I researched out my butt, and replied with what I had come up with. I never heard a word from him, afterwards. The rack came in and it was disappointing. My wife and I wrote him for maybe a total of 10 times without an answer. We went to Ebay for his phone number to try to settle it w/o bad feedback. We first tried calling at reasonable times w/o an answer. We then tried calling any time of day or night and still no answer. All we wanted to do was return the thing. I finally used his first name in a message and he finally responded with an address to send it back. We got most of our money back. The seller could be having some hard times so, I do not want to hammer him. All and all, the experience sucked. I went with the Yakima Loadwarrior and I am trying to make it plug and play for my S-10 and my newly aquired XJ.

cal said:

I will say that I think *my* surco roofrack is a peice of crap, very poor construction. I have the 45x50 one.

That said, I have never found need to replace it, and it has held up very well to abuse. Last year I slid down a bank into a tree (contact on roofrack).. it bent one of the gutter mounts just a hair, but it bent back ok when i got home, and has held up great. I've had several hundred pounds on it a few times, and on some hard runs.

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Sounds to me like its held up pretty well to the beating.

The last Zactal rack I saw looked like it was made of conduit.