Midwest Chapter Opnion on roof racks or baskets

[Big Hank]

I'm saying this to the Midwest because most of us share the same climates and the same opportunity to haul things outside our vehicles.

I already have roof sliders, or gutter guards. the system is increcibly low profile. Although nobody outside of the offroad community has a clue what it is or why it's there. So attachment should not be an issue.

For a long time I've wanted a Yakima Load Warrior basket but they are insanely priced and I'd rather just throw camping bags and junk in the jeep for that price. I was at Walmart yesterday and noticed that Reese started making a basket that looks very similar to the Yakima and it's only $99 bucks...

• It seems like 1/2 the the XJ owners own one and then take it off and sell it.
• What drives people to invest and then remove?
• Not using it as planned?
• Annoying to use on a tall jeep?
• Junk will fly out?
• The weather isn't good enough 3 months a year?
• You don't have the right type of storage containers to put in the rack?
• Factory roof rack is annoying ot attach to?

I'm just throwing things out there that may have been reasons for the install and removal.

I'm telling myself that I would use it for my water tank. I could get done mountain biking and wash off before heading for beers and bacon.. Also a huge bonus while camping. I could take things like my tent and 6 flip out chairs and relocate them from the back of the jeep to the roof. I can think of all kinds of junk I wouldn't mind getting out of the jeep while commuting to an event.

So.... Anyone that has one and uses it all the time and can't live without it? Anyone that has had one and sold it?

I'm still brining the mini trailer full of junk and spare stuff for peace of mind to Winterfest.

Also in the world of mall crawlers it seems like a fundamental part piece of the rig.

Big 'MW opnion matters to me' Hank

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

Gene,

I had this Surco on my 98 and loved it. The only reason I took it off was that it brushed the garage door when I pulled in and I had actually snagged the door a few times when I had snow on my tires. I eneded up taking it of when I sold it regardless and it went to another MWC member at that time. It was nice to throw my muddy/crap covered boots on the roof when heading home from the farm. It was functional and I thought it was cool looking on that rig as well. I just made reasons to haul stuff up there b/c I liked it and I wanted too. I had a jack mount and light mounts on it as well.

Cheese "nice rack!" Man

 

[99SJ_Ex]

I had the JCR Low-Profile Rack on my jeep... Loved it, had lights front and rear, and held the spare tire, tent, some other odds and ends...

Why I got rid of it? Hard to keep clean/not rusty. When I went to 5-6" lift it would grab trees/branches going down the trail (I go a lot of places with wooded trails) and cause difficulties (dragged a 3" diameter birch 100 ft once) and made going down one section of Orange @ WF really scarey. At the time I had 31" tires and the carrier was made to hold 33-35 so the tire looked like a mushroom up on top... Really raised the center of gravity...


99SJ 'Wonder if my buddy still has it...' Ex

 

[Jeepguy91]

We bought the Reese brand roof rack from Walmart. So far it is working out just fine for us.

 

[donthelegend]

I built a full length rack as an early welding project. The utility was great while I was still in college and regularly needed to move more stuff than would fit inside the jeep. After I graduated, the Jeep wouldn't fit in the garage without removing the rack, and I got a trailer that gave me more utility than the roof rack ever did. Got tired of moving it around the garage when it was always in the way so I sold it. I still miss the utility of it when going wheeling or camping, but unfortunately that isn't very often so I don't regret selling it.

 

[shortxjdoug]

I lost 2mpg with a surco style rack.... After that it came off immediately. I really only haul boats so a good set of load bars is what I settled on. I'm running a set of used Thule load bars mounted to the drip rail. I'm going to make an air deflector and call it good

 

[RAM-ROD]

I had the Front Runner all alum. rack. It was not only very strong , light and tough. It also looked great in my opinion. I sold it being I did not use it much anymore being our rig has gone more the "trail rig" route than the "Expo rig" route. If you are going to drop some cash take a look at one of these.

 

[seanR]

How a bout a nice wicker basket in front of the steering wheel.

 

[Big Hank]

How a bout a nice wicker basket in front of the steering wheel.

I have about 10 years worth of Longaberger baskets of my moms all stored in my basement... You may be on to something. Maybe a screen name change to "BasketCase" and I could put all my spare parts and junk in the Longaberger Christmas Collection... Then put some of the larger ones on the roof.

Big 'basement is stuck in the 80's...Longaberger & Candlelight parties' Hank

 

[FlexdXJ]

I liked mine and the look of it but the combination of running tight trails, shitty mileage and not using it as much as I'd have thought made me sell it.

 

[John D]

The main purpose of mine was for a spare tire holder and then I filled the other space with stuff. Once I got a rear tire mount the trade off for clearance on tight trails and gas mileage wasn't worth keeping it.

 

[scoobyxj]

I have about 10 years worth of Longaberger baskets of my moms all stored in my basement... You may be on to something. Maybe a screen name change to "BasketCase" and I could put all my spare parts and junk in the Longaberger Christmas Collection... Then put some of the larger ones on the roof.

Big 'basement is stuck in the 80's...Longaberger & Candlelight parties' Hank

That place is not far from my house. Glad I didn't get hired on there. It's a shell of what it used to be. Between the economy, and the old mans daughter running it into the ground...


I had a rack on my old XJ, I decided not to use it on the new one because it had a pretty good affect on Hwy MPGs. Ended up trading it for some front clip parts...

 

[Overdriven]

Mine carries my highlift, shovel/pickaxe and lightweight stuff. In Alaska I had the waterproof bags that you see on boats. I'd put cold weather gear in one bag, wet weather gear in another, tents, sleeping bags in a third. That way it didn't fill up room and it was easy to get down since it didn't weigh much.

In Ohio... It just carries my shovel, axe and highlift jack. I run 38's and it would be stupid to try and get one up on and off the roof.

 

[kmanxj5050]

I used mine on my old jeep a decent amount when it drove to the trails. It went with the jeep when I sold it. The baby jeep had one on it when I bought it, but the wife hated it so it went. If I didn't tow my junk and had a crewcab truck plus a bed to put stuff in I would probably still have one.

 

[Hillbilly XJ]

This is a custom made one its used to carry mostly light weight camping gear, coolers and what ever will fit. This is an older photo but haven't had time to take any new ones lately.

 

[Keith_Indy]

Took the roof-rack off my last XJ, sometimes had the spare tire up there, but never really used it for what it is, and the loss of highway MPG was a bigger concern.

Now, with my new Jeep, I've not yet decided. Have to see how much gear we can fit in the back for camping (now that we have a 14 yo to bring along.)