What Size Roof Rack/Basket?

[profdlp]

I'm gathering my research to find the "perfect" rack for my 2007 Liberty, meaning I can afford it and it does the job. I measured my rooftop and side rail dimensions today and know what will fit.

The problem is I suck at visualizing how something will look once it's in place. With shipping costing so much I don't want to risk having to send something back because it looks goofy.

As a general rule, do you folks aim for something pretty close to the width of the roof itself? Have it hang over the sides of the Jeep an inch or two? Be narrower than the roof? I'd like to get the biggest one that doesn't look like a High School graduation hat sitting on top of the thing. I also don't want it to look like the tiny little hat a bellhop would wear.

What size do you have that you like the looks of?

Thanks! :icon_biggrin:

 

[Porkchop]

Knowing everyone is different in what they like make it out of cardboard first and see what looks good to you.

 

[first&lastKJ]

I have the Rola Roof basket on my wife's 02, fits and looks good. Seems to be well made for the price. Got it from amazon for $160 with free shipping.

 

[Thelt]

Would putting a couple of hundred pounds on a roof rack make a KJ unstable? It seems like weight up there would be a bad thing and make it more tippy. I guess it would be a good storage space for items that do not weight much.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

I'm gathering my research to find the "perfect" rack for my 2007 Liberty, meaning I can afford it and it does the job. I measured my rooftop and side rail dimensions today and know what will fit.

The problem is I suck at visualizing how something will look once it's in place. With shipping costing so much I don't want to risk having to send something back because it looks goofy.

As a general rule, do you folks aim for something pretty close to the width of the roof itself? Have it hang over the sides of the Jeep an inch or two? Be narrower than the roof? I'd like to get the biggest one that doesn't look like a High School graduation hat sitting on top of the thing. I also don't want it to look like the tiny little hat a bellhop would wear.

What size do you have that you like the looks of?

Thanks! :icon_biggrin:

You may not be good at visualizing but your descriptions are great - "High School graduation hat...little bellhop hat." :happy175:

Anyway...

Besides a Rock Lizard rack and it's components (pricey but GREAT quality) the Rola basket seems to be the most popular.

Bob

 

[profdlp]

Porkchop, your idea of a piece of cardboard sounds great. I can usually tell if I'll like something once I see a model of it.

Two of you mentioned Rola, which keeps popping up on my short list of candidates. A lot of the others I've looked at are either way more than I can afford or look like they'd blow away as soon as you hit 40mph.

As for the weight, I'm planning on stashing bulky but not too heavy stuff like camping gear. I've got several bags with tents, tarps, etc which don't weigh a lot but take up a fair amount of space inside the vehicle. Most of the racks I've looked at are rated for 125-150 lbs. I doubt the stuff I intend to load up there weighs even that much.

Thanks for all the great ideas, everybody! :favorites13:

 

[Thelt]

I have been considering getting a roof basket as well. I guess it would be fine as long as you do not put anything heavy up there.

 

[Rennagade]

I have the stock rails and a yakima basket case down the middle. i haul camping gear, kayaks, mountain bikes, construction material... you name it, sometimes while hauling my brother-in-laws boat! I do weekly trips 150 miles and back at highway speeds. Never had an issue all these years. I am now upgrading to a yakima megawarrior. i want to be able to put camping gear, both bikes, and both kayaks up there. I also bought an aluminum hitch basket which I modified to go under the spare tire. I will post pics when done.

 

[profdlp]

That rig in your sig looks awfully nice, Renneagade.

 

[Austerity]

Not sure if this helps any, but I just finished my new crossbars and roof rack setup. The cross bars are EMT strut from lowes, with two hangars mounted to the side rails. They are coated in bedliner sprayer. The cargo basket is a Rage Black Widow. Total cost under $140.

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[tommudd]

Way back in 2005 this was my setup. It was a cheap 40 dollar rack from Amazon ( PMG) or something like that. Had what you see in the picture up there on one trip, another time 3 wheels and tires so it held up
Also wasn't mounted 10 inches above the roof line:happy175:

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[profdlp]

That looks nice, Tom.

These are my three leading candidates:

Amazon.com: Curt 18115 Roof Mounted Cargo Rack: Automotive

Amazon.com: Rola 59504 Vortex 48" x 37.5" x 4" Roof Mounted Cargo Basket: Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com: 62.5" Roof Luggage Cargo Storage Rack with Fairing: Rage Powersports: Automotive

Free shipping on the two most expensive, making them all within $20 of each other for the total delivered price.

 

[Thelt]

If one would fit down between the roof rails and clamp on from the side that would be cool and low profile.

 

[first&lastKJ]

I like the Rola the best, not so square looking. The rola has more of a rounded look to it, looks a little more beefy to.

 

[Rennagade]

Nice Austerity... I'm looking at eliminating the crossbars and mounting my megabasket directly to the roof rails. It always seemed silly to have all these bars criss-crossing up top. I also purchased the ALL STEEL roof bars to replace the stock plastic and aluminum bars. Can you take a close up pic of the emt connector? I was going to us U-bolts but you may have a better idea.

 

[Rennagade]

I just received an email from Rocky Road Outfitters. They are shipping my new bars 2 months after I paid for them. FINALLY!

 

[05renny]

We should sticky a "post your roof rack" thread.

 

[profdlp]

We should sticky a "post your roof rack" thread.

That sounds like a great idea. A whole collection of different people's ideas would help nitwits like me decide what they wanted.

Here's mine:
:rockit:

(PS: I am a poor starving college student. It looks like I won't be able to afford mine until mid-August.) :icon_rolleyes:

 

[mongo]

Not to thread jack but its a related topic, how do you guys carry a oversized spare tire? Looking at 31x10.5x15s and don't think it will fit on the stock spare holder without hitting. Not sure if a roof rack is a good place for the spare or not with all the weight.

 

[tommudd]

Not to thread jack but its a related topic, how do you guys carry a oversized spare tire? Looking at 31x10.5x15s and don't think it will fit on the stock spare holder without hitting. Not sure if a roof rack is a good place for the spare or not with all the weight.

PITA to carry one up there
not only the weight of hauling it up there but getting it up and back down when you need it
Also it would take something like the RL rack to "safely" mount it