Roof rack feedback wanted//Roofrack owners unite!!

TDI4BY · **Joined:** Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:56 pm **Posts:** 644

if you have crossbars or more importantly a full roof rack I would like a bit of feedback on possible mileage reduction and or wind noise problems you have encountered. Oh! and as always , THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICS!!!

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:49 pm

TDI4BY wrote:

if you have crossbars or more importantly a full roof rack I would like a bit of feedback on possible mileage reduction and or wind noise problems you have encountered. Oh! and as always , THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICS!!!

I've got thule crossroads + loadbars, yakima basketcase and thule bike/ski attachments. No noticable wind noise or mileage reduction (maybe a little with the ski racks since they are like an air dam, but not too bad). See my cardomain / other link for photos

ShadE · **Posted:** Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:20 pm

surco safari rack. went from 18-20mpg freeway to 15-18mpg. 13-15 city to 13-14.

I love the flexability of having that much extra cargo space! the surco is nice. it's aluminum construction which is not as durrable as steel, but is lighter weight and you dont have to worry about it rusting. I've had no problems at all. if you want a quiet ride w/ the sunroof open, forget about it.

(thats what a stereo is for)

EDIT: oh yeah...

m0th · **Posted:** Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:29 pm

Garvin Wilderness. No noticeable increase in wind noise or decrease in mileage. Could be because it's behind the Renegade lights.

Edwin · **Posted:** Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:35 pm

This is not my jeep, but it's my roof rack now. It makes very little noise, and no difference in mileage. It was custom made by Chemguy. That's Chemguy's jeep it's on.

Wilmo · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 5:52 am

Sorry to high jack the thread - but I'd like to know two things, as I'm currently investigating options for baskets:-

1) Who has carried a spare wheel up there and ripped the std rails out of the roof? (I know of one thread here where the guy did)

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=7957

2) How do you undo the screws that hold the stock rails on? Anyone got some pics? And is there a way to fit stronger fasteners perhaps?

Thanks

Wilmo

Vern · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 9:51 am

I'm have a Mopar roof rack (same one they use for the Grand Cherokee), and I had a spare tire on the roof for about 6 weeks, both on and off road. I didn't have any problems with the mounting bolts. However I do have the larger factory rails, that came standard on my 05 Renegade.

Wilmo · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 10:13 am

It says in the manual that the Renegade Roof Rails have less of a carrying capacity than the std ones.....(which seems odd since the Renegade ones are thicker). So maybe I'll be ok with the std rails. It looked to me that the guy that ripped his off had the tyre mounted all the way at the rear of the rack, so it it was bouncing up and down the forces would have been trying to peel the rack off from the back mounts. If the tyre was in the middle, then the load would have been shared by mounting points at all four corners.

shak · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 12:08 pm

I have the mopar one, the one that is a basket. I removed it yesterday due to the incredible amount of wind resistance and noise inside the cabin. After i removed it, it felt like KJ had a boost doing about 75 mph.....

KJKev · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 12:15 pm

I'd have to agree with ShadE.
Surco is easy to assemble and install, but is noisey and cut my mileage by 1.5 mpg.
I'm going to install a deflector and see if that helps.
KJKev

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 1:04 pm

Same here...installed a roof basket (BVG Adventure rack) and the wind noise was AWFUL. Also, mileage dropped 1.5 mpg or so. After a month I took the basket off and it's like a new KJ again. I'll only put on the basket now when I know I'm going to need it.

TDI4BY · **Joined:** Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:56 pm **Posts:** 644

Thanks guys, I would love a rack but don't want noise and mileage drop..... Keep em coming .....

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 6:34 pm

Thos topic started in the CRD Forum with a new strange noise I tarted hearing about 2 weeks back. I finally figured out that it was wind noise Saturday night. It was coming from my Yakima crossbars and started when I removed the Ski/Snow Board holder. It took me driving 35 MPH into a 40 MPH wind to finally figure out.

I stopped by REI at lunch and bought a Yakima "Wind Jammer", which is a wing shaped piece of extruded plastic about 6" wide that snaps over the bar. After I bought it I headed for the freeway. It does seem to have improved the sound but I am going to give it a little more time. It may take two to be effective and by then I almost have a fairing purchased.

Here is what it looks like: http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=93

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Mon May 01, 2006 6:55 pm

There are two options I know of for a stronger rack, they both involve removing the stock rails and these would screw in instead. Your rack and all of your stuff are attached directly to the body and not attached to the plastic roof rails. The stock rails are held on the four screw on each side and velcro is the only thing holding the trim on.

There was a dude on ebay who was custom making racks, but you still had to fab up the attachment points to get it hooked up where your stock rails go. Here's a link that goes over that. The guys email is in that thread.

The second option is to go to All J at http://www.boulderbars.com where they'll take a Con-Fer rack and fab it up and have it ready to go for you.

If you don't have access and skill with welding stuff, or are worried about doing a wrong angle and it not fitting, All J is the way to go. (it helps that they're super nice too)

valvestem · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 222

Cowcatcher wrote:

Thos topic started in the CRD Forum with a new strange noise I tarted hearing about 2 weeks back. I finally figured out that it was wind noise Saturday night. It was coming from my Yakima crossbars and started when I removed the Ski/Snow Board holder. It took me driving 35 MPH into a 40 MPH wind to finally figure out.

I stopped by REI at lunch and bought a Yakima "Wind Jammer", which is a wing shaped piece of extruded plastic about 6" wide that snaps over the bar. After I bought it I headed for the freeway. It does seem to have improved the sound but I am going to give it a little more time. It may take two to be effective and by then I almost have a fairing purchased.

Here is what it looks like: http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=93

It's funny that I see this pic now, because the other day I took the roof rack cross bars off my wife's Subaru and they are shaped just like the Yakima wings. Like a tear drop.

SavageUrge · **Posted:** Wed May 03, 2006 3:14 pm

I recently purchased a Thule M.O.A.B. and mounted it using the factory crossbars and mounts that came with the Liberty Renegade rack. I lost about 2-3 mpg with the Rack on, and after I took it off I noticed no difference in mileage without the factory "shroud/rack". Wind noise was not an issue unless I opened the sunroof, but only because the wind deflector on the front of the rack was positioned right above the moonroof opening and pushing all that air down through it. Hope this helps.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Wed May 03, 2006 7:20 pm

I need to test it more but it seems that the Yakima Wind Jammer has reduced the windnoise that I was experiencing by about 80% I will drive about 300 miles on Saturday and give it a better test but For me the 80% solution will work.

grumppee · **Posted:** Wed May 03, 2006 7:55 pm

Garvin Wilderness Sport Rack.

It's been on the Jeep for about two years. After the first Canadian winter it started to rust. I took a grinder to the rust and then applied several coats of truck bedliner... no more rust, and it looks cool.

Wind noise, you'll get used to it. Besides, you can mount your tire up there, and some lights.

Ron · **Posted:** Thu May 04, 2006 12:18 pm

We have Thule bars and the BVG rack. Milage hasn't dropped any and the noise is less with the basket on than without (haven't figured that one out yet). With the sun roof opened from the back it's a little noisey but not bad when it's wide open. You can see it if you click on "The Jeep"

Gordo · **Posted:** Thu May 04, 2006 4:04 pm

I just tracked my gas mileage these last couple of weeks. I have some homebrew cross-rails fabbed from 1" square alluminum tubing and a BVG adventure rack mounted to them on my stock KJ Sport. I recorded about 19MPG. The majority of my driving was on the freeway, but there was some around-town.

As far as noise goes, I would love to find a way to reduce it. It can get pretty bad when it is windy and I am driving at freeway speeds.

Hope this helps.

Roof rack feedback wanted//Roofrack owners unite!!

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