Made some roof rack crossbars, mounted Thule:

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:42 pm

1" x 2" tube steel for the crossbar with a 1" x 3" 1/4" steel flange welded to the end. 1/4" bolt through drilled hole in the roof rail, new rails barely touch roof on the highest ribs, so we put down some of that foam weather seal. Overall we are very pleased with how it sits, it couldn't sit any lower and is WAY out of the wind, one thing I have not been pleased with are all the aftermarket roof rack solutions always sit up very high in the wind. Its gotta cut down on your gas mileage and increase wind noise. With this setup the Thule sits low and does not make any more wind noise than stock.

With 4 guys, all their backpacking gear for 5 nights in the Grand Canyon driving over the Colorado Rockies on I70 with me pushing it at the speed limit the whole way(the diesel doesnt complain at going 75 up the long passes so hey, why not?) we were still getting 24mpg.

My father and I both have the Thule Evolution 1600(16 cubic feet). With 4 guys and all their gear we were packed in there somethin' fierce. Maybe in the future we will find a good deal on a newer Atlantis 2100(the biggest one they make), that would be nice up there.

Foam to keep it from rubbing and rattlin'

As you can see, when you put it back a little farther the Thule sits back in the windstream from the windshield very nicely.

And the old mans yellow XJ freedom, ironically the wheels that are now on the CRD are the wheels that are supposed to be on his Freedom(one of the reasons we like the freedom package), but instead when we bought his it had the Canyons on it, I'll keep an eye out for another set of the Ultrastars for the future of his Jeep.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:44 pm

I like how low it sits Sam. Are you concerned that the bolts will weaken the side bars?

I have considered putting my Coleman basket under the Yakima bars to lower the profile but it seems to wide to fit there, particularly with the Yakima LowRiders.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:04 pm

Cowcatcher wrote:

I like how low it sits Sam. Are you concerned that the bolts will weaken the side bars?

I have considered putting my Coleman basket under the Yakima bars to lower the profile but it seems to wide to fit there, particularly with the Yakima LowRiders.

Not really, the sidebars are pretty stout, they are made from a single piece of sheetmetal rolled over to make the tube.

It was a serious oversight on Jeeps part not to have cross bars, yet another thing I am not pleased with on this vehicle, oh well, it might bother me more if it was actually mine.

Kniggit · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:20 pm

They do sell cross bars, they are just ridiculously expensive, And If I remember right go across the top of the bar also.

K

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:05 pm

Kniggit wrote:

They do sell cross bars, they are just ridiculously expensive, And If I remember right go across the top of the bar also.

K

There are many different styles, and yes they are usually very expensive, Total cost in materials for these was about $20(though I got a few other pieces of metal I didn't use).

I dunno how much the electricity to run the welder and grinder was, but it couldn't have been much.

The thing is, most cross bars sit up pretty damm high, the Thule does very well when it sits low, the lower the better, keeps the air from going under it and making a huge wind drag.

Kniggit · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:15 pm

I wasn't trying to argue, I think that what you did in an adjustable version would have been premium if Mopar had it available. The only way I could see doing that differently is if you had a really sturdy clamp with a plastic insulator to clamp around the bar like a plate that was welded on top of the cross bar and a loose plate on the bottom to bolt onto the bar to hold the bar steady. This would allow you to put a rubber insulator on the rails to lift it high enough it will not rub the roof without adding an insane amount of height. Then again, hind sight is 20/20.

K

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:20 pm

Kniggit wrote:

I wasn't trying to argue, I think that what you did in an adjustable version would have been premium if Mopar had it available. The only way I could see doing that differently is if you had a really sturdy clamp with a plastic insulator to clamp around the bar like a plate that was welded on top of the cross bar and a loose plate on the bottom to bolt onto the bar to hold the bar steady. This would allow you to put a rubber insulator on the rails to lift it high enough it will not rub the roof without adding an insane amount of height. Then again, hind sight is 20/20.

K

I didnt think you were.

I think Jeep really dropped the ball by not having cross bars, it cuts so much of the utility of the Jeep by not spend $2 from the factory to engineer a very nice useful system.

If we had any other things to put on the roof(bike or ski stuff) we would have done it differently, all it would have taken would have been to offset the flange a little higher to have some clearance all the way along, for that matter we talked about making an adjustable setup, but decided this was easyer.

Pote · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:56 pm

sir sam...nice an low profile!! can i ask? is all the weight held up by the 4 bolts (each side) going through the siderails? or is there some other type of bracketing (for lack of better words) that takes all the load.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:35 pm

Just bolted in on the sides. Plenty strong IMO.

Made some roof rack crossbars, mounted Thule:

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