roof racks

[ALLOUTWAR13]

any suggestions on the best roof rack for my 99 sport? I want to put some toolboxes, spare tire, and the occasional deer up there. I would also like to mount a shovel, hilift jack, and 4 hella 4000s up there.

 

[ALLOUTWAR13]

anybody? a little help?

 

[Webster3]

I'm researching right now for my 94, although I'm early into the process. So far the main brands that I'm looking at are:

Surco - Aluminum
Yakima - Steel I think
Thule - not sure

I'm liking the Surco so far because it is lite, but I've got a lot of research to do still... and I've got time... I'm not buying for a few months.

Ed

 

[Lifted95X]

I have the conferr. I like it. It is steel.

 

[ALLOUTWAR13]

what about the ARB? i hear they are really durable but i dont know anyone who has one.

 

[Webster3]

Conferr, yes.. I knew I was forgetting at least one.

Ed

 

[TheRookie]

I have and love a thule. Steel bars here. Great racks, always loved them.

 

[RFR2212]

Um i think I've got a steel horse er somethin like that.. Made outta steel, and is strong, but the stock roof bars arent... They've snapped on me... so toolboxes, spair tire and a deer, welp that'll be well more than what the stock rails will handle.

 

[EBInterceptor]

I'm getting a Thule and putting it on in the next week or so. Not a fan of the round Yakima crossbars. Thule is my choice.

 

[Stig]

With roof rack installed.. How has it affected the wind noise and mileage of you Explorers?

 

[blueXPLO']

I have the con-ferr roof rack for my 99' sport...it is fairly durable and has proven itself to hold quite a bit of stuff on the trails for me plenty of times. The way they mount up is u remove the stock racks from the rails then slide in the new mounts in the channel..then the roof rack itself simply bolts to each seperate mount. So far i have a set of SRB lights on the front another set of lights on the rear...a custom built floor liner(with con-ferr you have to buy thme seperately) and a custom built spare tire mount that is holding my spare now. The con-ferr is a nice design because it has square tubing and rounded corners on all four sides..it doesnt look crappy coming down the road it fits nicely with the line of the roof.

 

[blueXPLO']

with the noise...i honestly haven't noticed any "wind noise" when driving down the road, or interstates....explorer still moves down the road like she used to and havent noticed a difference in gas mileage either...so it is a good investment...i am not completely sure of this but the last time i heard of anyone ordering from con-ferr they were having a really hard time shipping out orders and getting them when they said they would..check into it or look at their website http:/www.con-ferr.com

 

[DocVijay]

Yakima rack

I have the Yakima Load Warrior roof rack. It has a Hi-Lift jack mount, spare tire mount, and 6 light mounts (4 front, 2 back). It also still has room for my bike rack. I love it.

 

[RFR2212]

Originally posted by Stig
With roof rack installed.. How has it affected the wind noise and mileage of you Explorers?

With or without the rack I've noticed no noise difference. I do however hear a difference when the lights are up there. On thing I don't like, is I can't take the sun roof out b/c the lights are in the way. I've just been too lazy to remove the lights permanently (they don't work anymore and i dunno why!) and seal closed the wiring.

And I have noticed w/ the sunroof, if the little cover that goes over the sunroof in the interior is in place, i see light through the cracks. If it's off, you get to to see a whole lot of the light from above.

 

[CarFreak146]

I have been thinking about adding a roof rack, so i have a couple of questions too.

Have you noticed any difference in "top-heaviness" (new word) ??

How do y'all get your spare tires down from there? They're not the lightest things to just get on the back bumper and lift it out.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[blueXPLO']

Ryan,
what's up man? as far as the whole top heavy thing goes there has been no signifigant change that I have noticed when driving around. As for the spare tire, yes they are not the lightest things to lug around and yes we do have to get up on the bumper to start taking it out....honestly if i was gonna do it all over again i would have looked into a spare tire holder that swings out from the back of the explorer and kept my rack for hauling other things. But, it's not a really big deal cause it's not like you are going to be changing your spare tire on a daily basis.