Roof Rack

[Ryan1]

I have decided that I am going to put a roof rack an my 94 xlt I will probably be lights on the roof rack too

My questions are What roof racks do yall suggest
What should I expect to pay for it
If I put lights on the rack what is the best possible way to route the wires into the cab

Thanks
Ryan

 

[JoshC]

Hey Ryan, i've got a 97 and I bought a Steel Horse to put on mine, if you click on the link in my sig then you'll see some pics of it. I think it was around $150 and i love it, makes a lot of noise on the highway, but that's not why i bought it right! As you can see i have some lights on the back already and went head and ran the wires and the switch for the front lights which i don't have yet. Personnaly, you might think this is dumb, but i drilled a small hole, big enough to get some wires through it, close to the track of my roof rails and then i filled it with some black RTV silicon. My dad wasn't thrilled with the idea, but i told him that it wasn't his vehicle. I've had it in for a couple of months and i haven't a problem with it leaking, mud and pressure washers haven't affected it, so i guess i did something right!

Any more questions and i'll be more then happy to try to help!

Happy trailes!

 

[Ryan1]

Thanks for you input,
I have actually thought of the drilling thing my self. I have a Toyota 4Runner with a light bar and 6 lights on top of it and I rand the wires in throught the door seal. and I didnt really wanna do my explorer that way but I might have to.


Who did you order your rack through.

and I saw in you discription that you have air shocks how do you like those .... do you use the to lift you truck any

 

[Paul]

Ryan -

I've had the Con-Ferr rack mounted for close to two years now and have been very satisified with it (you can see it on my Expolrer photo at left). It was pricey (about $275), but it'll hold a ton of weight.

Garvin Industries is another popular brand of rack, and both Garvin and Con-Ferr have web sites.

I don't have any lights on the rack, but do have a CB antenna. I chose to run the cable along the inside of the frame rail, under the rack, to the rear hatch. It only exposes about six inches of wire at the rear of the truck. If you you do drill through the roof, I recommend 3M Brand "Below the Water Line" Marine sealer.

Paul

 

[Brian1]

I made my own roof rack so I don't know about costs or brands. I do have 4 lights on my roof rack though. I bought a flat 4 way trailer connector. I ran the wires from the switches under the plastic trim on the roof to where the jack storage is. Then I cut a hole through the plastic and made a plastic insert so it looks really nice. I ran the wire to the rack through the weather strip and back door to the plug. I wraped the wire in convoluted tube to keep it nice. I can unplug my lights whenever I need to take my roof rack off.

 

[mattadams]

I have the conferr on mine, but if I had to do it over again, Id make a homemade one... its just as easy and it can be just as good. The one reason I don't like the conferr much is they round the edges so much the rectangle is practicly a oval. I had planned on putting 6 on the front but had to put the two outside lights on the side rather then on the front and it looks kinda goofy (but cool at the same time) . To make it easier, buy the conferr roof rack mounts so you don't have to fab those up (there a bit tricky) and then you can bascially put the rest together with steel stock or angle iron and bolts. Or weld if you know how.

 

[JoshC]

Ryan,

I ordered mine through JC Whitney becaues i had a discount coupon! It was cheaper! I like it too.

Yeah i love my air shocks. The ad-a-leaf helped the load, but we have a 68 model camper that we use for hunting and that was back when they made them, it's pure steel and it's heavy! So i bought the air shocks and installed them, i ran the line for the value stem through one the bottom holes of my license plate and put a cap on it, you can't even tell they are there! Mine are Monroe Max Air, they give it about a 3-4 inch raise with no wait on the back end! Fun to play with!! Glad i could help ya man!

Happy trailes!

 

[Clint]

if u do make your own don't mount them to your stock roof rack that's what i did and it held for a month untill i did some desert runnin and my spare tire was to much for thet stock roof rack it ripped it right off the rails

 

[Ryan1]

Thanks for all you help guys

I saw some Surco safari roofracks on urbanjungle.com and they looked pretty nice and they were $185 for a 45X50 roof rack.

if ya know anything bad about these let me know

Thanks again everybody

Oh Ya! Is there anywhere on this sight that I could order a 4X4Central.com sticker to put on my xploder

 

[jimbo74]

it is no longer 4x4central.com it is now:

"Serious Explorations"
www.explorer4x4.com

here is the link:
http://www.explorer4x4.com/video.html