Best rack mount: raingutter or factory rail?

[fizassist]

I'm looking for a mounting system for a rack that can support the most weight. Would I be better off with rain-gutter or factory rail mounts? In either case, I guess more is better (6-8 vs. 4). If the factory mounts are better, and I decide to make my own rack, what is the best way of attaching to the factory rails? If not, who makes good raingutter mounts?

Thanks,
fiz

 

[540ismiley]

I just had mine mounted today. Check it out
Rain gutters are stronger
http://homepage.mac.com/macnrover/PhotoAlbum4.html

 

[Northern Pride]

I think it's a matter of preference. I opted to mount on the stock rack to keep it from hitting trees that come close to the sides when leaning. It also allowed me the room to mount the Hi-Lift jack on the side. You can see it in the link below.

I do a lot of woods trails. If you do open terrain it may not be a problem mounting to the rain gutters.

Good luck!

http://photobucket.com/albums/v458/NorthernPride24241/

 

[DangerBoy]

My vote is gutter mount. I built my own rack so here is how I did the clamps for the gutters. Write up coming soon on my site

 

[GroversXJ]

I personally think the factory roof rails are stronger but I have no proof to support it. I mounted my home made rack on the factory rails a month ago and have my spare and my high lift attached to it with no problems. I wanted my rack to sit as close to the roof as possible and the gutter mounts I've seen tend to put it higher off of the roof than I wanted. Besides it was easier to mount to the factory rails for me.

 

[xjfish]

I would think that the rain gutters would be stronger. Dangerboy I was thinking of fabbin' up something myself like that. Looks good. I'll definatly read your writeup.

 

[Fergie]

Here is how I did mine. These are Yakima 1a mounts, 4 per side.

Fergie

 

[ChuckD]

I'm looking for a mounting system for a rack that can support the most weight. Would I be better off with rain-gutter or factory rail mounts? In either case, I guess more is better (6-8 vs. 4). If the factory mounts are better, and I decide to make my own rack, what is the best way of attaching to the factory rails? If not, who makes good raingutter mounts?

Thanks,
fiz

Forget the raingutters and factory rails.

Use the the factory mounting points where the OEM Rails are attached to. Also do you have an earlier XJ or later. The later fixed the mounting problem with metal nutzerts, the early XJ' s had rubber ones and they couldn't hold at all.

Two things are very importantl on a roof rack, Strong mounting and keeping the Center of Gravity as low as possible. The only solution is a FarmerMatt Rack. Here is a picture of mine, and it uses the factory mounting points with metal nutzerts. The only rack that would be better would be one tied into a roll cage.

I'll try to post some more pictures tomorrow. As far as I know, he is still working on these racks. The design is very sound, unlike the guttermounts.
Gutter mounts are pretty easy, but the unibody flexes alot. When your all twisted up, feel the rail, it literally moves. I have had a rack with gutter mounts and it worked it's way loose. Then the supports buckled. This may not be the case for all gutter mount racks, but it is very diffucult to design a rack with guttermounts that fits snug to the roof line.

 

[OT]

I dilled holes through the rails and used carriage bolts. Feels solid to me.

Sorry about the quality of the pic, I took it in pitch black.

 

[fizassist]

I dilled holes through the rails and used carriage bolts. Feels solid to me.

Sorry about the quality of the pic, I took it in pitch black.

Yep, I don't think that would be bad. I made a spare tire rack that u-bolted around the factory cross-rails. It bounced some because of flex in the cross-rails, but yours are bolted close to the end, so I'm not surprised it's a lot more solid.

So far, the FarmerMatt rack looks like a winner. I have a '95 Sport; I haven't taken the factory rails off yet to see whether it has nutserts or not.

 

[fizassist]

Here is how I did mine. These are Yakima 1a mounts, 4 per side.
Fergie

That looks nice; I had been thinking about the 1a mounts if raingutters were the answer; they can be had pretty cheap on Ebay. How did you connect them to the rack?

 

[hjeepxj]

I like my Gutter Mounts, I can sit in the roof rack and it doesnt even sweat.

 

[Fergie]

That looks nice; I had been thinking about the 1a mounts if raingutters were the answer; they can be had pretty cheap on Ebay. How did you connect them to the rack?

I welded a piece of triangular flat stock to the bottom of the rack. I prefit the mounts for spcing with a pice of wood, then used the holes drilled in the wood as a template and made my holes in the flat stock from there.

I picked up the 1a mounts a while ago for super cheap. I payed $15 for a set of four, and bought two sets.

If you need it, I can get a better shot of the mount.

Fergie

 

[sidriptide]

i kinda like the look and design of the new "top hat" rack from olympic. it is a raingutter mount and the bars actual;ly extend outside of the gutter to protect it.. the pics are a little shy of detail and i wont buy it till i see one first-hand.. i may just steal their design and have a friend fab something of good quality tubing... and i will echo the point about the "old style" rubber grommets being inferior.

 

[fizassist]

i kinda like the look and design of the new "top hat" rack from olympic. it is a raingutter mount and the bars actual;ly extend outside of the gutter to protect it.. the pics are a little shy of detail and i wont buy it till i see one first-hand.. i may just steal their design and have a friend fab something of good quality tubing... and i will echo the point about the "old style" rubber grommets being inferior.

I thought that looked interesting, too. I'm going to try to get on the phone with them tomorrow and see if they'll quote a weight capacity. It looks like it sits pretty low.

 

[2xtreme]

I thought that looked interesting, too. I'm going to try to get on the phone with them tomorrow and see if they'll quote a weight capacity. It looks like it sits pretty low.

As far as weight goes. There is no other salution than rain gutter mount. The roof alone can not handle any where close to the weight the rain gutter can hold. The strongest standard off the shelf rack is going to be the Yakima 1A mount (150lbs per bar) you could put four bars up there and you probably would not want to drive that much weight around town for very long on your cherokee. The factory rack can not take any where close to that weight (normally 150lbs max total load). The factory rack mounts if you make your own custom mounts might take more than 150lbs but not much more before the roof will fold in.

HTH,
Michael

 

[DangerBoy]

I personally think the factory roof rails are stronger but I have no proof to support it. I mounted my home made rack on the factory rails a month ago and have my spare and my high lift attached to it with no problems. I wanted my rack to sit as close to the roof as possible and the gutter mounts I've seen tend to put it higher off of the roof than I wanted. Besides it was easier to mount to the factory rails for me.

I messed with using the stock rack and it put my basket way up in the air compared to gutter mount. My rack sits about 1/8" above the factory rails right now and just misses the roof in the center of the truck so I couldnt be any lower without touching the center of the roof

 

[MMIXJ]

2extreme is correct...

the gutter mount is stronger due to the folded construction and the placement over the sides of the vehicle.

...whether they see more twisting forces than the factory points is another question, but for weight capacity, go gutter.

(spoken as a former "sports rack" employee)

 

[Stick]

I just had mine mounted today. Check it out
Rain gutters are stronger
http://homepage.mac.com/macnrover/PhotoAlbum4.html

Nice....ummmm, rack. On the Jeep, there was a Jeep in the first two, right ? :smoker:

 

[old_man]

I can personally talk about gutters vs. factory. The factory will hold for a little while. I designed my rack to use the factory rails. I even replaced all the rubber mounting bushings. Within 4 or 5 rough trails, the rack had pulled the factory rails off. I went with gutter mounts. While they aren't perfect, they are stronger. My only problem is the mount flex, which causes the rack to walk forward or backwards depending on the trail. I am adding a welded bead in the rain gutter to prevent this.