Roof Rack Conundrum

So I have the Voyager Rack Off Road Challenge Edition Roof Rack, but I am not in love with it; the looks or function.
I like the utilitarianism of stuff, the Voyager Rack is well build (and heavy), but I don't like the lack of "factory" options available. Yes I know I can make just about anything to fit it, or mount to it, but who has hours on end to spend fabricating stuff...

I have been looking at the Front runner Slimline II rack for the past few weeks, and the more I look into it the more I like it. All the accessories in once place, plus many custom options.

So he is my question, what is everyone running for racks, and what do you like about them.
Are you running a full rack, 3/4, or 1/2?
What accessories do you have, and what do you find you could never leave home for and adventure without?

I need the extra space, as the LR4 get pretty full with the wife, 2 kids, and the dog. Weekend camping trips usually involve stuff on everyone's lap. The rack can double my cargo space so it is a pretty necessary investment


Picture will help, as I'd like to see how the different rack looks on the LR4s

I have the Baja Rack.... Before that I had the Voyager and Urban Offroad. Baja, for me, is the most useful as far as space and mounting. It's also the quietest.

Check out my Instagram for lots of photos... Same handle as on here, Finlayforprez.

Thanks

I faced a similar predicament. Wife, 7 and 5 year old boys and two siberian huskies. That left no room for any gear. I wanted a solution where the rack could come off when it wasn't needed. My preowned 2013 came with extended roof rails and I purchased the OEM Roof Rack Cross Bar Kit and Roof Cargo Basket along with a bungee cargo net and metal tie down anchors from Land Rover Rocklin for $719, including tax and shipping. Have only used it once so far, a 12 hour trip in a blizzard from LI to Stowe, VT and it worked fine. Only negative (and it may just be my inexperience) is that it doesn't just slide on and slide off as I'd hoped. More like a push here, pull there process that took me a good 30 minutes each time.

Finlayforprez said:

I have the Baja Rack.... Before that I had the Voyager and Urban Offroad. Baja, for me, is the most useful as far as space and mounting. It's also the quietest.

Check out my Instagram for lots of photos... Same handle as on here, Finlayforprez.

Click to expand...

Finlay, are the boxed in areas towards the back, on either side of the antenna, larger enough to fit a fuel can (upright) I cannot find the dimensions or see any other purpose for them.
This would be a good feature if so.

Thanks for the information in advance.

Yes, they are made to fit a standard 5 gallon jerry can and work awesome. Baja also has a 2-can mount that I use sometimes, it just takes up a lot of addional room. The 2 built-in can holders work great for me, and I haven't installed the long-range fuel tank yet. I bought the last one in the US last year (28 gallons).

I saw you added me on Instagram, I have some recent pictures on there of the built-in jerry can holders in use.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Finlayforprez said:

Yes, they are made to fit a standard 5 gallon jerry can and work awesome. Baja also has a 2-can mount that I use sometimes, it just takes up a lot of addional room. The 2 built-in can holders work great for me, and I haven't installed the long-range fuel tank yet. I bought the last one in the US last year (28 gallons).

I saw you added me on Instagram, I have some recent pictures on there of the built-in jerry can holders in use.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the information
I just joined Instagram, so I well post some pictures up soon

PeterA said:

Only negative (and it may just be my inexperience) is that it doesn't just slide on and slide off as I'd hoped. More like a push here, pull there process that took me a good 30 minutes each time.

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You need to pull the black rubber cap on the top of each end and loosen the small hex head screw. Then tighten it once you've locked them in. This is far less time consuming.

PeterA said:

I faced a similar predicament. Wife, 7 and 5 year old boys and two siberian huskies. That left no room for any gear. I wanted a solution where the rack could come off when it wasn't needed. My preowned 2013 came with extended roof rails and I purchased the OEM Roof Rack Cross Bar Kit and Roof Cargo Basket along with a bungee cargo net and metal tie down anchors from Land Rover Rocklin for $719, including tax and shipping. Have only used it once so far, a 12 hour trip in a blizzard from LI to Stowe, VT and it worked fine. Only negative (and it may just be my inexperience) is that it doesn't just slide on and slide off as I'd hoped. More like a push here, pull there process that took me a good 30 minutes each time.

Click to expand...

It's too late for you, but a really quick and easy on/off(if you don't have the factory roof rails) is the Yakima set up(available from just about anywhere, I found it at roverparts dot com). Literally under a minute to take the bars on or off, leaving the small Yakima mounts attached to the roof.
Obviously not as burly as some of the racks described above, but I really only needed to mount a roof box and/or some bicycle holders. There's a couple of pics of my setup in this forum.

I actually have the cross bars as well, but they didn't hold enough weight for my comfort. Plus the bolt on Thule rack was really noisy and flimsy.