ROOFRACKS - What are 150 owners using???

[bdee]

I have the rhino xtray.great value and great size

[4ndyB]

[4ndyB]

I ended up going with the Rhino Pioneer platform around 1.4 x1.2 black colour and Rhino feet that attach to the existing factory rails, and to keep my gear dry a bush ranger Bush Pak the same dimensions works a treat very happy

[alexchatz]

You guys can check ut my built thread, i got the rhino rack nd i have had lights added to it, pretty easy to remove, even easer if decide to have a hoist sytem like mjrandom! nice work, i think i might copy it!.
Also the lights area all wires back to 1 point which unclips and tucks in behind the door i ever wantt o take the rack off.. but being biase i think mine looks mean so i leave it on!

[mjrandom]

I'd like to be able to carry some bikes, as well as possibly a luggage box on our new 150. Is there a particular system (or combo) that would best do those two tasks?

Probably one of the open trays would be the best bet. Plenty of spots to screw into the open channels. Depends how much weight you will have because the Rhino platform is quite heavy.

[maomaocat]

I'd like to be able to carry some bikes, as well as possibly a luggage box on our new 150. Is there a particular system (or combo) that would best do those two tasks?

[mjrandom]

Overall I am quite happy with how it has come out. Price wise it has ended up quite similar to the set up I was going to make for a Rhino tray and I have ended up with more carrying capacity due to the lighter weight of the Jaram rack. I am not worried that it is too light because my previous roof rack is also a Jaram and it is now over 15 years old. I have drilled plenty of holes in that without any suggestion of it being compromised for strength.



This is the old girl. I will put another set of pulleys up in the car port roof space and have the two racks sit fore and aft. That way I can fit the rack on my own without damaging the roof or sides or my back.

Not the best of weather today but here is a fitted shot.



If you are after a light rack that is pretty easy to fit and remove I can recommend this arrangement. Putting the extra rails in is easy enough as long as you have the tools and know how to swing them, otherwise leave it to Jaram or a mate because the holes have to be in the right spot and tapped properly to make sure the rack is secure.

[mjrandom]

I was hoping that I could position the rack and then tighten the crossbar attachement bolts so all I had to do was loosen off the security screws, slide the feet out and pull the rack off so it will go back very quickly. No way will the feet come loose unless the bolts are loose too. Not a big deal but adds a few minutes to the fitup and you have to get your hands under the ends of the rack to tighten or loosen the bolts. I have a 13mm ratchet spanner and with that it is an easy enough job but you still want to make sure the roof is clean because your arms will be on there moving around.



The rack is pretty much the length overall of the factory rails. With the 4 CXB feet and spacers it weighs just 23kg. Taking the 80kg capacity into account that gives me a comfortable 55kg which is plenty. We carry camping chairs and sleeping bags up there when we go away or the kayaks (3 for a total of 55kg with support frame) or the solar panel.





Overhangs are pretty even though the whole rack sits towards the rear by about 50mm.

The spacing on the rails means I can drill a couple of holes and bolt the Traxrax directly to the rack. I haven't checked how to mount the newly acquired solar panel but I think the proprietary clamps will be ok and I will weld longer feet on them to span the weldmesh floor of the Jaram rack. Tomorrow's job if the weather is ok.

The Traklander top frame is narrower all round than the bottom frame so that means the sliding awning brackets I made up for the old Jaram rack simply wont fit so they will stay with the old rack which will probably get used on the ute. I will have to make up a new system completely and I am leaning towards a beam arrangement like the Fred's arm rather than the sliding thing I made up last time. Probably end up buying a new awning for the 150 and leave the ute with the old lot. Since I saw how convenient JPH's set up of awnings and swags was that makes a lot of sense to me.

[mjrandom]

I wanted a roof rack that I could fit in 10 or 15 minutes so that it wasn't on the roof the whole time. Carpark heights are an issue as is the added wind drag. We don't use the roof rack other than camping trips or taking kayaks away so it was important that the system be simple. We also don't carry much weight so a dedicated roof mounted system to use the full 100kg capacity wasn't needed.

I finished off fitting the 1800 x 1200 Jaram Tracklander to the factory rails today. I was going to try and fit 3 sets of feet on the rails but the spacing just isn't right, there is of course no need so in the end I gave in.

The Tracklander is made for either direct fitment to the roof with Rhino feet or fitting to the factory NS rails with Rhino CXB feet. Rhino have not tested the CXB feet to the 150 and do not recommend them however Jaram are happy and a few PPers have used them. The 150 rails are larger and at an angle compared with the 120 but having fitted the rack a few times now I am confident the CXB feet will work well.

The first problem I encountered was that the rails welded into the bottom of the Tracklander weren't in the correct position to mount the rack to the factory rails. You could mount it but the feet were barely 600 apart which left huge overhangs at each end. I contacted Jaram and arranged for another couple of rails to be welded with end plates and then sent to me for fitting. Jaram were very good and if you can wait they will custom make the set up with welded rails. I don't know what extra cost will be involved but powder coat to match, freight and two rails was a couple of hundred.

After careful measuring I decided the absolute maximum centre distance would be a little over 900 apart. So I settled on the magic number of 890. It actually came out a little longer than that but close enough. I had a problem initially because the new additional rails had been made by cutting off the width of the end plates and then welding these together so when they arrived the rails didn't fit. A combination of a few mm of heavy powder coat and shrinkage on the rack base that wasn't allowed for. Another call to Jaram and I was ok to grind a couple of mm of each end plate to suit. This was quite frustrating because I had the materials and gear to make these myself but decided to keep Jaram in the loop for anyone who wanted to do this with factory bits. Anyway no problem, rails marked and fitted. To fit the rails I drilled and tapped M8 into the bottom frame of the roof rack which is a D section in aluminium and 3mm thick. Loctite and lock washers fitted with allen key head screws and the extra rails were installed. Not much leeway for fitting with the end plates being predrilled and only 0.5mm tolerance on position. Anyway all fitted without having to go larger on the endplate holes.



These rails take the place of the conventional crossbars and are integral to the roof rack itself keeping height down. The CXB feet have a design to allows the feet to slide into the cross bar extrusion but the little wings need to be cut off to let the feet fit up into the Jaram rails. There is no downside to this as the feet are securely bolted to the rails with an M8 bolt and captive nut.



I trial fitted this to the car last weekend and found that space under the rack to get to and tighten the crossbar attachment bolts was very tight. The camber (arch) in the factory rails also meant I could fit a 3rd foot along the way so I decided to buy some spacers and space the front and rear feet 6mm. This would compensate for the rail camber and let me mount the extra feet as well as giving me more room to swing a spanner.

It became pretty clear that I could not mount the roof rack centrally (or a little to the rear as I have done) and still fit the 3rd set of CXB feet as below so that idea went.



The 6mm spacer is easily seen here.



The spacers are held in with M6 screws and form a solid addition to the CXB feet.

[JerraD4D]

G'day All. New to the forum after upgraded my Land Rover to a new 150 series a few months ago. I recently installed a Rhino Pioneer Platform (44102B) on my existing Rhino Sports bars with SXB legs. I wanted a full-length roof system to carry all my lighter weight camping gear (swags etc) and to attach my side and rear awning. Problem was that I couldn't afford to go an ARB steel or alloy system due to the height. Since the prado has had a lift, I simply wouldn't be able to enter most public car parks and/or shopping centres with a permanent roof cage.

So far, rhino platform has proved magnificent. Can't upload any pics for a few weeks as I am O/S presently, when when I get home, will post a couple to demonstrate how it connects to SXB legs (x4) and carriage of kit etc. I will undertake its first major journey in a month to Vic High Country and Tassie, so we'll see. But, to my mind it sits low, feels tough and would certainly take the gear I am intent on carrying. Impressed.

[Scud]

Thanks Josh,

I would like to know the measurements without using the factory rails to keep the profile as low as possible.

Thanks

Jeff

Hey Jeffers are you still after these measurements, just installed the Rhino 42103B Platform using the RLCP23 leg kit. The 42103 platform is the same as the 42102 Rhino recommend for the Prado except its approx 100mm wider so would still be the same height.

Let me know

Scud

[Jeffers]

Guys there is another thread on the Pioneer Platform, http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Factory-Rails. I have a few shots of mine there and also some measurements. If you need some better photos or measurements I'm more than happy to do it.

Cheers

Josh

Thanks Josh,

I would like to know the measurements without using the factory rails to keep the profile as low as possible.

Thanks

Jeff

[JPH]

Guys there is another thread on the Pioneer Platform, http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Factory-Rails. I have a few shots of mine there and also some measurements. If you need some better photos or measurements I'm more than happy to do it.

Cheers

Josh

[Jeffers]

Well, I've put the flash looking black Rhino Pioneer rack on my silver 150 VX. It was a pain in the arse at the end but looks good.

As soon as I get some friends round I'll get the Foxwing on. (Need some man strength to hold it in place to secure it)

Quick question, does anyone actually bother drilling all the holes for the cross-bars and pop-rivetting them in place? I can't see the point. I didn't realise until I'd already pulled the factory rails off there was going to be pop-rivetting involved. Thoughts?

Hi Blakey,

I am also interested in getting the black Rhino Pioneer Platform Rack.

Can you please tell me the measurement from the roof of your Prado to the top of the rack in the 3 positions where the existing roof rails were attached to the roof?
Im interested to see ho much higher the Pioneer rack would sit in lieu of the factory rails.
Also did you use the Rhino legs to secure it to your roof?

Thanks

Jeff

[Tauras]

I use a tigers steel tent rack and it is an absolute peice of crap. The mounts don't sit flush on the rack and it started to rust almost immediately, in addition the mesh has now started to come off due to poor welding....did I mentioned it weighs like a small elephant.