jethro

I'm waiting for my Con-Ferr Roof Rack to come in and I was wondering is it a lot of trouble to install? I would imagine it's pretty heavy, so do I need another person to help me install it?

shazaam

If for no other reason then to just not scratch up the roof of your truck. yeah you need someone else there.

besides its the perfect excuse to sit back and have a few

If you don't mind me asking how much for the roof rack?

jethro

I paid $287 for the rack. Not too bad I think.

Roadrunner

I put a couple of nice scratches in my roof installing my Wilderness rack by myself. I wasn't untill after I slide the rack that maybe I should have used one of my thick blankets as a buffer to prevent the scratches.:pat:

shazaam

This is what I am considering to get:

click here

bobzemuda

Looks like he's got them bolting up to the truck several different ways. One of them looks like it's on some Yakima bars, some look like they're bolted right to the roof.

That cinder block trick would have been a llot cooler if he's stacked the blocks into it while it was on his truck. Then you'd know he REALLY stands behind his work.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I can only hope you are joking!

A well made aluminum rack will hold all the weight you need to have up that high on a moving vehicle, and since weight is an issue, an aluminum rack is much more practical than a steel one. An aluminum rack is more than half as light as a steel one and it won't RUST!

If he put those cinder blocks up there, then he'd have to make his a convertible, cause his roof would crumble! Most 4Runner roofs will only take 150-200 lbs, so standing up there is probably not a good idea. The roof will hold more dead weight I'm sure, but it's when you get all that weight going 70 mph and then try to stop it quickly, and it decides not to stop and takes your roof with it. :pat:

transalper

Installing the roof racks is pretty easy, but it is definitely a two person job to get it on the roof. Preferrably two people taller than 5', depending on your lift and tires. My wife has a heck of a time stretching to avoid scratching the roof, so I generally ask my burly neighbor for help. Also be careful not to damage the plugs at the end of the rails if you are mounting it to the roof channels. They unscrew using a star-shaped wrench and can break easily, especially if it's cold.

That's a nice looking rack, but mounting it may be a bit tricky. I wouldn't mount it directly to the factory rack cross bars. Kinda defeats the purpose of getting a beafy rack because the factory bars can't support much weight.

Plus it's pretty long and would require a combination of mounts, like the Yakima Q-tower for the front and something else for the rear.

Do you already have the Yakima-style bars? If not consider using the Conferr mounts with some home-fabbed brackets:
This would only work for the rear mount in the factory rails.

Adding the cost of that rack with the cost of the mounting system you get close to the cost of a complete Wilderness Rack. Just something to consider.

transalper

A well made aluminum rack will cost $600 or more. I would love to have a Hannibal aluminum rack, but can't justify the expense. In the moderate price range, steel racks are your sturdiest option. Cheaper aluminum racks are fine for lighter loads, though. It depends what you want to use it for.

I regularly carry 150-200lbs of camping gear on my roof rack and sometimes stand up there during loading as well. It's been down some pretty rough trails fully-loaded and the roof is holding up fine. It does flex a bit with my extra mass up there, so I would probably haul cinder blocks and pavers in a trailer rather than on the roof. I do miss having a rain-gutter mounted rack, which was a lot sturdier.

shazaam

a roof rack is like number 3 or 4 on the list of things-to-get-next. First I was going to mount the spare up there, but now I learn that will effect it somewhat off roading with the weight up there. So then it got put on hold. Now I need it to carry all the other stuff, so I'm looking again, and I was considering the steel one only b/c it was stronger. But you bring up a good point that it will weigh more too. so now I dunno. I'll just keep researching.

bobzemuda

I was basically implying that his 1200 lbs or whatever it was, wasn't to big a deal with the rack on four more cinder blocks on the ground, instead of mounted on a vehicle.

Plus, as you pointed out, who would put 1200lbs on their roof anyway? That's obviously not safe.

Bill

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Bill,

Just making sure! Anybody with some steel and a torch/welder can fab a roof rack, even I can do that , but I wouldn't just slap anything up there. I'm going with a Safari/Surco when I get one, just out of convenience and size and the fact that I will carry a minimal amount of stuff up there. Like I said, most people don't need anything near as beefy as that dude is building!

Ducky

Jowie and I fabbed up my roof rack... fairly simple, some things took some work to figgure out... but I wanted something that cost me not alot, and was low clearance...

Here's the link:
http://4roc.org/wa/wabb/viewtopic.php?t=16

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Interesting that the word "WABB" is in there as you followed my post...

BTW, the roof rack looks good!!!!

Ducky

heh... I didn't notice it... lol...

mochoajr

Jethro358,

Where did you buy the rack?

mochoajr

hillbilly

[hijack on]

transalper-

Check out OffRoadToyStore.com. Quality aluminum rack at a semi reasonable price.

They must've just raised the price on the Kilo. I ordered mine a little over a week ago and it was $359.99, not $379.99. Guess I got lucky for once...

The Kargo Master main site: KargoMaster.com

[hijack off - sorry]

Yoter

Yeah it was used but in prime shape. $70/$82 with tax

Dont know what I would do w/o a roofrack. Holds my full sized thirty five inch TXR & high light jack. Cant wait for camping season to roll around again. Blue

jethro

mochoajr,

I just went to my local store, Lowcountry 4x4, to buy it.

I had no luck finding this rack on the internet. Maybe someone can post a link if they find a place.

RTdawgs

$287 including mounts and tax?