The only reason to install a roof rack to your TJ is to mount accessories, and haul more stuff.

More stuff! More stuff!

So very important: more stuff.

Boy, we Americans love our stuff and we love to bring it everywhere we go; and we love to get on the internet and talk about all of our stuff and how we take it everywhere we go. Even more, we do so with total disregard for payload capacity, and gross vehicle weight rating - as though it's absolutely hilarious to weigh your Jeep down with pounds of steel and equipment and then pile the family inside for an 80-mile-an-hour ride down the freeway where we exit onto a lateral tilting, sandy, maybe rocky, definitely steep, definitely not flat, off-highway trail.

Sure, what the hell. That makes sense.

I love what Tom Sheppard says in his article, Loading and Lashing: Controlling and Organizing Cargo for Maximum Safety and Efficiency, in the 2008 Gear Guide of The Overland Journal: "fifty million roof rack users can't be wrong (they think)."

Ahem . . . pardon. Let me change tone here. A roof rack lets you mount overhead auxiliary lighting, lash precious cargo, carry additional water and fuel (smart idea . . .), and they can also give you a myriad of places to mount other doo-dads like radio antennas, axes, shovels, camp awnings, and so forth. For temporary matters, a good roof rack will also pave the road for bonafide homeownership: move a couch, get a Christmas tree, haul plywood and sheetrock. The list does go on.

If I'm going to be so cynical, why the hell did I put a roof rack on my TJ? I like to call it: Adventure Support. I'm interested in camping comfortably, and therefore I want a place to install my Eezi-Awn roof tent for extended trips, and attach an awning. Additionally, I fail to have a decent way to haul bikes since installing the Garvin Wilderness bumper with swing out rack - a spare tire bike carrier no longer attaches to the spare tire.

Frankly, a roof rack made some sense. It's metropolitan thinking, maybe Donald Trump thinking: when you've used up all your horizontal space, go upward. Think lofty. Luxury condos shall be for sale on top of my Jeep early next year.

For camping, and adventure recreation (biking, kayaking, skiing, etc.), a roof rack is going to make the best of a bad situation: Jeeps - despite their flexy suspension and short wheelbase advantages - absolutely suck for hauling cargo; indeed, there's no real estate for a bunch of equipment.

With Jeep TJs (or any SWB vehicle), you must be mindful of a few matters when considering a roof rack:

• How well does the rack work with your hard or soft top?
• Can the current suspension handle the extra weight (of the rack, and of the stuff you pile on it)?
• Is the rack rugged enough, yet as light as possible?
• Will it cause fatigue in the Jeep's sheet metal where it attaches?
• Are there other possible points of failure?
• Is your Jeep so tall that getting to the goods on top will be problematic?

No doubt that a Jeep with a roof rack opens up the world of adventuring: take your canoe, kayak, bike, snowboard, etc. with you safely in style. A good rack will round out the possibilities of using your Jeep for recreation. That's worth alot.

But never underestimate how a rack will change the handling of the vehicle.

As I inspected the parts, I found a solid and heavy powdercoat job that appeared to be too good; even the threads on a few of the nuts and bots had been coated.

All the nuts, bolts, the two knobs, and the "raise-n-shine" kit were well bagged and all seemed of the utmost quality: thick steel, beefy bolts, etc.

What I was not so excited about (even though I knew this would be true) was the thin wall steel tubing used on the 5 straight load bars. Being 66" long, they deflect under moderate pressure - you can place one end on the ground, the other in your hand and push in the middle to make the bar flex. The consequence of a light rack.

I had keen plans to test out the Eezi-Awn tent up there, but had my suspicions once I felt those load bars. I don't necessarily expect the bars to fail, just bend. So those will have to be modded, either with some kind of center support at the Jeep's center roll bar, or perhaps new 66" load bars made with thicker walls.

Obviously, this rack was meant for bikes, skis, canoes, and other simple things like lights or antennas. Admittedly, it's not really designed for significant weight directly on these 66" bars, like I was looking to inflict on it.

The rack isn't bad in respect to it's purpose. They try to keep the weight down with the thinner gauge steel, and also try to keep you from piling on far too much weight on top of the Jeep. I just have to make adjustments myself if I want to have more than 150 lbs up there.

Note about the color and powdercoating:
Named "Sierra Chrome" and considered an ecologically friendly coating because it doesn't generate nasty carcinogens (during the application process) like standard solvent-borne paint does. For this reason, I favor powdercoat finishes on my Jeep parts. This "alternative coating" reduces the emissions of VOCs and thereby reduces hazardous wastes and decreases worker exposure to toxic air emissions. Think twice, think about the future of our world and your brain cells, when using solvent-borne paint on your Jeep parts.

Good news! Sierra Chrome isn't really bright, blingy, shiny chrome. It's silver, thank God. However, this particular coating from Olympic also features a clear UV coating for additional protection, so it has a clear glossy finish.

While it is possible to put this on without drilling a single hole, I elected to drill out some of the holes to use larger bolts for better weight management. That added a little time and effort to the install, obviously.

No matter. This rack goes on fast and without headache or special tools.

Modifying for Maximum Rigidity
In the photo to the right, you can see some little yellow arrows (click for a larger vewion). These host the OEM bolts that hold on the tail light housing. In the manufacturing of the Jeep, they used the blessed NUTSERT for easier removal and re-installation during service. The rack is held on with these three little bolt holes (as specified from Olympic). I've drilled them out to 3/8" for larger bolts. Easy.

Oh, wait!

. . . there's more.

The mounting brackets also offer one more way to improve the fitment of the rack - additional hole(s) for bolting through the tub above the tail lamp. Again, this is optional, but a wise thing to do for a rack that will be taking some weight. See the photo to the left.

You can improve upon this by installing a pair of steel corner guards. I have a set from Rokmen, but they were added several months after the rack went on. More on that later.

First, you have to make it in a manner so that it's rigid, but you don't have much to work with for mounting points. Sure, the Jeep tub and windshield frame are there, but that means the rack supports must be rather long - thick gauge material will start to bring the weight of the rack in the realm of reasonably unsafe. On top of that, sheetmetal is a poor choice for placing a heavy load. It's just too thin.

But Jeep people like their racks, armor, guards, and components to be overbuilt; over-tough; bomb proof. That brings me to . . . .
Second, you have to make a rack that's really robust. What's the problem with that? Again, it means that the rack gets heavy. And the problems with a heavy rack are varied and diverse:

1. New suspension springs might be in order
2. This additional weight is up high, ultimately raising the center of gravity
3. You might be inspired to pile on way too much stuff on top for high speed driving, or off camber trail obstacles
4. Fuel economy will suffer
5. Road manners of the Jeep will change
6. Introduction of sheetmetal fatigue at the rear mounting points
7. The heavier the rack, the more difficult it is to raise and lower the Jeep top

Third, consumers don't want wind noise or any loss of visibilty out the front or rear of the Jeep.

Hence, any roof rack design has a lot to live up to, and the bottom line is that a good rack, a rack worth buying, will perform some version of a miracle: lightweight, yet strong, and fastened to the Jeep so you can't see it from the driver's seat.

The Olympic Sports Rack comes close, very close. It scores high with most of those points. As advertised, the rack is rated for 150 lbs - but that means having the weight span the length of the rack. Such as with a canoe, so that it rests on the bar over the windsheild and the bar over the rear window. These two are the weight-manging power points. The 5 narrower bars that span the length in the middle add rigidity and structure. But a heavy load (100 pounds) on these will cause them to bend.

It's worth noting that more than 150lbs on top of the Jeep is far for than should be up there at highway speed or on technical trails. For safey reasons, a rack simply doesn't need to be able to hold more than that.

As such, you get a lot for your dollar, particularly if you understand the benefits of keeping the structure light yet functional.

The Olympic Sports Rack was one of two racks readily available on the market that fit my criteria: no basket, decent construction, quick flip-back design, easy fitment with the Safari Snorkel, and (most importantly) light weight. While many equate light with "not stong enough for my needs" let me restate that piling significant weight on top of a Jeep is not bright.

The only other choice would have been the Kargomaster Kongo Cage, but it's much heavier.

With the Eezi-Awn and mountain bike loaded on top, this Jeep won't be traversing any serious "tierra fuerte" although it handles surprisingly well with the additional 180 lbs up there. The floppy Old Man Emu suspension needs to be improved with a higher rate coil spring.

On the highway, no noticable excess wind noise. You think that's a good thing? Well, let me remind you that the rag top creates enough noise already. Lucky us!

As it turns out, the flip back hinge isn't anything impressive. Though it does tip back enough to operate the top, I didn't expect it not to flip back all the way to the ground. So the weight of the rack pulls on the rear mounts, ultimately stressing out the bolt mounting points. This could have been executed better.

Snug but perfect fitment with the ARB Safari Snorkel. See the black knob? Unscrew this on the passenger and driver side, and the rack simply tips back.	Rock solid mounting on the windsheild frame, other than the three bolts on the side. Replace these with stainless steel to avoid rust.

You can see from the photos above here that the rack does mount to the Jeep rather effectively at the windshield frame. The back leaves a little to be desired. I suspect that all roof rack manufacturers wish they had more to work with on the back side.

Nevertheless, I've procured a set of 3/16" steel corner guards by Rokmen. Those beautiful 3/16" of solid steel makes that rear corner mounting area a solid plate.

The point here is to reinforce the sheet metal of the Jeep tub; otherwise that poor tub would likely tear at the bolt holes over time.

Plus . . .

You know . . .

They look cool.

But they will also significantly improve the support of the roof rack.

Ready for adventure . . .