By Slider on Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 11:23 pm: Edit

This is what I have found so far.
Looking for comments and/or experiences.
Please help in the search for the perfect roof rack...

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The wilderness rack (eg: from AB):
good???:
- seems to be very strong?
- legs look nice and beeffy
- lots of accessories
bad???:
- legs (to gutter) seem to block roof/side window?
- wieght limits?
- square tube doesn't match ARB bull bar tubing
- does it whistle in the wind
- must add or weld on light tabs

LR Adventure rack
good???:
- nice design to fit the esthetic of the truck.
- doesn't block any windows
- round tube allows bungee cord hooks to grab
-all light tabs there
bad???:
- appears to be weaker? wieght limits? anyone?
- that nice contour limits the flat floor space

PLEASE COMMENT...THNX

By E Snyder on Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 10:20 am: Edit

I have a wilderness rack, with custom wire mesh floor, and additional crossbar supports. I've had 6-8 people on it! It does make noise on highway. Very strong, and the flat surface is important to me, because you can sleep up there, set up lawn chairs, etc. Plus cheaper than LR Adventure rack! Level rails also mean it works well to carry canoes and such.
Good luck.

By slider on Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 02:43 pm: Edit

can the rear sunroof open all the way with the wilderness rack??

By Frank B on Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 02:58 pm: Edit

I have a wilderness rack and here is what I think:

I love the way it looks, tough and strong.
Bungee cords hold on to the tubing fine.
The flat floor is good as posted below.
Has many accessories and such.

It whistles in the wind, but only if my radio is off and my sunroof is open.
The back sunroof cant open with it on.
And it really doesnt block the alpines much.

I thought I made the right choice, because I love my wilderness rack, but the other day I saw an adventure up close for the first time, and I wish I had gotten it, but I cant justify the price over mine. Hope this helps.

Frank B.

By slider on Monday, April 02, 2001 - 02:26 am: Edit

Frank...Take a close look...can it be altered and raised just a bit so the sunroof can open??

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Monday, April 02, 2001 - 04:21 am: Edit

slider, what are your planned uses for this rack?

offroad, hauling? or onroad?

i have the adventure rack and i love it, actually i dont know why anyone wouldn't unless parking garages are something you're into.

i use mine for more on road hauling like lumber, couches, matresses, shit like that...

and for offroad or camping i like to sleep up there.

just throw a piece of plywood up there and you cant even feel the dip.

i suppose i could have got away with the wilderness rack for what i use it for now, but i plan on driving out west and wheeling so i'll need the extra support and strength for that.

your main differences between the two are

adventure is all one unit that is welded together, wilderness is bolt together.

materials used are superiour in adventure rack (heavey duty) as compared to the wilderness.

this is reflected in the cost.

rd

By Mike on Monday, April 02, 2001 - 11:36 am: Edit

I too have the Adventure Rack. I agree with the earlier post completely. I love it and it is very well made. I have had about 300 lbs up there and although quite 'tippy', there were no other problems. Sunroofs open just fine. It can easily be removed in about 20 minutes or less by two people.

LoL,
Mike

By Frank B on Monday, April 02, 2001 - 01:21 pm: Edit

Well, I haven't measured, but the rack is pretty close to the sunroof (I mean very close). I will measure it later tonite and post. If anyone knows a way to modify it to open, I would like to know.

Frank B

By Joshua Bova (Jbova) on Monday, April 02, 2001 - 02:27 pm: Edit

I have the wilderness rack you can open the rear sun roof, but it rattles a bit over bumps. Solution is to unbolt the floor from the rear supports, and add some washers to raise it just a 1/4". Tighten it back down and you are set. I have had a lot of stuff up there, no problems, I prefer the flat floor. the way the floor is bolted down is nice, it allowed me to easily bolt on part of a cannibalized bike rack and surf rack so I can have everything up there. Also a hell of a lot cheaper. The only other rack that I considered was the kaymar rack, but the only place I could find it was from acme-outfitters in Southern CA. They only wanted $472 for the rack and this is the strongest rated rack I have seen, it actually exceeds what I would consider safe for the roof. The only downside was that shipping out here (nj) was over 1/2 the cost of the rack.

I like the Wilderness, but the other one is nice too. Cost factor was biggest in my decision.

-josh

By donkeydon on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 03:38 am: Edit

The adventure rack is built by Safety Devices in the UK and sold thru Land Rover. It is the strongest rack available and well worth the extra cost. I slid my Disco off the side of 3 foot rock into a tree. The only thing holding the truck up wqas the adventure rack. Were it not there, the alpine window would have broke, the roof have been severely damaged and i would have been mad. The wilderness rack would not have held up because of the bolt together construction. Yeah, it may cost a little less, there may be more goodies for it (although trek outfitters makes some really nice accesories for the adventure rack, hi lift mounts, tire carrier, shovel mountes etc.)but it is not as strong, can not support the weight of the mighty Disco and most important the Adventure Rack looks cooler.

By ButchS on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 05:44 am: Edit

Well, very informative posting but since we're discussing roof racks, anyone tried the Hannibal rack? It's pros and cons?

By Al on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 09:49 am: Edit

I have the Garvin (aka Wilderness) rack. I like it. I've had almost 600 pounds up there with no problems. The rear sunroof clears fine on a DSII if you set the rack correctly back so that the glass clears the last cross member. One thing I don't like about the adventure rack is that the floor is spaced too far appart and it's seems easy to put your foot through the sunroof if you're not carful. But I guess this can be fixed too. The wilderness (Garvin) rack also has some nice places to mount a highlift, ax, etc. And it's easy to load a Kayak or Canoe up there. AB only sell the 6" high Wilderness rack but Garvin also makes a 4" high rack. If I was to do it all over again I would look into the 4" rack. See www.4x4connection.com.