Roof rack / roof bars please school me

gedaso,


I have to confess I ended up changing these over to the factory rails, mainly because of the fit in the gutter channel. I was getting pine needles and occasional leaves in the gap and therefore the gutter channel- they hadn't caused a problem but I was worried that they would eventually.


Having now fitted both, the copies are definitely not the OEM LR parts. I had no issues with the strength of them but the differences I noted are:
- paint finish on copies not as good as (powder?) coating or actually probably anodising...? on LR rails;
- fit in gutter nowhere near as snug - the extrusion is smaller (narrower) I think and the rubber seals on the LR rails are shaped to seal;
- rubber strip seal seems to be of a better quality;
- general fit of the feet etc. is a little better.


Hope that helps.


David

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gedaso

David, I'm looking at these non-genuine rails as well. Are you still happy with them ? Any idea if they're the actual LR parts just sold without the LR logo, or a clone that is approximately the same dimensions ?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DiegotheCat

I love the look of the smaller one and it is just as Practical as the weider 1 I find I just finished the trip and I had a 20 inch spare on the roof quickshade 20 litre bottle of water and there was plenty more room left I have seen the recommended size on Discoveries since and then they look disgusting compared to narrower version I'm on my phone at the moment but can post pics if you want to see it

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Disgusting is an emotive word!!

I looked at both and much prefer the look of the wider rails ... and I'd wager non Discovery drivers could not tell the difference!!

On an RX Lexus, the wider ones might not look as good, for sure ... IMO!!! But IMO too, the Disco is not an aero queen!! IMO the Disco is the most exceptionally square 4x4 ... even the Range Rover Sport 2012 vintage, looks aerodynamic compared to the boxy Disco. Incidentally, the outer part of the wider rails appear to be removable ... hence mine could be narrowed I think... but it's all a matter of where one sees beauty I guess ... and then, there's fashion. And that changes over time...

And finally, there's Fractals. All part of Chaos Theory ... when you look at a cathedral from one mile away, you see an inspiring silhouette. From 400 metres, you see all the gargoyles. The closer you get, the more details you see. With the Disco roof rack, the issues are the same. From 800 metres way, our racks would look the same. And even close up, from the sides, they look the same. But get close and from behind or the front, they look different. But its only the Disco fraternity who view such things with an architect's eye ... most people view a Disco as a block of flats on wheels, they see the silhouette, and they don't see the details much at all. Evidently my 19" wheels (and I have 18's too) are more expensive than standard fare Disco wheels ... but my neighbour has a white Disco which is a TD version and his wheels should be cheaper ... but I can't tell the difference in them from mine!! His front is different to mine too ... and his tail lights ... and his headlamps ... I put green Land Rover centre wheel caps onto my wheels too ... but damn it, its the stickers from his business on his car that differentiates his car for me.


We'll have to disagree - I looked at the photos here, did my measurements, and I am delighted that I got the wider setup. I was a bit nervous about going the standard width due to the narrower being said to look better, and when I picked up the car, I thought they'd put the narrower ones on! But no - the wider ones do sit well inside the vehicle after all. They look great. IMO!!! It's also easier to access a wider one, and I can even lean my collapsable ladder onto the roof rails and the ladder barely clears the Disco, but it does clear it. And I've got room for more stuff up there, and better leverage for tying things down ... I'll probably add the MaxTrax up there too ... there are some neat ways to mount them, and they are bit bulky. If I ever use them, they'll get filthy, and they really belong on the roof.

Its one thing to carry 70kg of things up there... but to get them up and down in the bush, practicality was top of my list. I have a block and tackle to assist too ... but for 4x4 things, I put practicality high on my priorities. With skis too, I could access them from the wider rack from the road without having to climb, or get dirty from rubbing on the vehicle, and since we cross country ski, that's also important to me.

Incidentally I purchased mine from ARB in Brighton Nepean Highway and got ARB to fit mine, and they did a good job. It cost $100 more than from a roof rack specialist, but I felt if there was a problem, that ARB would be better at fixing it.

I'm unsure which ones it was, but when looking at aftermarket rails be aware there were some which aren't profiled quite correctly and place stresses into the roof mounts.

As I said - I'm unsure which ones it was, but they definitely can cause an issue

Quote:

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Originally Posted by l00kin4

I have to confess I ended up changing these over to the factory rails, mainly because of the fit in the gutter channel. I was getting pine needles and occasional leaves in the gap and therefore the gutter channel- they hadn't caused a problem but I was worried that they would eventually.



Hope that helps.

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Yes, very helpful, thanks. :BigThumb:

Our D4 came with factory long tracks, we decided on the Pioneer Platform, we did try roof bars and a basket for a while, but went back to the platform cause of the wind noise.

Day 2 of ownership
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psf2026b50.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psu38iwl5d.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps1ru7kvo9.jpg

Mine is similar to Baz but the short version, although I got the Rhino tracks and these are also a good fit to the roof mounts.

Regarding width, I considered ther narrow width but decided to go with the standard slightly wider version. Other than the looks (which are subjective anyway) here's a couple of points I think are worth considering:

Awning - with more width you can mount the awning low. This gives less wind noise and keeps the awning close to the roof when its open. And reduces your overall height when the rack is not loaded but the awning remains fitted.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/06/281.jpg



Shovel - The shovel would not be able to be mounted so snugly if the rack was narrower. Bit hard to see in this photo (red handle, head to the rear). It would still work but with the extra overhang it fits in there nicely.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...015/10/780.jpg



Cheers,
Scott

It sits pretty high in the first photo, it is a touch lower now, I removed a few spacers to 15mm to 20mm, couldn't get any lower with these legs, I ummmed and aahhhed about getting the legs that Scott has, but decided at the time I'd spent enough money by then:cool:

Still contemplating about them though:D

yep, i've got the narrow width and can't get the rapid wing awning as low as i'd like (without making a much longer bracket which would probably be wobbly), makes it a tight scrape at the shopping centre at 203cm

I ended up making a wind deflector on the weekend to cut down wind noise, makes a huuuuge difference, still tweaking though

no problems fitting my shovel as you have though, however i tried turning the shovel clamps so the tightening knobs faced down and then the shovel glad hit the roof which probably wouldn't happen with the wider rack, maybe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LRD414

Mine is similar to Baz but the short version, although I got the Rhino tracks and these are also a good fit to the roof mounts.

Regarding width, I considered ther narrow width but decided to go with the standard slightly wider version. Other than the looks (which are subjective anyway) here's a couple of points I think are worth considering:

Awning - with more width you can mount the awning low. This gives less wind noise and keeps the awning close to the roof when its open. And reduces your overall height when the rack is not loaded but the awning remains fitted.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/06/281.jpg



Shovel - The shovel would not be able to be mounted so snugly if the rack was narrower. Bit hard to see in this photo (red handle, head to the rear). It would still work but with the extra overhang it fits in there nicely.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...015/10/780.jpg



Cheers,
Scott

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Very interested in hearing about wind deflectors, I have the pioneer rack on my RRS and makes a lot of noise. Have tried wrapping the bungey strap around the front but no difference, I have an awning and maxtrax on the roof but noise is same with or without them.


Cheers

I just bought a sheet of clear grey lexan off eBay, accidentally bought 3mm thick which is too Flexi. Get 6mm or 8mm. I painted the back of it black which gives a gloss finish on the front, though i'd prefer a satin finish on the front to hide fingerprints etc.

You'll need one of these or a jigsaw to cut the sheet 1220x125mm
http://www.hobbytools.com.au/olfa-pc...l-line-scorer/

Got my bro in law to bend three 6mm thick aluminium brackets as per attached drawing, he only had 80mm wide bar, so that's what i got, but i'd prefer 5 brackets around 25mm wide ideally to support the sheet better, then 3mm lexan might be okay.

the bracket hangs off the rhino cross rail which sits back about 180mm from the front of the rack, using a unistrut 8mm spring loaded washer, along with 8x25mm stainless bolt and washers. painted the lot with plastidip as i ran out of enamel.

I used double sided tape to position everything, then self tapping screws to lock it down.
It looked much better without the screws but i just didn't trust the tape, even though it was heavy duty outdoor stuff
in hindsight i should have used the ultra thin tape to position and then use screws bolt down, as the thicker tape i used is causing the lexan to dint where the screws are.

the self tappers were also a bad idea as they've galled in the alloy and i can't easily remove them now, i'm going to replace them with button head bolts painted black.

ideally i want to follow the 3D curve of the roof in future iterations and also wrap the deflector around the sides of the rack back a foot or so a bit like the prospeed rack. Land Rover Discovery 3 and 4 Roof Rack : ProSpeed


cheers
james