Land Rover Roof Rack - its a bit odd

[bln]

Ive just purchased a 2012 Defender and its got this odd roof rack on it - the base of the rack has only a few cross members so anything you put in the rack will fall through to the roof unless its a surfboard or something big. the previous owner has placed heavy plywood which would have to be 3/4inch thick over the rack - but I'm thinking of replacing this with something lighter. Also the rack is extremely noisey. I have read somewhere that the rack is very strong and will provide some protection in the event of a roll-over.
The Land Rover decal is cracked but I can't work out how to replace it - it seems as though its moulded onto the rack.
Does anyone else have this type of rack? If so what have they done for the base. Has anyone managed to make the rack quieter? Perhaps a front-runner rack may be a better option.
Cheers
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[DieselDan]

That looks like an official, Land Rover supplied/dealer fit expedition roof rack. Very exxy if I recall what the dealer quoted me when he asked if I wanted one for mine! Probably made by Mantec or Safety Devices, not sure.

You'll struggle to make that sort of rack significantly quieter, though putting thinner boards on it may help, and reduce the weight compared to the ones that are on it. But to make any inroads to the noise you'll need to fashion some sort of air dam/slope/deflector around the tubes at the front, like on this Disco.

[bln]

Well I took off the big sheets of timber and under it was the original sticker - like brand new. But I was shocked to see that the most I can carry on this huge rack is 38kg. In the manual it states that the maximum roof load is 150kg so I guess that means that this roof rack must weigh 112kg. So if I put a spare wheel on the top then I’ve reached the racks Limit already.

[DieselDan]

I think that's more than likely just an arse covering exercise. The static load limit is 150kg, but the dynamic limit is probably something like 75kg (so LR don't get sued if you roll over from having too much weight up top) so the rack is about 37kg.

[Colmoore]

The price you pay for comfort mate; my old Defender was rated at 1 tonne on the roof!!! I did put 700 odd kgs up there a few times and it didn't even feel sketchy.
38kgs sounds like the weight of the rack though - if it's LR kit you'd think it would cope with the rated load.
I have seen crew with a lot more than 150 on them!

[Didge]

.... I have read somewhere that the rack is very strong and will provide some protection in the event of a roll-over.
.......

That will just ensure that if you do have the misfortune of a rollover, you are squashed uniformly. The pillars and lack of bracing are going to let you down in a big way.