MBRP Roof Rack 4DR Install w/ Pictures
12-12-2009, 11:12 AM
#1
JK Freak
Thread Starter
MBRP Roof Rack 4DR Install w/ Pictures
Well, I ordered the rack before I found out they changed the bottom piece, but that being said decided to stick with the order anyway. It looses a lot of the aesthetics, but I still think it is a great rack.
The rack is rock solid & good finish. I've got one fitment issue where a bolt hole doesn't line up correctly and one installer issue where the drill-bit walked on me & the hole in the hard top is a bit off.
First you cut-out the templates and tape them to the sides of your hard top. This is the only place where the instruction fall a bit short. They don't show a photo of the templates on the jeep. Probably an important thing since you are about to drill into your precious hard top.
Next, drill the holes. The instruction call for a 1/16 inch pilot hole followed by a 3/8 inch hole. I found the size difference too large, and the drill bit walked on the second hole I ran. So, I drilled out the pilot to 3/16 inches, then 3/8 inches. I would recommend this as a change in the instructions.
You then loosely bolt the rack pieces on from drivers side to passenger side. It takes a bit of jiggling to get all the bolts to line-up with the interior brackets.
Tightening the bolts can be a bit tricky. The clearance wasn't enough for a standard hex wrench, so I had to cut the end off of this one to be able to back-up the socket wrench.
This top hole was not properly aligned & I couldn't get the bolt through no matter how much I tweaked & pulled. I think I will just go to a smaller bolt size since the bolt diameter doesn't seem to be critical at this connection.
And here's the final product. The black rack isn't overly obvious & the 2 inch tubes are very proportionate. The brackets on the cross-bars will make mounting and carrying various object east. I do wish they had not changed the ends, but I think now I might make a set of wheels that slip into the bottoms of the pipe for rolling around when it is off.
The rack is rock solid & good finish. I've got one fitment issue where a bolt hole doesn't line up correctly and one installer issue where the drill-bit walked on me & the hole in the hard top is a bit off.
First you cut-out the templates and tape them to the sides of your hard top. This is the only place where the instruction fall a bit short. They don't show a photo of the templates on the jeep. Probably an important thing since you are about to drill into your precious hard top.
Next, drill the holes. The instruction call for a 1/16 inch pilot hole followed by a 3/8 inch hole. I found the size difference too large, and the drill bit walked on the second hole I ran. So, I drilled out the pilot to 3/16 inches, then 3/8 inches. I would recommend this as a change in the instructions.
You then loosely bolt the rack pieces on from drivers side to passenger side. It takes a bit of jiggling to get all the bolts to line-up with the interior brackets.
Tightening the bolts can be a bit tricky. The clearance wasn't enough for a standard hex wrench, so I had to cut the end off of this one to be able to back-up the socket wrench.
This top hole was not properly aligned & I couldn't get the bolt through no matter how much I tweaked & pulled. I think I will just go to a smaller bolt size since the bolt diameter doesn't seem to be critical at this connection.
And here's the final product. The black rack isn't overly obvious & the 2 inch tubes are very proportionate. The brackets on the cross-bars will make mounting and carrying various object east. I do wish they had not changed the ends, but I think now I might make a set of wheels that slip into the bottoms of the pipe for rolling around when it is off.
Last edited by YellowToy; 01-28-2010 at 04:48 AM.
Looks nice.
12-15-2009, 05:20 AM
#7
JK Freak
Thread Starter
I wanted to add... One of my concerns was wind noise.
Now that I have it installed, the noise is minimal, a low russelling, barely audible with the radio off.
Now that I have it installed, the noise is minimal, a low russelling, barely audible with the radio off.
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12-15-2009, 06:22 AM
#9
Looks awesome....this is by far my favorite hardtop rack. I just need to measure to see if my yakima box clamps will fit around the 2" bars or I will let MBRP figure out with smaller diameter tubing to fit the box.
