Dee Zee rack for Roof Top Tents

[alksion]

After doing some research I found a $1900 dollar solution that seems perfect for a RTT rack system that doesn’t drill into the roof / can be taken off.

The only issue is that now I have to also buy a RTT, I just couldn’t justify spending 2K on the rack system and possibly another 1-2K on the RTT as well.

I placed my order today for this system instead ($560 shipped) and will be installing my 270 awning + RTT when it comes in and will plan to share with you all. The wife and I are going on 10 day camping trip up the coast of CA through OR for spring break. Should be epic!!

Could not get the rack in time for my camping trip so ended up going with the $2,000.00 option anyways!

Sponsored

 

[rnocon]

Hello, this is my first post and wanted to thank everyone in this forum for my hours of reading and looking. After following this thread I decided to go with the Deezee as well, so I wanted to show what I did. I guess I should start by saying Deezee did not in anyway recommend or advise with this install method.

First off, I knew I most likely would not be installing the front portion of the rack. I was wondering how to utilize the extra parts for the back so this is what I ended up with. I "believe" I gave myself more strength and weight limits, but I don't plan on putting more weight than what is recommended on the rack from the original install platform anyway.

So from the picture, you can see I used all four rain gutter brackets on each side of the jeep for the back portion only. I initially tried to put three on with one evenly spaced in the middle but the arc of the roof and gutter high centered the middle bracket so either the front or rear would not seat completely. I chose to double up the ends with the brackets for more surface contact.

As for the cross bars, I evenly spaced all four with the leg supports. The leg support bolts provided are 1 1/4 in length, so on the two middle bars due to the arc, I used 1 inch bolts I got from the hardware store. If I choose to eventually get an RTT (iKamper Mini), I figured this will just give even more weight dispersion on more surface.

I am not an engineer or physics genius, but overall I really like the look of this versus a big rectangle. So far it seems to be extremely solid and I will keep this updated if anyone is interested. I would like to get your thoughts whether good or bad, and I will try my best to answer any questions. Again, Deezee does not recommend or supports this install method, just something I decided to try and make work.

This looks good and similar to what I did except just used 3 bars on top and 6 gutter mounts, 3 on each side to spread the load. I have a CVT Mt. Hood 60" and it has withstood a 8 day Moab trip. Wind noise may be the only reason I take it down, it's not crazy loud but noticeable. Enjoy the setup!

 

[becma27]

Had my rack for a couple months now, it's a nice solution. I'm interested in changing out the cross bars for a rhino rack pioneer platform occasionally for different mounting needs. Anyone know how hard it would be to mount the platform to the side deezee rails instead of the cross members? I'm thinking not too bad, but don't have a pioneer platform to look at.

 

[ACF]

In regards to a pioneer platform, this is something I was also considering. The initial problems that I foresaw were the weight limitations on the side rails. This would cause all of the weight to be focused directly on the rain gutters. To keep the design of the DEEZEE weight distribution, the platform rack would have to sit on the crossbars, unless there were a way to attach the crossbar weight support legs directly to the platform. I think the whole system would look odd on the crossbars (too high and bulky.) If you (becma27) figure something out please keep us updated.

 

[becma27]

In regards to a pioneer platform, this is something I was also considering. The initial problems that I foresaw were the weight limitations on the side rails. This would cause all of the weight to be focused directly on the rain gutters. To keep the design of the DEEZEE weight distribution, the platform rack would have to sit on the crossbars, unless there were a way to attach the crossbar weight support legs directly to the platform. I think the whole system would look odd on the crossbars (too high and bulky.) If you (becma27) figure something out please keep us updated.

My thought was to leave the deezee crossbar brackets on (the ones with the load bearing feet), and attach those to the underside of the pioneer rack. Looks like the pioneer rack has rails on the underside that I could slide the nut into, then tighten from underneath with the allen wrench. The width looks almost perfect, pioneer platform is 56" wide and the deezee rails are 57" track to track. I think it would look perfect.

Now, if I could just find $700 to buy a pioneer platform to try it out with, I could report back...

 

[WhereRU_A-A-Ron]

Anybody tried mounting up Maxtrax mounting pins to your rack? Did you have to make any modifications to the rack or the mounting pins? The mounting pins come with M10 size hardware so I imagine modifications or a different mounting solution is required.

 

[MyDaughters20JL]

Ok, I'll bite. I'm very interested in this rack. However, I have no use for the front 24" setup because I have the bestop sunrider installed. Does anyone know if you can take the front 2 ribs and add them to the 60" bars giving you 4 cross-bars instead of 2? I am still concerned about the pressure on the gutter system (even with the legs) and would like to distribute the weight of an RTT as much as possible. I feel that the additional 2 would allow for additional weight dispersal if they can be installed. Thoughts? Thanks!

what seems to be the consensus is that one wants to distribute the weight as much as possible: has anyone looked into getting additional feet & installing, say, 4 on each cross rail?
also, for those who have the DZ rack, what is the "diameter" of the cross rails (yes, I"m aware they're hex and not round, but I need to know so I can get the correct brackets when I order my tent

 

[ACF]

what seems to be the consensus is that one wants to distribute the weight as much as possible: has anyone looked into getting additional feet & installing, say, 4 on each cross rail?
also, for those who have the DZ rack, what is the "diameter" of the cross rails (yes, I"m aware they're hex and not round, but I need to know so I can get the correct brackets when I order my tent

As for the weight distribution, it would seem getting additional feet would be logical, but after seeing how DeeZee originally engineered this, I believe they may have placed the feet for the original design near the edge of the roof (arch) for the maximum amount of roof top strength. I preface that I am not an engineer, but I have to believe DeeZee did a lot of testing to make sure their design is as strong as possible. My fear putting four feet per crossbar would put the middle two feet directly on the center of the roof, which is probably it's weakest point. I'm just taking a stab at this, so can't say for sure. The widest point of the hex horizontally is 1 7/8".

 

[jungloewe]

hey guys.

I own the Deezee rack as well.
Pretty happy with it.
So now I want to add a Batwing compact.
What would fit, but I have some doubts about the load capacity.
Does anyone use the Deezee roof rack with Rooftent AND Batwing Compact?

PS: i was on the polar circle with my setup before the batwing.
Look here if you are interested


Best
Matt

 

[rnocon]

hey guys.

I own the Deezee rack as well.
Pretty happy with it.
So now I want to add a Batwing compact.
What would fit, but I have some doubts about the load capacity.
Does anyone use the Deezee roof rack with Rooftent AND Batwing Compact?

PS: i was on the polar circle with my setup before the batwing.
Look here if you are interested


Best
Matt

Hey Matt, Nice vid! I use the DeeZee Roof Rack with a CVT Mt. Hood and ARB Awning 8ft and works well...next trip out, I'm gonna mount the awning to the tent instead of the rack. Holds up pretty well at least it held up during my 4 day getaway...

Should be fine...

 

[dmasini]

Installed my Dee Zee rack over the weekend and so far impressed! Mine came with both the front and rear but only installed the rear portion. After installing I decided to pickup two sets of the Dee Zee side rail tie downs. I plan on adding them to the sides between the two cross members.

I also have a Thule Interstate bag I want to run. Nothing heavy, just putting some beach chairs and fishing tackle bags in it. When you run this thing it's supposed to sit in between the two crossmembers and lay on the roof. My question is would it be better to add another one of the crossmembers (since I have them already) and have the bag sit on the crossmembers instead of the roof? Besides potentially scratching the roof anything else I should worry about? I do plan on running a strap between the side rails as well to make sure wind doesn't pick it up and bang the bag down on the roof at highway speeds.

 

[BillWorkbench]

Howdy, I have a 2 door JL and I was wondering if I could just the 60"? I know it would fit length-wise. I worry is connecting the front to the freedom pannels.

Any thoughts?

 

[sigsegv]

Warning:

I bought and installed this rack last week with the intention of running a roof top box. Something that should be mentioned in giant bold letters on marketing pages for this rack: roof boxes don't fit on the cross members! These are 1 3/4" hexagons flat-to-flat, which is over two inches on the diagonal.

Yakima roof boxes *definitely* don't fit, like, no chance whatsoever. Thule boxes might, I didn't mount one up there to check, but the specs on etrailer say:

• Maximum crossbar dimensions: 3-1/2" wide x 1-11/16" tall

That's 1/16" more than they spec. Given how much carnage could ensue if the box comes off at 70 on the highway, I am not going to risk it. Back to amazon this roof rack goes, this return should be exciting...

 

[Alamein.sajib]

Hello,

I am considering this roof rack. Wil someone be able to do a quick measure of the additional height this roof rack adds on top of the Jeep.

So the height from JL hardtop to the top of the cross bar.

Thanks heaps!

 

[Kripas]

Hello,

I am considering this roof rack. Wil someone be able to do a quick measure of the additional height this roof rack adds on top of the Jeep.

So the height from JL hardtop to the top of the cross bar.

Thanks heaps!

Go back to the beginning of this page and see my post.

Sponsored