That they are, however you’ll be hard pressed to find a better engineered rack. Before buying one for my JK I looked at all the available rack options and really the Gobi was one of the best options in both function and form, unfortunately it comes at a cost.
Had one on my JK a year and a half, no plans to put one on my JL. Definitely one of those things I’d only suggest investing in if you truly need it and not just an accessory to look cool. While you can use it with both hard and soft tops, it’s a bit of a pain when it come to swapping tops or putting the soft top down.
I ordered a JLUR with a soft top. Is it still a pain to put the soft top down if you have the quick disconnects? The wife wants to buy a roof top tent (rtt) and it seems the Gobi may be the only option if you still wanted to use your soft top when the rack is unloaded. Are there any other brands that work with the soft top and a rtt?
Once you get used to the additional steps you have to take to put soft top down and up it's not terribly bad. Just attach the dog leash to the light bar front piece that attaches to the windshield frame, the other end to the rack and flip the rack back. This is definitely something where having side steps will make your life A LOT easier. As far as using the Gobi with a soft top and a RTT installed, honestly I don't see a problem with it, however I don't know if that is something Gobi advises against. I've had the rack fully loaded with a couple of rolling duffle bags along with a few other things and had no issues with it rubbing on the soft top, even with me standing on the fully loaded rack there was little to no flexing in the rack floor.
@kkuntz01 I ordered the dual top and was just about to order one of the Gobi racks, primarily for a RTT. I originally intended to purchase the Ursa Minor J30, but am now leaning towards the Gobi + RTT + awning setup. (It’s a Wrangler. I’d like to have the top off/down often, especially on climbing trips, which is when I’ll need the tent.)
If you haven't ordered the Gobi, I'd stroll over to the Expedition Portal forum to get real input from people who do what you're planning on doing.
Wow... not what I wanted to hear, but I really appreciate the info. I’ll head over to Expedition Portal and read up on RTT setups.If you haven't ordered the Gobi, I'd stroll over to the Expedition Portal forum to get real input from people who do what you're planning on doing.
That said, you might as well plan to sell your soft top if you plan on leaving the RTT installed all the time. Not sure what all the RTT's weigh, but as an example the ARB RTT weighs about 154lbs, add in another 35-40lbs for an awning and anything else and you're going to pushing close to 200lbs. The rack will more than easily handle that as a static load, however I do not feel the rack will handle that kind of weight when uncoupled from the light bar and tilted back in an effort to lower the soft top. While you are welcome to try, you will likely come away with some sort of damage whether it be to the windshield frame, the Gobi light bar or even damage to the rear pinch seam where the rear rack mount attaches to the frame and clamps the body seam.
Also one observation I've made and I've been Googling around for information is I have not come across many, if any Wranglers running a Gobi, a soft top and a RTT, they're mostly all hard tops.
View attachment 54807
The open area at the front of the rack isn't big enough for the sunrider portion to open? It looks like it in pics.
When you flip the soft top back to Sunrider position, the soft top, frame and header stick up too high and won’t allow you to secure the Gobi rack floor to the light bar.
If it’s anything like on the JK’s you have one bracket that bolts to the frame where the stock bumper bolts up. Then there is another bracket that clamps to the pinch seam and bolts to the frame bracket. That is the bracket the rack support bar (whatever the big ass u-shaped bar that goes up and over the Jeep that the rack floor bolt to is called).
