Mopar roof rails with rooftop carrier.

[Brian0128]

Who is using a rooftop carrier with Mopar roof rails? I’m looking at a Skybox 16 to carry a Gazelle tent and camping gear. Post pics and details of your setup.

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[TrewJL]

I have a Thule that connect to the hard top with a bike rack. Light weight. How much weight are you expecting?

 

[digitalbliss]

I also have Thule clamps/rails on mine. I think the weight limitations are dictated by the load rating of the rain gutters before the load rating of the cross bars.

 

[LeodaJeep]

I also have Thule clamps/rails on mine. I think the weight limitations are dictated by the load rating of the rain gutters before the load rating of the cross bars.

Wise man here.

 

[Brian0128]

I have a Thule that connect to the hard top with a bike rack. Light weight. How much weight are you expecting?

141lbs.
Skybox 16 - 47lbs
Gazelle T4 Tent - 30lbs
ARB Awning - 30lbs
2 Folding Chairs - 22lbs
2 Sleeping Bags - 6lbs
2 Sleeping Pads - 6lbs

 

[Mad Hatter]

I have Thule bars and carriers that date back to my 1984 Accord. Where possible, all I've needed were new feet or mounts, depending upon the vehicle. Buy once, cry once. Just checked Thule's website; its traditional square bars are rated for 220 pounds! Note that they have revised their load bars to include a full-length slot, ostensibly to fit their "Rapid-Fit" feet. Not sure if that is good or bad for load performance, but there may be some compatibility problems with my old stuff going forward.

With regard to the Wrangler and its roof luggage rack capacity, please see the pasted page copy below from my Wrangler's Owners Manual. 100 pounds including the carrier is pretty weak. I certainly wish it was higher. Things we don't know:

• Is this total load limited by the whole roof's structure, or the shear weight limits on each of the 4 feet on the rain gutter?
• If the problem is rain gutter shear limits of each of the 4 feet, maybe one or two additional bars and feet would spread out the load and increase total capacity. I know most ski boxes have only two mounting points, so making additional bars load-bearing could be tricky.
  
• What safety factor has FCA put into this 100 pound limit?

While writing this the wheels kept turning. I wondered what the load on the roof would be with 1 foot of snow, certainly a load that doesn't create roof collapse, as if it did, the screaming would have started with the 2018's. From another thread on this website, the roof is approximately 5 feet wide and 8 feet long, rounding for simplicity. That's 40 square feet. Snow a foot deep would mean 40 cubic feet. Googling the weight of a cubic foot of snow gets all sorts of expert calculations, but a reasonable compromise number may be 20 pounds. Roof load from a foot of snow is thus 40 x 20 = 800 pounds, plus or minus.

Conclusion: It's not the roof structure, rather it's the damned rain gutters that are the Wrangler JL's problem for gutter-mounted roof racks.

Thule does manufacture steel "Artificial Raingutters" for gutterless vehicles. Each rack foot-size "gutter" mounts with two screws through a gasket and reinforcement plate inside the roof. Before obtaining the Thule Fit Information below for the Thule Squarebar Evo on a Wrangler JLU, I wondered if they would fit a Wrangler Hard Top and whether the installation would be stronger than the weak plastic rain gutter. Turns out they do recommend use of the Artificial Raingutters for a 165-pound weight limit!

Thule doesn't specify exactly where on the roof, beyond "over doors." (I suggest considering Mopar's rack instructions for placement; presumably they picked the strongest points. See below.) Maybe the supplemental gutters could be installed into the plastic rain gutter, reinforcing its load-bearing capacity. Roof rack feet would fit into the steel gutters, foot clamps might fit over both gutters. If the artificial raingutter doesn't fit inside the plastic gutter, it sounds like these artificial raingutters should be mounted just above, but placement for foot clamp access might be tricky. For reference I've pasted the installation graphic below the instruction manual page. Unfortunately, Thule doesn't show any dimensions for their raingutters.

Fit information - Thule Squarebar Evo on Wrangler JLU

• Maximum barspread: 60"
• 18. The 542 Artificial Rain Gutter Brackets require drilling mounting holes in the roof. Thule recommends that a qualified auto body shop install the brackets.
• 40. Due to the specific barspread on this vehicle, the 691XT M.O.A.B Extension cannot be used in conjunction with the 690XT M.O.A.B Basket.
• 5. Load carriers mount onto rain gutters over doors.
• replaces Thule SquareBar 58"
• This solution has a maximum weight limit of 165 lbs.

Hope this helps. Obviously, YMMV.

 

[Gee-pah]

Conclusion: It's not the roof structure, rather it's the damned rain gutters that are the Wrangler JL's problem for gutter-mounted roof racks.

@Mad Hatter you've clearly done some good and useful research here and I commend you for it.

But that said, not only is your above sentence the essence of what part of this metaphorical "bike chain" known as "roof gutter carriers," is its weakest link IMHO, (i.e. the gutters) we must also consider the forces or torque placed on roof gutters when aerodynamic roof top contents, held down by such devices attached to such gutters, needs to work against the forces of wind when the rig's doing decent speeds, and said gear develops tendency to want to become a "ship sail."

So there's the strength in shear of gravity you cite, and the torsional forces above.

IMHO, the reality is that there's usually a big leap from a roof gutter mount to the next best level of roof top storage in both price, installation and permanently drilled holes, that otherwise commit you to using only your/a hard top when you want to haul such gear above the rig.

With the JK is seems that some racks could attach to the cargo tub for stability, providing solutions for soft top owners, but I just don't see how that's possible--and for such racks to make it outside the rig, given the design of the JL's soft top.

And the next level after that, the roof racks of makers like Smittybuilt, Gobi, LOD Offroad and many others often also often require drilling, money, installation time, and some degree of permanence.

To the best of my knowledge the Gobi rack requires no drilling and the LOD Offroad rack drills only in areas that are 100% inconspicuous (in the taillight well and under the cowl), covered by stock components that are temporarily removed for such drilling to occur under them.

Perhaps placing a wind fairing on the front MOPAR/Thule rail, angled as is the windshield, with a height that seeks to match that which roof top gear takes up might help with reducing stress on the gear on the roof to want to rip off and fly.

Cheers.

 

[cosine]

141lbs.
Skybox 16 - 47lbs
Gazelle T4 Tent - 30lbs
ARB Awning - 30lbs
2 Folding Chairs - 22lbs
2 Sleeping Bags - 6lbs
2 Sleeping Pads - 6lbs

imo that too much weight for the gutter rack setup. keep in mind that the hard top is fiberglass same goes for the gutter.

 

[Brian0128]

imo that too much weight for the gutter rack setup. keep in mind that the hard top is fiberglass same goes for the gutter.

My original plan was based off the disclaimer on Quadratec’s website that said 150lbs but now it looks like that should say 100.

 

[cosine]

yeah, i saw that and still not convince or comfortable in putting that much weight on the hard top with just 2 bars.

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