Bocephus
Well-Known Member
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- #1
I am midway through mounting the Rhino Backbone Roofrack on my JLUR. Just got the pioneer rack put together. I think I saw somewhere a 45 min build time listed - took me a few hours and one unplanned trip to HW store. Here are a few things for folks mounting up the Rhino Backbone to be aware of.
1.) You'll need to drill four 8.5mm holes in to the Pioneer platform itself. I'm not talking about drilling through the roof (also required); the rack itself requires you to drill four 8.5MM holes. For the bolt to pass through, a 21/64 drill bit works very well. 5/16 is too small.
2.) Regarding where to drill the holes for the above bolts, the documentation from Rhino features conflicting measurements. Here is the key information, based off of calls to Rhino. (They were extremely helpful, courteous, and awesome.) The critical information is this: The hole nearest the rear end of the Side Extrusions should be 663MM from the rear end of the Extrusion. The hole to be drilled further from the rear end of the Side Extrusions should be 1336MM from the rear end of the Side Extrusion. IGNORE COMPLETELY THE INFORMATION THAT SAYS THAT THE TWO DRILLED HOLES SHOULD BE 704MM FROM EACH OTHER. I was confounded as the measurement from the end (at 1336) meant that the hole was no where near being 704MM from the other hole. Turns out the math is just plain wrong, ignore the reference to 704MM. Base your measurement for the second hold on simply being 1336MM from the rear end of the Side Extrusion. It's helpful to have a tape measure with metric markings...I'm probably the only guy who didn't have one already.
3.) When you're building out the Pioneer rack for the JL Rhino Backbone system, ignore the fact that the image of the roof rack on the Rhino Fitting Chart does NOT look like the rack you are working with. The Side Extrusions on the rack you're working with has 5 OEM holes (before you starting drilling) for mounting the Crossbars. The image on the Fitting Chart shows just 3 OEM holes. It caused me some concern that I had been shipped the wrong parts. Turns out, the image is just not correct...per Rhino, the pre-assembled racks do indeed look this way with just the 3 OEM holes for the Crossbars. The non-assembles racks come with the 5 holes. So...don't worry when your rack does not look like the one in the image.
4.) When you're installing the Crossbars using the M8x20mm Dome head screws...the flat washer that goes above the rail appears identical to the flat washer that goes beneath the rail. IT IS NOT IDENTICAL. The flat washer that goes beneath the rail is the same diameter, but about 50% thicker give or take. It's important that the thicker washer go beneath the rail (on top of the channel nut.)
5.) Rhino, on the phone, was kind enough to caution me not to torque down super hard on screw, washers, and channel nut assembly, when bolting the Crossbars to the Side Extrusions. Get em snug, but don't go balls deep - you'll end up warping the aluminum. Too easy.
I wonder if the need for drilling holes in the Pioneer Rack means that a future version will come with the holes drilled in the appropriate spots already. I say "appropriate" because you end up NOT using the OEM holes in two places, and instead you drill the holes (2 on both of the Side Extrusions). Drilling is not super difficult, so long as your measurements are good.
Tomorrow, I'll move on to mounting the backbone system inside the jeep and hopefully everything will come together. Even with the unexpected need to drill the pioneer platform...it still has the look and feel of super quality gear that fits together really well. Looking forward to having it all put together.
Once again - Rhino could not have been more helpful on calls. I was surprised that the reps, during each of my calls (at least a couple) knew exactly my question and had the exact instruction to help me out. Golden.
1.) You'll need to drill four 8.5mm holes in to the Pioneer platform itself. I'm not talking about drilling through the roof (also required); the rack itself requires you to drill four 8.5MM holes. For the bolt to pass through, a 21/64 drill bit works very well. 5/16 is too small.
2.) Regarding where to drill the holes for the above bolts, the documentation from Rhino features conflicting measurements. Here is the key information, based off of calls to Rhino. (They were extremely helpful, courteous, and awesome.) The critical information is this: The hole nearest the rear end of the Side Extrusions should be 663MM from the rear end of the Extrusion. The hole to be drilled further from the rear end of the Side Extrusions should be 1336MM from the rear end of the Side Extrusion. IGNORE COMPLETELY THE INFORMATION THAT SAYS THAT THE TWO DRILLED HOLES SHOULD BE 704MM FROM EACH OTHER. I was confounded as the measurement from the end (at 1336) meant that the hole was no where near being 704MM from the other hole. Turns out the math is just plain wrong, ignore the reference to 704MM. Base your measurement for the second hold on simply being 1336MM from the rear end of the Side Extrusion. It's helpful to have a tape measure with metric markings...I'm probably the only guy who didn't have one already.
3.) When you're building out the Pioneer rack for the JL Rhino Backbone system, ignore the fact that the image of the roof rack on the Rhino Fitting Chart does NOT look like the rack you are working with. The Side Extrusions on the rack you're working with has 5 OEM holes (before you starting drilling) for mounting the Crossbars. The image on the Fitting Chart shows just 3 OEM holes. It caused me some concern that I had been shipped the wrong parts. Turns out, the image is just not correct...per Rhino, the pre-assembled racks do indeed look this way with just the 3 OEM holes for the Crossbars. The non-assembles racks come with the 5 holes. So...don't worry when your rack does not look like the one in the image.
4.) When you're installing the Crossbars using the M8x20mm Dome head screws...the flat washer that goes above the rail appears identical to the flat washer that goes beneath the rail. IT IS NOT IDENTICAL. The flat washer that goes beneath the rail is the same diameter, but about 50% thicker give or take. It's important that the thicker washer go beneath the rail (on top of the channel nut.)
5.) Rhino, on the phone, was kind enough to caution me not to torque down super hard on screw, washers, and channel nut assembly, when bolting the Crossbars to the Side Extrusions. Get em snug, but don't go balls deep - you'll end up warping the aluminum. Too easy.
I wonder if the need for drilling holes in the Pioneer Rack means that a future version will come with the holes drilled in the appropriate spots already. I say "appropriate" because you end up NOT using the OEM holes in two places, and instead you drill the holes (2 on both of the Side Extrusions). Drilling is not super difficult, so long as your measurements are good.
Tomorrow, I'll move on to mounting the backbone system inside the jeep and hopefully everything will come together. Even with the unexpected need to drill the pioneer platform...it still has the look and feel of super quality gear that fits together really well. Looking forward to having it all put together.
Once again - Rhino could not have been more helpful on calls. I was surprised that the reps, during each of my calls (at least a couple) knew exactly my question and had the exact instruction to help me out. Golden.
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