Roof
Racks (Classic Range Rover)
Genuine Racks
A Thule rack emblazoned with the RANGE ROVER logo was offered in the
early
1990's as an official dealer accessory. The
other dealer option was a heavy-duty but streamlined-looking steel
expedition-style
rack made in Germany (see photo above right). Unfortunately I have not
seen this rack available for quite a while now. Weighing about 50 lbs,
it had a luggage carrying
section
at the rear and a bar across the forward section, calculated to leave
room
for the sunroof to open. A nice feature is its very large non-damaging
mounting point design, spreading the load over a substantial area. A
bigger
picture of this rack appears in the page on Buying
a Used Range Rover.
Lightweight Aftermarket Racks
A good selection of aftermarket racks is now available tfor the
Classic. Of course, for light duty the Thule and Yakima "erector set"
lightweight aluminum racks
are
one choice, with the benefits of relatively low cost, light weight, and
a large number of optional extras like luggage baskets, ski clamps, and
streamlined plastic "rocket boxes" for stowing and securing your gear. Yakima's
Road Warrior rack is another option, with a light 44"x 39"x 6.5"
basket designed to fit on
standard
Yakima or Thule bars. A step up from these are the modern type of
inexpensive lightweight but sturdy and practical expedition-style racks
with a decent sized basket. Some examples of these are shown in
the pictures below.
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Inexpensive (approx $250) but
functional and good looking "urban style" rack for Classic.
Aluminum construction with reinforced corners and flat floor bars.
Attaches directly to Classic rain
gutter with gutter adapters, or to Yakima and Thule crossbars as shown.
(Photo courtesy of Atlantic British)
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Wilderness Safari Rack --
inexpensive (about $500) but sturdy, made
with 3/4" square steel tubing, zinc
coated & powder painted. You can add brackets for high-lift
jack,
spare tire, pull pal, ax and shovel...or mount skis and/or bikes
with
Thule and Yakima adapters.
(Photo courtesy of Atlantic British) |
Heavy Duty Expedition Racks
If you are willing to spend a bit more to get a really sturdy and
utilitarian rack (well worth it in my experience of real-world off-road
expeditions), the next step up is the serious expedition style rack of
which there
are several variants.
The photo at right shows a new heavy duty half-length Classic
expedition rack from the famous off-road equipment supplier ARB of
Australia. In the US it is available from British
Pacific
for about $650. It weighs about 80 lbs and is solidly constructed of
mandrel-bent steel tubing. (I have found that one advantage of
half-length racks mounted further back on the roof is a tremendous
reduction in wind noise). This model is finished with gray powder
coating, and has full perimeter welds rather than the cheaper 'spot'
welding often used. The feet are good and wide to spread the load (the
feet are also adjustable for camber), and it comes with rubber pads for
both the drip rail and the clamps, to prevent scratching your truck.
(Photo courtesy of British
Pacific).
Another design that is fairly new is the Hannibal rack shown
below -- an interesting design that is strong but lightwight due to the
welded aluminum alloy construction. It is particularly famous because
of the ability to mount a roof top
tent and awning on it. (I first observed rooftop tents in action when
my firiend Marvin Mattson used his home-made one on the roof of his
Land Rover 109 on some of our off-road expeditions. Since then,
commericial manufacturers have taken up the idea).
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Hannibal Roof Racks are
made of welded 6063 architectural
aluminum (silver or black finish) with stainless steel
mounting
clamps, full-length gutter supports to spread load weight, and
shock-absorbing rubber pads. The wide
front-to-rear floor slat layout is designed to minimize wind drag and
provide a "front
porch" for the matching Hannibal Roof Tent (below). Brackets for
shovel, axe, cans, etc are also available.
(Photo courtesy of Atlantic British).
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Hannibal rooftop tent and awning
-- designed for the the Hannibal rack
system (above). This design keeps you up off the ground away from
snakes etc, and sets up in seconds rather than the minutes required to
set up ordinary tents. You remove the travel cover, flip over the floor
panel and the tent
pops up. (You can have it unfold to overhang the front or rear). 12mm
marine ply base board and a 70mm foam mattress. An
aluminum ladder gives you easy access from the front or rear.
(Photo courtesy of Atlantic British)
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Another Hannibal accessory is their awning (5 or 7 feet available) that
goes on the side of their racks. It
takes less than 60 seconds to open by swinging out the aluminum
arms that swivel off the rack. A side panel is also available if
desired.
(Photo courtesy of Atlantic British)
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The interior of the tent gives plenty of space for two people. It
uses a marine plywood flat base, and can be used with any flat surface
rack -- it does not need to be a Hannibal. It can also be configured to
fold out to the front or the rear. The ladder is adjustable to a
bull bar in front, or to the ground as shown above. If you mount the
tent so it folds to the rear, it also allows for a changing room awning
-- see below.
(Photo courtesy of British
Pacific)
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Tent/shower skirt/changing room addition designed to go with
Hannibal roof top tents: These are useful for any number of tasks that
require the ability to stand up. (Photo a right, courtesy of British
Pacific,
shows the skirt installed on a Defender, but it works wequally well on
Range Rovers).
I have found certain members of my family are highly reluctant to use
my roof top solar shower when on safari; this device neatly solves the
problem! It can also easily accommodate a camp or chemical toilet.
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Steve Peper offers this
alternative for roof top tents -- he uses a Tent Cot (about $135)
secured to his regular heavy duty roof rack!
Note the expanded metal floor on Steve's rack that allows him to walk
on it.
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Other designs of
expedition-style racks include
the Rovers North
custom full-length rack of stainless steel, with optional
brackets
for jerry cans, shovel and axe. (Photo at left:
Rovers North
Full Length Expedition Rack on
Gordon
Kallio's Range Rover). D.A.P.
Enterprises has a full length steel rack with a plywood floor and a
folding access ladder mounted on the side. Garvin
Industries makes an expedition rack for universal mounting with
optional attachments for shovels,
spare
tire, etc. The British-made Brownchurch racks are also now available in
the US in sizes to fit Classic Range Rovers. The photo at right by Alexander
Cooper shows Granville Pool's custom rack
supplied by British
Pacific with
optional
mounts for shovels etc. For their latest offerings, see the British
Pacific
Range Rover Roof Rack page.
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