Front Runner roof rack questions

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sdnative said:
They howl even with the air dam?
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The Front Runner air dam? If so, I don't know, never installed it. It obstructed 80% of the sunroof. Generally, the south africans engineer great products, but they missed the mark on vehicles with sunroofs...

Thus the jerry-rigged option I came up with below. This one is on my UZJ100. You can see similar on my grey FZJ80 posted in my Garage.



 
"08720- The airdam had some adhesive foam pieces, but no mention where they go unless I missed something, did you figure out where they went?"
I never had any adhesive foam pieces. I just centered it and fastened per instructions and it is super quiet. REDrum, we are talking about the slimline II series, not sure of the difference between the Wind cheetah but they come with a wind deflector and for me it is quiet. You can also omit the installation of the cross members over the sunroof if you like for an unobstructed view or access to the rack from inside the vehicle.
 
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2.5 inches from the roof to the center of the air dam with the 'tall' legs. That is just in front of the sunroof opening.
 
OK, I did some precise measuring tonight by hanging a string from the front and back walls of my garage and adjusted for the level I wanted :hillbilly:

With the rear and middle mounts the same height, the front is roughly 3/4", maybe 7/8" taller. With the front and rear the same height, the middle is roughly 1/2" shorter. So I think I will try to order 2pr 120mm and 1pr 140mm.
 
I took a slightly different approach to the Slimline 2 and got this setup through Paul at Equipt. I used 8 of the Front Runner gutter mounts and it's pretty flat all said and done. If I were to go further forward with the mounts I would need the longer legs to keep it level. The crossbars barely clear the factory roof rails. I am fairly sure these are 130mm legs but they look shorter than others pictured in this thread which makes me wonder if they are the 120's. I also need to figure something out for wind noise, it can howl pretty good with any type of crosswind.

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oilbrnr said:
I'm going to see if I have enough clearance to leave the retaining strips at this point. They seemed to be fairly well affixed and it may just open up a pandora's box of more work for me. If I can't slide the table in, then I guess I will pony up and remove them.
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If you can and they are not damaged I would keep them. I took mine off but only because it was getting painted and the headliner was coming off so I was able to get the holes welded.
 
oilbrnr said:
Some installed pics. Tall legs with slide-in table.
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:eek: Nice garage...

Just ordered my rack today. Will post some pics when I get it installed.
 
sdnative said:
:eek: Nice garage...
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Thanks!

I just hope it is not too noisy. Also, not real sure about the stance at the front. Nice fit and finish.

And now that I type this, I forgot that I ordered the top rails too! Crap forgot about them!

FWIW, I did also order the shovel brackets which I did not put on yet. Still deciding on which side I'm going to put the awning on. But you have to drill the side rails to mount, which seems to kinda defeat the 'flexible' aspect of the rack.
 
oilbrnr said:
Thanks!

I just hope it is not too noisy. Also, not real sure about the stance at the front. Nice fit and finish.
snip, snip
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I installed mine with the long legs on the back. Brings the front down a bit and gives a little more clearance to slide something in under the back.
 
sdnative said:
:eek: Nice garage...

Just ordered my rack today. Will post some pics when I get it installed.
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On Sierra Expedition's site they have a tall option, where on Front Runner's site it's only listed one way. Which one did you decide to go with?
 
FJRanger said:
On Sierra Expedition's site they have a tall option, where on Front Runner's site it's only listed one way. Which one did you decide to go with?
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I ordered the std rack which would normally include the 130mm and 155mm legs. Since I wanted to get it as low as possible I ordered the 120mm legs instead with some spacers for the front. The spacers are only 6mm, and I was expecting more maybe double that.

I installed the rack today and it looks like I am about 10-15mm short on the front with the 120mm legs so I may either double up on the spacers or get some 135mm or 140mm legs. The rack fits nicely with the 120mm legs in the middle and rear but I do not have the factory rack or runners. It would contact the runners if they were there. I will post some pics when I get a chance.

FR lists both std and tall, and Sierra Expeditions said they had a half rack for the 80 series as well.

http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/roof-racks/slimline-ii-roof-rack-kits.html
 
Here are some installation pics. I have the 120mm legs middle and rear and 120mm with 6mm spacers up front. Even with the spacers, the fronts are too short and the legs do not seat all the way in the gutters. I will be getting some 130mm legs for the front and using the extra pair of 120mm legs elsewhere to more evenly distribute the weight (will have to grind them down a couple mm however)

I have about 7/8" clearance at the closest point (slat to raised roof rib above the rear axle). If I put all my weight (200 lbs) in the center of this one slat it will contact the roof. Shouldn't be a problem if I stand on two slats at a time.

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Looks good. I went with the standard height legs and seeing yours makes me want the 120s for the rear. I've the rack put together and sitting on the deck. Just waiting for some help to get it up and mounted.
 
oilbrnr said:
Well, how is the wind noise? I noticed you omitted the wind deflector...
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My comment too, its gotta howl like a banshee between 50 and 65MPH.
 
Yes, it is loud without the air dam. I wanted to see what it was like without it for comparison purposes. At highway speeds with the sunroof and shade closed, I can hear it over the tires (tires are pretty quiet though). With the sunroof open, it's noisy from 20 mph up and you wouldn't be able to have a conversation at highway speeds. Next I'll install the air dam and see how that works. If not enough I will try to find a fairing like you (REDrum) have. Problem is I want to put a LED light bar where the fairing would go, so...
 
I debated about leaving that slat out too above the sunroof, but since my RTT is not here yet (tomorrow actually) I didn't know if I'd need that one for mounting. Kinda tough to reconfigure the slats without removing it from the roof...
 
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