looks great!
New ARB "BASE Rack" Roof Rack
- Thread starter BAY2MTN
- Start date
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Congrats. Exactly what so many of us thought we were getting to begin with.
I know right? With such a small window of orders that actually got shipped from that original batch, I feel quite lucky. Really impressed with the fit/finish so far too
For anyone waiting on an update from ARBUSA;
"Just wanted to send you an update on the Base Rack fitting kit for your 200 series Land Cruiser. The revised kits have been shipped from AUS and are on their way to our facility. We should be receiving them by the end of this month. Your replacement is on order and will ship out of our facility as soon as we receive them."
The email wasn't specific in regards to modifications, but "fitting kit" sounds like redesigned mounts. Since they previously said that the wind fairing was being modified too, I'm guessing it won't be as low profile as advertised. We shall see. Hoping for a pleasant surprise.
"Just wanted to send you an update on the Base Rack fitting kit for your 200 series Land Cruiser. The revised kits have been shipped from AUS and are on their way to our facility. We should be receiving them by the end of this month. Your replacement is on order and will ship out of our facility as soon as we receive them."
The email wasn't specific in regards to modifications, but "fitting kit" sounds like redesigned mounts. Since they previously said that the wind fairing was being modified too, I'm guessing it won't be as low profile as advertised. We shall see. Hoping for a pleasant surprise.
Assuming the new design is not as low profile as the original, does anyone know if they'll still be selling the original for those of us who don't have a shark fin and who'd prefer the lower profile?
This looks great! how far from the roof is the top of the rack? I have a very low garage and was wondering if this ARB rack would be a good option.
Mine in the original lower design because my 2008 has no shark fin. Not sure if it’s still possible to order this lower design anymore. It’s about 3.5 from the roof which I really like.
The revised higher ARB rack mount is real. Slee had a 200 on display at the ARB booth at Overland Expo Mountain West. Mounted on this 200 was an ARB Base rack with the higher mount. It cleared the sharkfin by around 1/4". It still looks very low profile especially with the integrated front wind faring. Sorry I did not get any pictures.
So let me get this straight;
- ARB releases the ideal low-profile roof rack for Cruisers without shark fin
- They panic when realize they have nothing for people with fins
- Instead of continuing to sell the ideal, low-profile roof rack to people without the fin, they discontinued it
- They then spend almost a year in "back order" to give it a higher profile and re-release it with unnecessary wasted space for people who don't have a fin
Really? Is that what just happened here? You've got to be kidding me
Why didn't they keep the original version for people without the fin? Why didn't they AT LEAST fulfill the original orders ON TIME for people without the fin when they were still in production?
I was going to outfit my '08 with a bunch of ARB stuff....going to have to rethink that if this is how they operate as a company. Absolutely ridiculous.
- ARB releases the ideal low-profile roof rack for Cruisers without shark fin
- They panic when realize they have nothing for people with fins
- Instead of continuing to sell the ideal, low-profile roof rack to people without the fin, they discontinued it
- They then spend almost a year in "back order" to give it a higher profile and re-release it with unnecessary wasted space for people who don't have a fin
Really? Is that what just happened here? You've got to be kidding me
Why didn't they keep the original version for people without the fin? Why didn't they AT LEAST fulfill the original orders ON TIME for people without the fin when they were still in production?
I was going to outfit my '08 with a bunch of ARB stuff....going to have to rethink that if this is how they operate as a company. Absolutely ridiculous.
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
FWIW, I am not sure the low profile fit kit is discontinued. Also if you really want a low profile one, we have two in stock we can sell as long as it is understood it will not fit the shark fin. They are not on the site, so would have to be a phone call order.
7000ft
SILVER Star
Christo, When will you be adding the "shark fin compatible" LC200 ARB BASERACKS to your e-commerce site?
That would be great if they aren't discontinued in the US. I just kept hearing on forums they were pulled/unavailable until the redesign was complete. I tried shopping for one and no US distributors had any version in stock. I get the feeling they actually discontinued the older, lower profile version, at least in the US. I've got an email in to ARB USA, we'll see what they say. I'll report back here. Thanks and I'll definitely check out the Slee options! I know you guys make great bumpers too, so may just go that route. Thanks!
From the sounds of it I think you're thinking that Slee has their own designed roof rack in stock and I believe what they are trying to say is that they have two low profile ARB racks in stock right now
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
We will add it as soon as we have stock of the fit kits and racks. The one we had on the truck was a test unit that was shipped in from Australia.
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
That is correct,. It is two units we got in stock before the issue was discovered. We did not put them out on our site since it would only confuse people, but they are available for sale.
Thanks, for the photos and the measurement, @DPA200. I envy you! Let me know if you want to sell that rack! 
I called ARB and asked about the original design. They said they don't plan on importing those anymore. Only the new designs. Maybe if we start a group buy and show there's enough interest we can convince them to import a batch of the original ones?!
@sleeoffroad I am interested in buying one of them. I'll DM you.
I called ARB and asked about the original design. They said they don't plan on importing those anymore. Only the new designs. Maybe if we start a group buy and show there's enough interest we can convince them to import a batch of the original ones?!
@sleeoffroad I am interested in buying one of them. I'll DM you.
Thanks, for the photos and the measurement, @DPA200. I envy you! Let me know if you want to sell that rack!
I called ARB and asked about the original design. They said they don't plan on importing those anymore. Only the new designs. Maybe if we start a group buy and show there's enough interest we can convince them to import a batch of the original ones?!
@sleeoffroad I am interested in buying one of them. I'll DM you.
I also called ARB and they confirmed that not only are the low profile kits discontinued, but that they pulled many of them that had already shipped to suppliers when the oversight was discovered. They said some distributors might have kits left over, but no more will be made or provided.
Again, this is absolutely ridiculous. What's worse, what happened to the units they shipped and then pulled back from suppliers? Presumably they were trashed (?)....just insane, absolutely insane. Pretty sure I don't want to have anything to do with this company and will most likely go Gamivitti for rack and Slee, Dobinson or MetalTech for bumpers. Got BudBuilt sliders on the way next month.
The outrage over the ARB rack mount seems misplaced. The the majority of US Cruisers need the higher mount to clear the shark fin. ARB is simply managing inventory in a way that is smart business. None of the Aussie Cruisers have the fin so they will still be selling the lower mount for that market. For those US owners that do not have the fin then order the mount directly from a seller in Australia. The mount flat packs into a pretty small package of minor weight and thus will not be prohibitively expensive to ship.
How do we know the overseas racks weren't raised as well? If they are indeed keeping the tooling to make two different rail options, why would they deliberately deprive US customers of this option? Has anyone confirmed the ones currently shipping overseas aren't also raised? I didn't think to ask ARB USA about this, but it doesn't make sense that they'd manufacture two versions, but only sell one in the US. Then again, a lot about this alteady doesn't make sense.
Also, if my understanding is correct, all pre-2014 refresh Cruisers were finless, meaning somewhere around a third to a half of all TLC's in the US are finless.
Anyway, I don't want to get too nitpicky, I just hate this kind of inept beaurocratic crap from companies and prefer not to deal with companies that do this kind of stuff. It shows a lack of care, or at least a disregard for the needs of their customers.
Just buy one of the few that Slee has in stock. You seem pretty worked up about it, but he has a few there for the taking of the lower profile. Just buy it if you truly want it.
