Ultimate Roof Rack ???

[Superstition]

Hey Bronco 6G gurus!

I'm looking for a roof rack solution for my Badlands SAS 4 door MIC hardtop. I'm finding that no one rack provider really meets my needs (Trailrax, RCI, Badass, JCR, Vanguard, ARB, Rhino, etc.). I have a great Rhino Rack platform on my Rubicon now.

Is anyone else running into this? I might need to have a fab shop do some custom work, but it seems like one of the current providers should be able to do it. Here's what I need:

I'm a photographer and I often climb on my Jeep roof rack to stand and shoot photos. Additionally, I attach a solar panel up there, and yes .... sometimes a bunch of cargo. I need a small ladder to get up there. Vanguard has this here: https://vanguardoffroad.com/i-30502...th-deployable-ladder-vgrr-2440-2441bk.html?q=

It's overkill (compared to my Jeep - see photos) but would work fine. Except ... I also need/want a Pak Rax setup like Trailrax offers to hold fuel on the other side of the Bronco (seemingly not offered by Vanguard). I'm not that excited about the front fairing on Trailrax either. The RCI fairing looks better IMO.

The ARB Baserack could be a good option for me, but no ladder and no Pak Rax like feature to hold fuel like Trailrax. Personally, I don't care about fixed mounting the rack through the roof. I'll never take that middle roof over the backseats off anyway.

The ladder access is my highest priority. Anybody here using the Vanguard Rack? Feedback on it? It sure would be nice if Trailraks or RCI offered a way to get on the roof to fully use the rack.

Any ideas?

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[jloehle]

Did you ever figure this out? I am in the same predicament.

 

[Superstition]

I'm not sure I figured it all out, but I did pull the trigger on an approach that addressed most of my needs. I went with the RCI roof rack and I'm quite pleased with it. It just has a better front profile than Trailrax and it's performed flawlessly. Note: RCI had the fix for the rear roof sag issue by the time I purchased and it's worked perfectly for me.

As part of a long series of mods, I installed the Smitybuilt rear gate reinforcement too. I did this for two reasons: 1) the stock Goodyear 35" tires are quite weak off road and I switched to Mickey Thompson Baja Boss which are 18 pounds heavier each. I also installed a Trailgater table on the rear gate. All of this extra weight with off road dynamics caused me to add the reinforcement, and 2) I discovered that I could easily get on the roof by jumping on the passenger side rear bumper then climbing up the spare tire before transitioning to to roof. But when I add this 180 pound body to the spare tire the reinforcement becomes REALLY important!!

I am considering this mod to make getting on the roof even easier yet, but again, a gate reinforcement is essential: https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/front-runner-spare-wheel-step.html#vidTab

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