bad_idea

I am planning a trip to Cape Lookout, NC this fall with the family. For those not familiar, it is the southern barrier islands in the outer banks island chain that is a national park. It is accessed solely by ferry and there are no paved roads on the island. I usually haul the jeep on a trailer to a camp ground, set up camp, and wheel the jeep. For this trip I plan to drive the jeep with all of our gear in it. It will be the wife and our two daughters in the jeep. There is no way we can fit all of our gear in the back of the jeep. Plan to tent camp on the beach for 3-4 days.

I have never considered getting a roof rack for the jeep. I built the jeep for rock crawling/trail riding, not overlanding. I have no intentions of building an overlander. Do you all have recommendations for a decent roof rack I can bolt on for trips like this and store in the rafters the rest of the year? Not looking to spend a fortune on it.

That Jeep Guy XJMJ

Does your jeep still have the factory roof rack rails and cross bars?

Simple/effective/cheap? Id keep an eye on marketplace for a few of the rear hitch mounted cargo racks that you could then secure together and mount to your roof. Free and not free but still cheap ($40?), vs someones generic or big brand (warn- Rough country- safari- DeeZee etc) for hundreds of dollars.

Or if a used roof rack comes along cheap enough they aren't too difficult to adapt to your factory rails in some way. Don't need to make it bomb proof either, plenty of folks adapt them directly using just hardware store U-bolt/plate setup

exasemech

Look around for some pre owned "gutter mount" clamps/bars.

I've used them on my XJ,'s for 30 years and they work fine and are easy to put on/take off.
Since most cars don't have gutters anymore they are pretty cheap on the used market. The bars can usually be cut to whatever length you need

Veeb0rg

I have a Surco roof basket with the gutter mounts. Its aluminum so its fairly light but more then enough to carry a good load. I got it used off my local FB marketplace.

bad_idea

I have a 90 four door XJ. It is the most basic model, to the point of no door switches to turn on the dome light for the rear doors. It did not come with a roof rack, or the rails. I do not want to drill holes in my roof, will definitely be attaching to the gutters.

Root Moose

I'd be looking at a small cargo trailer instead of a roof rack. Roof mounted stuff is a pita imo. (Bt/dt).

Extra charges for the trailer on a ferry but it's worth it.

If you are content with the trailer idea and can swing it then a tent trailer starts to become interesting.

$0.02

bad_idea

I hear you. But this trip is atypical to my usual. Typically I will tow the jeep on a car trailer, as there aren't any good trails within 100 miles of here. A tent trailer just wouldn't get much use outside of this trip. I know the roof rack will be a nuisance. For the longer trips we trailer the jeep and ride in the Yukon, it has all the doodads. My wife is not going to go on trips in my jeep with two kids. The jeep is far from luxurious. I deleted the ac to use the compressor for an air compressor. The windows flap in the breeze because the seals are gone. The carpet was ripped out in favor of painted floors to alleviate rust from trapped moisture under the carpet (plenty of noise and heat coming through). Worst on all, the cruise control is OOC.

I found on Amazon. I'll probably pick up something like this and some tabs to clamp it to the drip edge. I have a fairly capable welding setup in the garage, so I am sure I can make it work together. The rack just needs to work, not going to keep it on the jeep. Still open to better suggestions though. I am out of town for work now, planning right now.

ijeeep

eBay, Facebook and Craigslist for used Yakima rain gutter mounted roof rack and go from there.