I couldn’t resist – so ordered one basic element (as I don’t need much carried on the roof), one MOLLE side rack, and one universal cannister rack from the good folk in Switzerland. In a short time they arrived. Beutifully packed but lacking instructions. Not a problem if your were brought up on Meccano!

Take the roof grab bars off, add the barckets (for both the roofrack and the side racks) and you’re off to good start.

Then everything screws together with nice stainless button head bolts…

Here I’ve installed the basic element as far back as it goes (for ease of access from the ladder). This is the Universal Carrier side unit. Which isn’t quite universal, as I had to make up the brackets to fit the ROTOPAX holders / handles. Nonetheless, it’s pretty flexible with what you can install.

The Black Sheep system does provide you with a lot more L-track to play with. The basic unit has L-track round the entire perimeter. So I used that for lights and the UHF antenna mount (just some steel bracket with a folding base mount). Plenty of mounting space left for cargo tie downs. The VHF antenna stayed on the roof grab bar (for now).

Both the MOLLE panel and the universal carrier are well designed, and with attachements to both the roof grab bar and the vehicles l-track cargo mounts seem very robust. Nothing mounted on the MOLLE yet, but I will try and mount my MaxTrax.

I’ll report back on how things go when we go and get dirty very shortly. By the way, ignore the door panels – they’re an experiment on having somewhere to put event stickers as well as protecting the doors off road!

Front Runner have their Slimline II Roof Rack in a full length and 3/4 length offering. Full length rack details: Weight approximately 43kg. Payload not specified, but the dynamic roof loading allows an additional 107kg. 2570mm long.  The roof rack kit comes equipped with eight Gutter Mount legs. Front Runner also have a comprehensive range of attachements (using T-slot mounting) for their roof racks.

Black Sheep have a quite different option. Their low profile roof rack sits directly on the roof and attaches to the roof grab rails rather than the gutter. Standard gutter mounting gives a maximum of 420kg static and 150kg dynamic. This sytem is quoted at a 250kg static load, and 150kg dynamic load for each segment – with the load distributed onto the roof. It comes as 2 base elements or add a third for a total area of 1600mm wide x1890mm long. I understand the weight is 2x12kg + 1x11kg = 35kg total.

A nice element with this rack is the solid base with multiple L-track mounts – in keeping with the mounting system used in the rest of the vehicle. Additionally, even in the maximum size configuration the Safari windows can still be used!

Rolling Space have a novel offering, with a customisable full length gutter mounted roof rack. Their low profile design alows the Safari windows to be used, but still with the advantage of a full length rack and potential light bar mounting. Their mounting system is also different from most, with neither l-track nor T-slot. Load limits pending, but will likely be simmilar to the Front Runner racks.

To this end Front Runner have released a quick release awning kit (primarily for their roofrack, but can probably fir others with minor mofications). The idea is that it provides a robust mount but also requires no tools to remove or remount the awning, and the awning can be stored on the wall of your garage or shed. Not sure about the security side of things, but presumably thats less of an issue if you only leave it mounted on the car when you’re on a overland trip!

The problem is, what if you want a proper roof rack (apologies to roof bar owners) to stap your “stuff” onto, but also want those enticing Safari Windows? If you have a full length roof rack you can’t pop your Safari Windows up… and certainly can’t stand up through them when on safari. As one does.

The obvious solution is a 3/4 Roof Rack. I’m sure there are going to be a lot of options coming onto the market, but one of the first I’ve seen is from Front Runner. Looks great. Not sure about local suppliers at this stage. There’s also some information that Front Runner has designed a full length roofrack that will clear the safari windows – making it easy to mount a light bar if required.