Roof
Racks (Range Rover 4.0/4.6 & 4.4 Models)
Lightweight Racks
Genuine Expedition Rack
Aftermarket Expedition Racks
Roof Top Tents
Home Made Expedition Rack Setup
Racks for the New Range Rover Mk III 4.4
The
Range
Rover 4.0/4.6 has built-in channels for
rack support in the roof. Adapters are available to fit
standard light duty Thule and Yakima rack systems to these hidden
supports, allowing a variety of options for carrying skis, bicycles as
well as general luggage items in lightweight luggage baskets or
fiberglass rocket boxes. A selection of options is shown below.
 |
 |
 (Photo courtesy of Atlantic British) |
| Yakima crossbars fitted to the
center and rear roof mounts (the vehicle has forward, center and rear
anchor points in the roof). (Photo courtesy of Atlantic British) |
Official Land Rover Thule
crossbar kit fitted to 4.0/4.6 -- a tidy and inexpensive installation
costing about $199. (Photo courtesy of Atlantic British) |
Genuine crossbars mounted on
front and rear positions. This is the most smooth and streamlined
crossbar installation available. Cost is about $399. |
 |
Left: Genuine sports bar rack with two fore & aft roof mounting strips and movable cross bars. Cost is about $760. (Photo courtesy of Atlantic British) | |
 |
Kevin Kelly's Yakima rack on his
1998 4.6HSE, set up to transport 4 bikes up to Lake Tahoe |
4.0/4.6 Genuine Expedition Rack
The
Range Rover 4.0/4.6 has built-in
channels for
rack support in the roof. A heavy duty full-length expedition rack,
featured on the 4.6HSEs in the 1997
Land Rover Trek, includes a nifty rear ladder and bumper step
(see photo here and at the top
of this page). It is
now available from Land Rover dealers and parts suppliers in the US, or
from the manufacturer, Safety
Devices. Cost in the US is about $1300. (Photo
at top of page courtesy
of Gordon Kallio)
I purchased my copy of this
excellent rack from The
Rover Connection, in Salt Lake City, who supply the full range of
Land
Rover Genuine Accessories. After installing the rack, I found it
produced
a large amount of wind noise. I fabricated an air deflector from
sheet aluminum which I then painted black. Mounted between the driving
lights on the front of the rack, this drastically reduces the noise to
a barely noticeable level. Like most expedition style racks, the floor
bars are very sturdy but spaced too far apart to hold small objects. 
I
therefore made a floor of heavy welded steel mesh (approx 0.160 inch
gauge,
2 inch spacing) for the rear 3 feet of the rack behind my CB
antenna and sunroof opening. This is easily strong enough to stand
on. I mounted my shovel and axe permanently on the rack, kust inside
the
outer rails; they are barely visible from the outside.
The Rover Connection also supplied the rear ladder for my rack. They were most helpful in trying to obtain mounting instructions from LRNA, but apparently there are none. You just put the ladder on where the curvature of its mounting points best fits the upper tailgate. It does require drilling through the sheet metal of the upper tailgate, which in turn requires removing the trim panels from the tailgate interior. To finish the job, I mounted a strip of non-skid surface on the rear bumper beneath the ladder, to act as the lower step. (I obtained this from a marine supply store).
The net result is a very strong and practical setup, with a safe way
of accessing whatever you stow on the roof. For additional photos of
this setup see the page on carrying vehicle
recovery equipment and the CB Radio page.
Perhaps the best looking and most versatile setup I have
seen is the Hannibal expedition rack system which is now available with
custom mounts for the Range Rover 4.0/4.6 roof anchor points (see photo
at left
of Hannibal rack on a 4.0 with roof top tent in stowed position. Photo
at right
shows full view of rack on a Classic RR. Photos courtesy of Atlantic British).
These racks
are made of 6063 architectural
aluminum, with fully-welded frame and basket, stainless steel mounting
clamps, and
shock-absorbing rubber pads to minimize wear and wind noise. The use of
welded aluminum keeps the weight down while providing a strong
structure. The rack has wide floor slats are designed to minimize wind
resistance and noise, while providing a good stable platform to stand
on and a front "porch" for the matching Hannibal roof top tent. This
design is available with a brushed siver aluminum or powder-coated
black finish. Accessory mounting clamps for jerry cans, shovels, etc
are available. 
I first observed
rooftop tents in action when
my firiend Marvin Mattson used his home-made one on the roof of his
Land Rover 109 on some of our off-road expeditions. Since then,
commericial manufacturers have taken up the idea.
Hannibal makes a rooftop tent and awning -- designed for the the
Hannibal expedition rack
system (above). This design keeps you up off the ground away from
snakes etc, and sets up in seconds rather than the minutes required to
set up ordinary tents. You remove the travel cover, flip over the floor
panel and the tent
pops up. 12mm marine ply base board and a 70mm foam mattress. An
aluminum ladder gives you easy access from the front or rear. The
awning (5 or 7 feet available)
goes on the side of their rack, and takes less than 60 seconds to
open by swinging out the aluminum
arms that swivel off the rack. A side panel is also available if
desired, and even a shower skirt/changing room addition. (Photo
courtesy of Atlantic
British). For more details on these racks and rooftop tents, see
the Classic Range Rover roof rack page. 
My 4.0 came with
the then-official accessory
Thule crossbars (see above) when I first got
it, so I adapted it for my initial expedition needs. When mounted in
the
middle
and rear positions, I found the crossbars are just the right distance
apart
to enable a Yakima luggage basket to fit between them. This overcame
the
problem of many racks which do not have a proper floor, making the
carrying
of smaller or irregular shaped objects very difficult. The Yakima
basket
is designed to mount on top of the roof rack rails, but I wanted a
lower
profile so I mounted the basket low, slung between the rails
using
standard Yakima and Thule adapters.
The new model has several different options available, including a
genuine lightweight sportsbar syustem and a streamlined crossbar
system, both similar to those used on the 4.0/4.6 and pictured above. In 2003 an expedition rack of
almost identical design to that for
the 4.0/4.6 was made for the new Range Rover model. This sturdy rack
was used on the Range Rovers that participated in Land Rover's G4
Challenge, successor to the Camel Trophy. For a photo, see
this link.
