As one of the most capable out-of-the-box 4x4s on the planet, the Jeep Wrangler lends itself perfectly to outdoor enthusiasts. Similar to many of you, we have a few outdoor hobbies beyond ‘wheeling. And, as much as we enjoy using our 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon for these varies off-road activities, it’s not always the best at hauling all of our equipment. Don’t get us wrong, being able to fold down the rear seats is great for hauling gear when you’re riding solo. However, when you put the entire family in the Jeep, space quickly runs out. This got us looking at roof racks. Not surprisingly, there are plenty to choose from. We knew we needed something long, so a stubby rear rack wouldn’t cut it. Additionally, we wanted something relatively easy to remove for when we head out on more serious off-road adventures. Lastly, we were looking for something that would be independent of the top, since we don’t always have it on. Ultimately, we landed on this Smittybilt roof rack (the SRC bolt-on model, to be exact). Smittybilt makes an assortment of Jeep and truck accessories and has been doing so for over 50 years. We knew the bolt-on SRC rack would require an extra set of hands for the install, so we had ours shipped to Low Range 4x4 in Wilmington, North Carolina for the install. From start to finish, it took less than two hours to have the rack installed and us back on the road. Gathered below is how it all went together and some insight into how it’s working out so far. The Smittybilt roof rack comes with a textured, black powdercoat finish and includes all necessary hardware. Also part of the kit are these sticky-backed foam pads that are cut to fit. These are designed to act as a buffer between your Wrangler’s body and the rack. To install the forward support bars, you’ll remove the four windshield bolts from each side of the JK. Simply hand tighten the first bar, then move to the other side. This step is easiest with a second set of hands. What you are accomplishing is inserting the lead crossbar and THEN mounting the second forward support. One side of the front crossbar has four tabs for auxiliary lights, while the other does not. Since we need the entire length of the rack for hauling equipment, we don’t plan to add any extra lights. For a cleaner appearance, we simply mounted the bar with the tabs facing towards the rear of the Jeep. If you are running a stock rear bumper or any number of available aftermarket rear bumpers, you have the option of bolting the rear portion of the SRC rack to the frame. Our JK is sporting an AEV rear bumper, so we used the optional body mount inserts for the rack. Before you can drill the two mounting holes, you’ll need to make certain the rack is level and square. Again, a second set of hands (along with a good tape measure) will make this easier. Once you have the rack in position, you can drill the two mounting holes. To access the backside of the holes, you'll need to unbolt the taillight assemblies on each side. Smittybilt provides a backing plate to go inside the body. Despite the seemingly thing sheetmetal, this setup seems to support the weight and secure the rear portion of the rack just fine. After you hit the two bare holes with a little spray paint, you can loosely attach the upper support bars. Smittybilt provides four center crossbars, which we evenly spaced apart. The hardware the company sent came with long bolts with plastic knobs glued to the end. The idea was to be able to quickly remove the bars into one of the other mounting positions. The reality of the plastic knobs is that they become brittle and break. Not wanting to deal with the frustration of that type of hardware, we swapped them out for more traditional Allen-head bolts. The finished rack allows for just enough room if you want to remove your top completely. However, where we have our front bar mounted, we won’t be able to take advantage of the quick fold-back feature of the top. Overall, we are very pleased with how functional the Smittybilt roof rack is. Admittedly, it has created some increased wind noise (which was to be expected) and there are a few creaks starting to pop up now that we’ve incurred some more miles on it. We’ll likely do a bolt check at our next oil change (coming up soon) and makes sure all of the bolts are still snug. We’re still not sure we will max out the 300-pound capacity with no more that we put on the top, but we plan to put it to the test. Source: smittybilt.com
