Roof Rack:

The choice of Roof rack was a big concern for us, we wanted a clean look and as low profile as we could get.  It also seemed like most rack manufacturers really want to avoid listing any real weight capacities, especially off-road dynamic loads.  If they do, they are far too low to be of any use.  We really do not like the exoskeleton look of the Gobi and similar racks, especially since we were wanting to be able to use a Sunrider replacement for our Freedom panels to have some open top ability.  This also meant the rack had to be short enough to allow for the Sunrider to fold back.  We really liked the look and quality of the Rhino Pioneer Platform but were not impressed with the Backbone mounting system and lack of engineering / posted weight capacities.  After lots of research we discovered that Maximus-3 produced their own mounting system for the Pioneer Rack, this system still requires multiple holes through the Jeep roof but fastens directly to the roll cage and does not require a separate support down to the tub at the back windows like the Backbone system.  As a bonus the mounts are inboard a few inches from the edge and less visible with a much lower profile.  (Warning – the low profile does create RTT mounting issues especially when combined with the Pioneer platform slats running the length of the rack rather than crosswise, more about that later).  The best part is the rack system has a rated load capacity of 300 lbs dynamic (on or off road) and 900 pounds static.  Installation is not hard, just more of a pucker factor of measuring correctly and not drilling eight holes through your roof in the wrong place.  The directions could have been a bit better and there was a misprint on one of the dimensions, fortunately it was printed correctly in two other locations and double checking avoided a miss drilled hole.  The finished install met all of our expectations for looks and feels very solid. The rack with mounts weighed in at just over 65lbs and sits down very close to the roof with no noticeable additional noise when driving.

Sunrider Top: The Bestop Sunrider was one of the most anticipated mods we wanted long before buying Eeyore.  Installation was very easy, and the top worked seamlessly with the newly added roof rack .It was so easy to flip it back at a traffic light to get that awesome let the sun shine in experience of a Jeep.  What came next was completely unexpected. Once we added a roof top tent and awning the road and wind noise above 25 miles per hour became horrible, wind whistle reached a high pitch scream that would guarantee no deer would cross in front of us. Immediately we started a series of experimentation shoving whatever we could find into cracks and gaps between the top/rack/tent/awning to see if we could make it quieter or at least change the pitch.  Turns out that the wind was splitting under and over the rack creating a giant version of the old blade of grass whistle.  A pool noodle shoved in the gap between the tent and rack made all the difference in the world, so we fabricated a sheet metal spoiler to redirect the air.  The whistle was now all but gone, but we now had a horrible drumming of the fabric top due to turbulence of the air hitting the front of the tent causing a violent flapping.  All further attempts of hot head liners, sound matting in the Jeep interior still resulted in not being able to have a conversation at highway speeds.  Long distance travel is a primary use of this rig, so we reluctantly removed the top and replaced the freedom panels also with sound mat and headliner.  What a difference now we can listen to the radios and have a conversation, loved the Sunrider but we realized that having a quiet Jeep for long trips trumps having the open-air experience many times over.  In addition, most of our off-road travel is far too dusty to keep the top open and we ended up using it less than we thought.  Now it sits in storage while we decide if there is any possibility of putting it back on.

Awning:

We have a ARB standard roll up awning on our WJ, and have found that the combination of time required for setup/takedown and the limited coverage resulted in us only using it on rare occasions. For this reason, we wanted a 270 awning to provide coverage at the side and the rear where our kitchen resides. Ultra-fast deployment and storage was primary attribute, provisions for sidewalls, and no guy lines/poles to deal with. After seeing the Bush Company 270XT awning from South Africa on the Fire to Fork YouTube channel it jumped to the top of the list, seeing the company owner stand on top of the awning arms with no poles sealed the deal for us. We absolutely love the awning and use it on almost every trip as it is so fast.  Not having poles and guy ropes is amazing the high purchase price was soon forgotten and the fantastic customer service another bonus. Weighing in at a hefty 60 pound it is a beast, we offset the RTT to one side by a few inches and it seems to balance nicely together. Since the awning does not use poles, there is a lot of force transferred back to the rack at the hinge point, so you will need to make sure the rack is braced and mounted to something solid.  We added an extra cross bar to the rack which stiffened it up nicely and had no issues so far.  Still waiting on the side wall kits to become available in the US, would like to get at least two panels to close off the area around the kitchen in bad weather.  For now, we have some lightweight nylon tarps with Velcro that sort of work.

Roof Top Tent We spent a considerable amount of time researching roof top tents for this project, to date we have not landed on the perfect tent for us.  As a stop gap measure, we selected the 23 Zero Walkabout 62 soft shell. This tent checks many of the boxes on our wish list.  (Lightweight, compact footprint, covered entrance and fully enclosed awning).  What it does not check off is speed of set up and tear down.  Now that we have used it for over a year, The amount of fussing around to set it up and put it away is becoming a major frustration (imagine that) but still no other tent style offers a side entry with easy to setup annex with floor and no poles. The I Kamper mini is a bit narrow, and the annex is obnoxious and does not have a floor.  The 23 Zero Armadillo is similar and offers a width to match the one we have now. Just need to wait and see if they will release an annex to match what is on the Walkabout.  The current tent does weigh in at just under 120 lbs. which is Wrangler friendly, and the addition of a self-inflating mattress has made a huge difference in comfort,

and using an air pump we can suck it flat leaving lots of space in the tent for bedding without having to sit on it to fold it shut.  Since we do not always travel with the RTT and the Jeep will not fit in the garage for service with tent mounted we needed a way to speed up and simplify removal and installation in a safe manner.  Bring on my inner engineer and fabricator.  Searching for quick release mounts that were solid, easy to use and low profile did not turn up much that met my standards.  I did find that GoFast campers had designed a slick mount for their ultra-light tent.  A couple of emails later I got GoFast to ship me two sets of their quick release mounts and a set of matching tent rails which we swapped out the 23 Zero rails for.  Now we can mount the tent on either the JK or WJ with no tools.  To make installation a bit safer we designed a break apart crane that mounts to either Jeep and has quick straps to lift the tent off and place on the other Jeep or onto the ground.  The entire process takes under five minutes, no tools and no manual lifting.  Finally we built a set of quick install carry handles that fit into the tent rails to allow us to carry the tent to a storage area without out risk of dropping it on someone’s foot.

Miscellaneous:

To finish off the roof modifications we added a Seaview cable gland to the roof (what’s a few more holes .. lol) This allows us to run cabling for lights and antenna up to the roof cleanly and with no leaks. The nice feature is we can easily add additional wires at any time.  We were careful to find a double layer section of roof so that the wires are hidden on the interior side.

We seem to end up on a lot of trails with heavy dust or poor visibility, so we added KC highlights chase bar (built by Feniex who makes emergency vehicle lighting) to the rear of the roof rack. We wired the bar for brake & running lights, backup, solid amber, and alternating amber.  The bar is fantastic, and very slim.  The only issue with it is it is super bright, too bright for the brake/running lights at night on the highway in my opinion even though it is SAE approved. As such we currently have it wired with a kill switch so we can turn off that portion of the bar for night use on the highway. Yet have not found a way to dim the lights as they are controlled by a low voltage control unit.  Will likely pull it apart one day and see what makes it tick.

The last item we added is a WeBoost antenna that folds down between awning and tent when not needed. The jury is still out on if the WeBoost makes any real difference, more testing is needed.

The total combined weight of the roof mods is right at 250lbs and seems to be quite stable while travelling on or off-road.  Not a rock crawler, but still very capable of difficult trails.