$475 Hooke Road Discovery Roof Rack -- Review

[DaveH]

What I'm worried about is that with the Chinese stuff the first batch of products may be pretty good but subsequent batches are crap. We'll see what happens when mine gets here next week.

Ordered on the 16th, still no tracking number.

Hmmm.. I purchased from Amazon. It is returnable for 30 days:
https://www.amazon.com/Hooke-Road-Crossbar-Hardtop-Exclude/dp/B0BQVPT6DL

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[swooshdave]

Here’s my mini review part 1.

I ordered on the 16th but it took a few days to ship. It' didn't get here until the 22nd. Normally California to Oregon is just a coulple days.

They need to improve the packaging. A lot. The box is very, very heavy and the cardboard box barely made it. Definitely some reinforcement on the ends. I'm sure the FedEx folks don't like the heavy box.

Nothing missing and sorting the hardware helped.

The back half went together just fine, no issues. No misthreaded holes.

So I’ve got the back half on. I ran out of time for the rest so that will be part 2.

Impressions so far are that it’s not bad. Really sturdy. I was surprised that the cross bars are so wide and have the T-slots.

It’s definitely worth the price. I can’t imagine how a more expensive rack could be that much better.

 

[swooshdave]

Got a Roofnest Condor XL! I love the way it fits on top and it folds out to a King size.

To be able to take the roof panels off with the roof top tent on I got 30mm M8 bolts - no problem after that just as before! Also, here are some pics with the front 3 roof panels off for proof.

So can you go into more detail as to how you mounted the tent? Did you have to remove the roof panels to get the underside of the tent?

What do you mean you got some M8x30 bolts? Which ones did you replace?

As you saw I got the rack on but the tent is next. I think most racks you can get the crossbars off by lifting up but not this rack.

 

[swooshdave]

Part 2.

Getting the front section assembled was pretty easy although the instructions are vague (with tiny pictures) as to the actual orientation of the caps on the front. You just keep turning pieces until they sort of make sense.

Once I got it all up I went and loosened all the bolts up slightly, wiggled the rack into what I thought was the perfect location and then went back and tightened it up.

Then I went for a test drive. The whistling started right at 55mph and just got worse. Again being the Harbor Freight of racks I anticipated this and bought the weatherstripping.

Which just happened to arrive as soon as I got back from the test drive.

I cut it at an angle on the ends so it matches the brackets. It looks, well, ok. Not ideal but if it doesn’t whistle after the next test drive I’ll be happy.

I do want to get a piece of PPF to put under the weatherstripping.

So for under $500 including the weatherstripping this isn’t bad. Perfect? No. But I don’t even know how long I’ll leave the rack on. Maybe a couple months. Maybe forever.

 

[jacobrdoty]

So can you go into more detail as to how you mounted the tent? Did you have to remove the roof panels to get the underside of the tent?

What do you mean you got some M8x30 bolts? Which ones did you replace?

As you saw I got the rack on but the tent is next. I think most racks you can get the crossbars off by lifting up but not this rack.

Yeah I'll actually make a walkaround video here soon about the tent/rack and how the bronco is sitting currently.

 

[swooshdave]

Yeah I'll actually make a walkaround video here soon about the tent/rack and how the bronco is sitting currently.

I pick up my tent June 3rd. No pressure.

 

[rblock50]

Hmmm.. I purchased from Amazon. It is returnable for 30 days:
https://www.amazon.com/Hooke-Road-Crossbar-Hardtop-Exclude/dp/B0BQVPT6DL

I had a hard time finding their exact return policies on Amazon. It says full refund, but because its not sold/delivered through Amazon (and not Prime), you may have to pay return shipping. I can imagine that would be pretty heavy.

 

[swooshdave]

Test drive with the weatherstripping results? No whistling. I suspect if they change the shape of the front panel it would also eliminate the noise.

 

[jacobrdoty]

Test drive with the weatherstripping results? No whistling. I suspect if they change the shape of the front panel it would also eliminate the noise.

What tent are you buying? I need to film a YouTube video and was thinking of filming my "1 Year of Ownership" type of video so I can showcase the tent and how it's mounted for you (also how to remove the roof panels)

 

[swooshdave]

What tent are you buying? I need to film a YouTube video and was thinking of filming my "1 Year of Ownership" type of video so I can showcase the tent and how it's mounted for you (also how to remove the roof panels)

https://inspiredoverland.com/products/io-lightweight-rooftop-tent/

Their design expect that you can remove the cross bars, mount the cross bars to the tent then put the whole shebang back on the rack.

I suspect that I will need to remove the rear panel of the rack to reach underneath and then one of the front roof panels to get to the front.

I'll find out on Saturday when I pick it up and install it at their facility.

 

[jacobrdoty]

https://inspiredoverland.com/products/io-lightweight-rooftop-tent/

Their design expect that you can remove the cross bars, mount the cross bars to the tent then put the whole shebang back on the rack.

I suspect that I will need to remove the rear panel of the rack to reach underneath and then one of the front roof panels to get to the front.

I'll find out on Saturday when I pick it up and install it at their facility.

Oh ok sweet it uses the same T channel mounting method as most other tents. Yeah it'll be an easy install without the roof panels on. Just remove the front 3 (I did it while at the person's house who I picked up the NIB tent from and just laid them in their lawn lol).

If the M8 hex cap bolts (double check your thread pitch at home depot) are too long you won't be able to reinstall the roof panels. This is what happened to me. I just loaded up my roof panels in the back and drove home (I had a yoga mat in the back to keep them from knocking around). On the way home I went to Home Depot and got new M8 hex cap bolts for the front (20 or 25mm IIRC..I think I bought a few different lengths to try out. You'll need 4 of each)

 

[swooshdave]

Oh ok sweet it uses the same T channel mounting method as most other tents. Yeah it'll be an easy install without the roof panels on. Just remove the front 3 (I did it while at the person's house who I picked up the NIB tent from and just laid them in their lawn lol).

If the M8 hex cap bolts (double check your thread pitch at home depot) are too long you won't be able to reinstall the roof panels. This is what happened to me. I just loaded up my roof panels in the back and drove home (I had a yoga mat in the back to keep them from knocking around). On the way home I went to Home Depot and got new M8 hex cap bolts for the front (20 or 25mm IIRC..I think I bought a few different lengths to try out. You'll need 4 of each)

I don't think I need to remove the center panel. There are just two sets of brackets, front and rear. I'll get to the back brackets from the rear. I'm hoping that I can put the front set just behind the front panels so they will go back on. I'll take pics.

I won't have the flexibility to remove the panels and put them inside as the I will be fully loaded for a mega road trip. Hopefully I won't need to get extra creative.

 

[jacobrdoty]

I don't think I need to remove the center panel. There are just two sets of brackets, front and rear. I'll get to the back brackets from the rear. I'm hoping that I can put the front set just behind the front panels so they will go back on. I'll take pics.

I won't have the flexibility to remove the panels and put them inside as the I will be fully loaded for a mega road trip. Hopefully I won't need to get extra creative.

Yeah then you should be fine! Getting the nuts on rear cover back on can be kind of a pain in the butt, but my gf was able to reach in since her hands are smaller.

 

[doyouglas]

Where is this roof rack manufactured? I went to their website and it doesn't state it anywhere.

 

[swooshdave]

Where is this roof rack manufactured? I went to their website and it doesn't state it anywhere.

I have to think China. If it was US it would be plastered all over the site.

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