AR | BRONCO Modular Roof Rack for 2-Door and 4-Door

[EIGHTLUG]

Another add-on for the roof rack. This will be our triple @Baja Designs S2 chase light housing. It will cleanly mount directly to any of our roof racks. You’ll be able to configure and wire the lights as you see fit. We’ll develop several different styles of adapter plates to mount to other roof racks, if there’s interest.

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[Summit981]

Truth be told, the ‘narrow version’ of this roof rack was our initial design. Which is why I told you earlier that the rear mounts are already designed. We started talking about mounting accessories like MaxTrax and Rotopax on the side rails, and it made sense to punch it out wider and not have to design around the roof. Accessories will be able to hang below the top surface of the rack, allowing you to use the entire flat surface for a tent and more gear. Your side mounted accessories would not come in contact with the roof. I found this to be a really beneficial design cue of the roof rack on my 1989 DEFENDER 110. As long as you kept stuff above the top of the doors so they’ll open/close, you’re money.

We 3D scanned MaxTrax, NATO Jerry can, RotoPax, HiLift jack, etc., to model and add to our renderings.

Excellent! This is the sort of design thinking I really appreciate. Thinking thru the rack width as it relates to how the rack must perform while
mounting / carrying accessories is important to me.

I’m particularly interested in adaptability for mounting awnings (specifically the 270 degree awnings with large “stack” heights). Judging by the CAD renderings, this rack looks like it will meet those requirements without having to procure additional 90 degree awning mounting brackets to clear the width of the vehicle’s roofline (e.g., TrailRax).

Having already experienced the quality of AR’s BAM Bring Your Own Device Rail (BYODR), I’m pretty excited by these roof rack preliminaries.

 

[EIGHTLUG]

Excellent! This is the sort of design thinking I really appreciate. Thinking thru the rack width as it relates to how the rack must perform while
mounting / carrying accessories is important to me.

I’m particularly interested in adaptability for mounting awnings (specifically the 270 degree awnings with large “stack” heights). Judging by the CAD renderings, this rack looks like it will meet those requirements without having to procure additional 90 degree awning mounting brackets to clear the width of the vehicle’s roofline (e.g., TrailRax).

Having already experienced the quality of AR’s BAM Bring Your Own Device Rail (BYODR), I’m pretty excited by these roof rack preliminaries.

Thank you for that comment! I’d have to say, the BAM and our STIRRUPS were our two first major products into the foray of Bronco accessories, and for those on this forum that jumped at the prospect of those two products from a company that no one on this forum was really familiar with, we appreciate you.

We’ve come a long way, in just over a year. The catalog of accessories has grown considerably. Through this time, we’ve kept quality and design at a very high standard. We haven’t diluted our name or products by selling third party accessories manufactured overseas. And now we’re about to step into a realm with our roof rack that, IMHO, will stand toe-to-toe with anything else on the market. That’s saying a lot, considering there are companies that design/produce/sell roof racks as their full time gig.

 

[EIGHTLUG]

Why is billet material necessary? The roof rack strength and durability should be limited to the capabilities of the roof structure. Using bullet manufacturing processes (which adds expense dramatically) seems over the top. Cast materials would seem to be more efficient and economical unless the business plan is intentionally skewed towards low volume and high piece price.

Why billet, you ask. We want to take roof rack design and capability into a more bespoke place. The machining process, I’d have to agree, is pretty costly to get into, but what it affords in the end is the ability, in this case, to load 30 billets into our VF-4 and come back in 8 hours with the bulk of the parts necessary to build 6 Bronco roof racks. All the while, we’re able to do those other things that get the boxes onto the big brown truck.

The billet supports will all be fitted perfectly to each location. That’s not easily achievable with steel. Right off the bat, those light bar mounts that are located on the ‘ACCESSORY READY’ location above the windshield come to mind. I’m sorry, but flat sheet metal doesn’t form fit that radiused surface at all, but our machined billet components will.

For me, it’s a quality thing. Some people are like minded. They want things to be correct, not just good enough to work well enough that the customer won’t complain, or the expectations were already set so low that they didn’t expect dead nuts fitment to begin with. We’re not a rinse and repeat Jeep parts company. For decades, that level of product quality was the off-road accessory standard. That M.O. is mounting black powdercoated sheet metal accessories to flat surfaces on a Jeep. The Bronco has near zero flat surfaces, yet these designs are still using the same 2D materials on 3D surfaces.

My background is in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on propulsion. Through that, my mind and eyes are wired differently than most. Our tolerance is .002”. I’m willing to bet there’s no one in our space that builds a roof rack that can say the same. I get it, it’s not necessary, but we can do it. So why not do it. Some stuff just doesn’t fly with me.

 

[Special Decor]

Why billet, you ask. We want to take roof rack design and capability into a more bespoke place. The machining process, I’d have to agree, is pretty costly to get into, but what it affords in the end is the ability, in this case, to load 30 billets into our VF-4 and come back in 8 hours with the bulk of the parts necessary to build 6 Bronco roof racks. All the while, we’re able to do those other things that get the boxes onto the big brown truck.

The billet supports will all be fitted perfectly to each location. That’s not easily achievable with steel. Right off the bat, those light bar mounts that are located on the ‘ACCESSORY READY’ location above the windshield come to mind. I’m sorry, but flat sheet metal doesn’t form fit that radiused surface at all, but our machined billet components will.

For me, it’s a quality thing. Some people are like minded. They want things to be correct, not just good enough to work well enough that the customer won’t complain, or the expectations were already set so low that they didn’t expect dead nuts fitment to begin with. We’re not a rinse and repeat Jeep parts company. For decades, that level of product quality was the off-road accessory standard. That M.O. is mounting black powdercoated sheet metal accessories to flat surfaces on a Jeep. The Bronco has near zero flat surfaces, yet these designs are still using the same 2D materials on 3D surfaces.

My background is in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on propulsion. Through that, my mind and eyes are wired differently than most. Our tolerance is .002”. I’m willing to bet there’s no one in our space that builds a roof rack that can say the same. I get it, it’s not necessary, but we can do it. So why not do it. Some stuff just doesn’t fly with me.

Coming from a tool and die back ground. I am one who appreciates craftsmanship and a company willing to hold the products they produce to a high level of quality. Yes it cost more but a well built quality product will out perform the competition. Your product look great.

 

[josh_]

@EIGHTLUG im sorry if I missed it but when you do you expect this rack to be available for purchase? Love the aesthetics and attention to detail your company provides!

 

[EIGHTLUG]

@EIGHTLUG im sorry if I missed it but when you do you expect this rack to be available for purchase? Love the aesthetics and attention to detail your company provides!

Thank you for your interest! The billet parts are scheduled for machining now. I'd expect to have finished parts in hand by early February. I'll get the first rack assembled, soon after for pics and load mock ups. I want to take it off road with the intent to do the best I can to break it, without rolling our Bronco on its roof. If anything fails, it will be addressed. If it comes through with flying colors, the rack will go live on the website.

 

[scottsil]

Been holding out for this one. Love that the rack went black, as I think the original renders you shared @EIGHTLUG had a silver rack. IMO the black rack is . Seeeeeend it!

 

[Summit981]

Thank you for your interest! The billet parts are scheduled for machining now. I'd expect to have finished parts in hand by early February. I'll get the first rack assembled, soon after for pics and load mock ups. I want to take it off road with the intent to do the best I can to break it, without rolling our Bronco on its roof. If anything fails, it will be addressed. If it comes through with flying colors, the rack will go live on the website.

As you transition to prototype testing phase (after February), will there be an opportunity for those of us who would like to place reservations?

 

[EIGHTLUG]

As you transition to prototype testing phase (after February), will there be an opportunity for those of us who would like to place reservations?

Once all of the components are machined, tested, and fully vetted, I'll open up the pre-order with a special discount code.

I'm thinking we'll also have a special patch made for this product. Most of our Holiday orders (Thanksgiving to New Year) are shipping out with this patch. I'm sure some forum members have this one by now.

 

[Rebel Bronc]

I’m excited to see this rack when it’s ready. I bought your stirrups several weeks before I had my Bronco, but they are mounted now, and I love them.

 

[mdk100]

I like the quality. But I’m in SoCal, so will split time topless at the beach and camping in the mountains or desert. I’ve been looking for a modular rack on the 2 door that lets me have a short rack over the rear shell, and add extensions to make it a long rack for longer trips. I’ve seen that option in some 4 door racks, but not a 2 door. It seems like it would be easier on the 2 door as the rear shell is bigger.

Ideally, I could remove the hard top with the rack in place, or have the rack be easy to remove and replace. Some of the reviews on other racks describe a difficult install process no one wants to repeat. Which means you never take off the roof.

So my priorities are less about total cargo space and more about the installation process, options, and how easily I can go from a top off beach day to a week in the desert. Would love your thoughts on that.

 

[EIGHTLUG]

I like the quality. But I’m in SoCal, so will split time topless at the beach and camping in the mountains or desert. I’ve been looking for a modular rack on the 2 door that lets me have a short rack over the rear shell, and add extensions to make it a long rack for longer trips. I’ve seen that option in some 4 door racks, but not a 2 door. It seems like it would be easier on the 2 door as the rear shell is bigger.

Ideally, I could remove the hard top with the rack in place, or have the rack be easy to remove and replace. Some of the reviews on other racks describe a difficult install process no one wants to repeat. Which means you never take off the roof.

So my priorities are less about total cargo space and more about the installation process, options, and how easily I can go from a top off beach day to a week in the desert. Would love your thoughts on that.

We already have this smaller rack designed and I've been kicking around different ideas for expanding it in the most minimal of ways to the front mounts, for both two door and four door applications. Trust me, this roof rack project is taking up A LOT of room in my head. There's more to come on this one.

 

[mdk100]

Excellent! You heard my needs, hope you come up with something.

 

[joshslighter]

Correct. I think 12, 1/4" bolts is all it takes. Toss a hex drive on an electric ratchet and you can probably have the rack off in a matter of minutes. The rack is supported from underneath, so as you remove the mount bolts, it wont come crashing down. So pull the bolts and have a buddy help you lift it off or get one of those fancy ceiling mounted garage hoists and done deal. If equipped, the AERO-FAIRING can remain attached to calm the wind down on those roof off days. The lights would also remain installed and operational. It's a total win.

I was just thinking earlier how sweet it would be to have a rack and a mount for lights on the windshield and be able to remove the rack and roof but not have to worry about messing around with the light setup. Definitely interested and looking forward to seeing more of this.

Almost forgot....SEND IT!

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