Full Review w/Pics and Video: Badass Tents Roof Rack

[David-AK]

A week after installing the BadAss rack:

It came REALLY well packed in bubblewrap but a lot of the parts came out already nicked and scratched; we all know steel and water do not get along

Be aware that small metal panels you're seeing in the installation videos that allow you to use the rear rack only are no longer included and must be ordered separately.

I opted not to use the air deflector and the noise level was definitely up there. I managed to quiet it down a lot by using a 6mm aluminum extrusion slot cover I found on Amazon. It also keeps dirt and water out, pops out easily to use the channel.

Time to find some flat black touch-up paint to match.

Sponsored

 

[FellowM3]

A week after installing the BadAss rack:

It came REALLY well packed in bubblewrap but a lot of the parts came out already nicked and scratched; we all know steel and water do not get along

Be aware that small metal panels you're seeing in the installation videos that allow you to use the rear rack only are no longer included and must be ordered separately.

I opted not to use the air deflector and the noise level was definitely up there. I managed to quiet it down a lot by using a 6mm aluminum extrusion slot cover I found on Amazon. It also keeps dirt and water out, pops out easily to use the channel.

Time to find some flat black touch-up paint to match.

This is a great idea. Most racks (like thule bars) have a rubber grommet / strip to go into their extrusions to reduce noise and keep grime out of the rail so stuff slides through easily).

 

[SkyKing]

This is a great idea. Most racks (like thule bars) have a rubber grommet / strip to go into their extrusions to reduce noise and keep grime out of the rail so stuff slides through easily).

Love the idea of those strips. I just ordered on Amazon. It should help with noise and keeping the bars from getting scratched.

 

[scottfwalter]

Is there anything special you need to do to connect the rear brackets to the roof or do they slide under the lip? I ask because any of the videos I have seen always show them already installed.

Are there any screws to secure them or when you have both sides and the crossbar installed they are secure enough?

The instructions on the badass tent site

 

[2ndGenBroncoOwner]

They just slide in the notches in the rear section of the roof. They are different sizes, so pay attention to that. There is an instructional video of William installing the roof rack on their site or via YouTube.

 

[Black Wildtrak Bandit]

Very pleased with my rack. Works well with my iKamper. I installed the wind deflector and it does a great job of keeping the noise down.

 

[Jamoroo34]

The purpose of this post is to offer an in-depth review of the Badass Tents roof rack for the Ford Bronco. At the bottom of the post is my 11-minute video review and pics below.

Some of you may have seen a similar review of mine about a very good rust proofing service.

Background:
Like many 2021/2 Bronco buyers, I occasionally want/need to put stuff on my roof. Unfortunately, some configurations did/do not allow the buyer to add the OEM Ford roof rails w/crossbars for ($365) – the reason is rumored to have something to do with weight. If you ordered a Sasquatch/2.7/4-door, you couldn’t get it. Eventually, Ford added the rack as an over-priced accessory for $825 (but still not “available” as of 3/7/2022).

I wanted a well-made rack to hold canoes, kayaks, skis, and whatever. I was also disappointed that the OEM Ford rack eliminates your ability to remove the 2nd row roof panels.

I found BadassTents.com, a new US-based company that specializes in high-quality roof-top tents and off-road accessories – all made in the US. And specifically, it designed and sells a Badass Tents roof rack for 2-door and 4-door Broncos. (this is an independent consumer review – I am not affiliated with Badass Tents).

Competition:
There will no-doubt be additional entrants into this market, but as of now, I think this one stands out as the winner. And importantly, these are available now.

Why I chose Badass Tents:

• Made in the USA
• No Plastic
• High load capacity
• Low-profile design
• Leverages OEM attachment points (no drilling)
• Allows for removal of the 1st and 2nd row panels
• Modular design enables it to be configured as a short rack (rear cap only with 2 crossbars), or the full rack with up to 6 crossbars.
• Nice looking
• Quality/price
• Available now

Ordering, pricing, and delivery:
For the 4-door, you can order a “short rack” which attaches only to the rear cap, and provides 2 crossbars. Or you can get the full rack. You can choose black or bare aluminum crossbars. The 2-door version has 5 crossbars. Prices are on the site at the links above. Delivery came by FedEx ground. There is also a wind-guard that can be added to the front. I don’t have that so I can’t speak to it.

Unboxing:
The box was about 6’x1’x1’ and about 73lbs. The rack was very well packed – important to keep the pieces of steel and aluminum from scratching the powder coating off of each other. The pieces that needed to be labeled were labeled. I downloaded the directions here.

Materials and hardware:
There is zero plastic. This rack is 100% powder-coated steel and anodized aluminum, with stainless steel screws/nuts. There is rubber padding to protect the roof from having any direct contact with metal.

Assembly, Installation and Fit/Finish:
It takes a bit over an hour to assemble and install. No drilling or special tools are needed. I was impressed with how well all the holes lined and matched up to the Ford mounting points on the Bronco. The rack is VERY sturdy. It has a 500lb. static limit and 250lb (in transit).

Aesthetics:
It’s a nice-looking piece of hardware. The only strike against it would be the Ford mounting points above the windshield are a little bare without the colored caps on them. The rack only makes the bronco 3.125 inches taller (yet still allows the panels to come out). The rack is very business-like while still looking as sleek as possible.

Modularity:
There are two aspects that stand out here. First, BadAss Tents provided adapter pieces so that you can configure it as a short rack on the rear (w/2 crossbars). This would let you put stuff on the rear cap, and you could remove the rear cap with no need to remove the rack. Or, you can set up the full rack (up to 6 cross bars). In this configuration, you can remove all the roof panels, but you’d need to remove the front part of the rack in order to go in full convertible mode with no rear cap). As much as I’d like to believe otherwise, here in New England the weather changes enough that I will rarely remove the rear cap.

The other thing I like, is that you can decide which cross bars you want. For example, I don’t have a light bar and I might not need the front cross bar. I think it looks a little better without it so I removed it (see pics below – some have it on, others have it off.

Versatility/Compatibility:
This rack was designed with rooftop camping and overland in mind, and it’s well suited for it. What I like is that it’s somewhat minimalist. It’s not overkill. You’ve surely seen some bro’s out there who add 1000lbs. of cheap and heavy steel tubing, bins, ladders, and brushguards, and it starts to look truly ridiculous when parked at the mall or sitting in commuter traffic. This rack is sleek but you can add whatever you want, and the t-slotted crossbars accept t-screws to attach… anything you can think of. Also, the crossbars themselves are thin enough to accept attachments made for a universal fit on crossbars (ski racks, roof-top box, kayak/bike carriers). With a small amount of mechanical ingenuity, anything could be affixed.

Wind noise:
Compared to having no rack, I didn't notice a difference in wind noise - until about 55mph (I haven't gone faster with the rack yet - I'll have to update this post later). I've had some kind of rack on my daily driver SUVs since the 80s and they all make some noise at speed - especially with skis, etc. There is a wind deflector accessory by Badass Tents that I didn't buy, and it might make a difference.

Overall:
Very impressed with this rack option. It’s higher quality, more useful, better looking, and doesn’t limit the roof panel removal like the OEM model. It’s not cheap, but you can feel confident that it will handle anything you want to do with it.

And, personally, I like supporting small purpose-based US-businesses that prioritize quality and customer service. Even though Ford corporate refuses to communicate with its customers, the owner/founder (Roger Davis) of Badass Tents responds quickly and his team is there to support you.

Video Review:


Pics:

Now that you have had it long term, how has the rack held up?

 

[SkyKing]

Now that you have had it long term, how has the rack held up?

No issues so far - solid as a rock and being able to remove the rear roof panel makes it a no brainer compared to the stock plasticky rack.

 

[rbell2267]

Now that you have had it long term, how has the rack held up?

I’ve had the Badass Tents roof rack for roughly 18months and have had to pull it off to get it repainted this week. The back frame has quite a bit of rusting. Not real happy about it at the moment.

 

[rbell2267]

I’ve had the Badass Tents roof rack for roughly 18months and have had to pull it off to get it repainted this week. The back frame has quite a bit of rusting. Not real happy about it at the moment.

Texas Gulf Coast weather without a substantial multi-coat paint. This is after roughly 18-months of ownership.

 

[Scrim79]

Now that you have had it long term, how has the rack held up?

I’ve had the Badass Tents roof rack for roughly 18months and have had to pull it off to get it repainted this week. The back frame has quite a bit of rusting. Not real happy about it at the moment.

rbell2267 - I feel your pain! I wonder how many more of us there are out there in the same boat...

Personally, I will never do business with Badass Tents (BA Tents) again and discourage anyone else from dealing with them as well. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!! YMMV, but there are more reputable and higher quality vendors that sell better products at a better price than the junk these guys are peddling.

I purchased their roof rack for my Bronco in June of ’22, and its powder coat started flaking within the first few months and the rack started rusting. Granted, metal rusts and maintenance is expected, but not to this extent.

Unfortunately, aftermarket Bronco roof rack options were very limited at the time of purchase and reviews weren’t readily available as to the company’s reputation since they were a startup and only founded two years prior. This was the only review available, so I bought it on a leap of faith. Admittedly, this was my mistake.

Though their website clearly states that rust is not covered by warranty, the issue had become so bad that I contacted them 8 months after purchase and shared pictures of the rack. The immediate response was, "Wow, lots of rust!" with a follow up of:

OK, looking at the photos the powder guy apologizes but the longer parts are too far gone, but looks like the brackets and possibly the slotted panels can be reworked. Bars are aluminum so keep those to reuse.

Can you remove the rack and package the brackets and slotted parts to us for rework?

Concerning the long parts we have 2 options:

1. Send you steel parts and hardware as purchased – we can do this one time no charge

2. Send you the new upgraded 2023 all aluminum rack (less bars and will use your reworked brackets) for a $325 cost upgrade fee. New rack is 30lbs lighter and just as strong, will never have chance of rust again.


After paying over $1,700.00 for the rack already, this got me a little perturbed.

I contacted Roger Davis, the company's founder, and said that this was unacceptable and that I wanted the rack replaced at no cost and with no downtime.

He admitted that there was "probably" an issue with the powder coat prep and then proceeded to compare these cheap pieces of metal to a $60k+ vehicle saying that "it is like if your brand-new bronco starts shooting out fireballs and rusts out, they won't give you a new one, they would try and fix it."

He then continued to inform me that my rack was a 1st gen and that they had 2 updates since then.

The first update was coating the steel with something before powder coat to prevent rusting, and the second update was changing the majority of it to aluminum... this was all within 8 months of my purchase.

Furthermore, he tried bargaining with me on the upgrade cost finally settling on sending me replacement parts made of their new "rust free" mostly aluminum rack for around $200 if I brought the few “possibly reworkable” pieces to a local powder coater to have them try and salvage them.

Keep in mind, the company totally switched materials due to what is assumed to be rusting issues based on the evolution of the product. Yet, I was being offered unusable inventory, that would most likely leave me in the same predicament, so that he could recoup whatever costs were already lost in lieu of sending out the current product to fix the problem. All the while, he was willing to spend more money on shipping and labor to rework parts that were “possibly” salvageable.

I am not sure how business is done wherever Roger is from, but in my profession, as well as in most, we stand behind our product. We admit fault when it happens and bend over backwards to fix the issue, at our expense, with minimal impact to the costumer. This is common practice to ensure repeat customers and word of mouth advertising. We do not openly acknowledge our errors and then offer to fix them at the customer’s expense. This is simply the epitome of bad business practice.

All said and done, since it was not feasible for me to be without a rack for an extended period due to the amount that I use it (hence why I bought it), I caved and upgraded, so that I hopefully don't have to deal with this again.

Unfortunately, they failed to send me a few of the required parts that extend the studs that are factory welded to the vehicle over the windshield. This ended up with me stripping the top 2 threads of the studs with no excessive pressure applied and realized it after 2 out of 4 studs were damaged. (and yes, I started the nuts by hand)

In total, it cost $2,054.79 (at the time of complaint the new and improved rack sold for just over $1,400.00), plus a $52.99 split thread chaser for a grand total of $2,107.78.

As for the new design, it is super wobbly and I do not recommend it. Maybe it is just a factor of the thin aluminum rails and common in this style of rack, but I am curious what the added change in load distribution will do in the long run from wobbling side to side if it gets center loaded.

I can't speak for the rest of their product line since I have not and will not buy anything from this company again, but do your research. There are minimal but mostly bad reviews by people that are familiar with rooftop tents and not the first-time buyers who have nothing to base a comparison on. I have owned RTT's for over 6 years and the gripes I've read are legitimate. There is actually a review of Roger Davis trying to upcharge another customer for an item that was damaged in transit.

That said, I do not recommend their quality of product or Roger Davis’ customer service practices in the least.

Here are the pics that I originally sent them 8 months after install...

 

[SkyKing]

Wow this is both fascinating and concerning and I’m sorry about your experience. Mine is almost two years old and almost no rust. It is usually covered and only has 12k but it’s been through 2 New England winters. I want to learn more about the new design myself.

 

[Scrim79]

Wow this is both fascinating and concerning and I’m sorry about your experience. Mine is almost two years old and no rust. It is usually covered and only has 12k but it’s been through 2 New England winters. I want to learn more about the new design myself.

Unfortunately, mine lives outside and went through one Michigan winter. I also have over 50k on my truck in 1.5 years, but the rack was flaking and rusting well before it saw its first salt covered road.

I have Jeep buddies that deal with powder coated aftermarket stuff and run their trucks the same as mine (i.e. stored outside and high mileage), so I knew that maintenance would need to happen eventually, but even they said that this was one of the worst products that they had seen as far as the quality went.

That said, I am glad to hear that yours is still in good shape. Also, you put together an amazing review! Obviously, I was sold lol.

As for the new design, though I would have to put a magnet to it to be sure, I think that the only things that are left in steel, and I could be wrong, are the clamps at the back that sit on the roof itself. Everything else is changed to aluminum. They also got rid of the double steel long rails and changed it to one aluminum long rail for each side. The foot at the front of the rack got thicker so there is an extension that they use to allow you to grab adequate threads to tighten everything up on the factory studs... of course this is the piece that they failed to send me lol. Besides that, it is basically the same design.

I can't do a comparison since I updated the rack, but you can grab the middle of the rack on the side and actually move it quite a bit (side to side, not up and down). I don't remember this being the case with the steel, but it was obviously more rigid.

I don't see this being too much of a problem as long as I don't put a small heavy load, like a spare tire, completely centered on the rack. I think that most things that are put up there will be fine. Just an observation.

 

[MaximuNashville]

Sorry to revive an old thread but was wondering if anyone had new thoughts on this one? I have a chance to grab one locally for around $450. Feels like a solid deal but I could also grab a new Hooke Road rack for not much more. I really like the ability to add side storage to the BA rack though…

 

[cr117]

Sorry to revive an old thread but was wondering if anyone had new thoughts on this one? I have a chance to grab one locally for around $450. Feels like a solid deal but I could also grab a new Hooke Road rack for not much more. I really like the ability to add side storage to the BA rack though…

Don't have experience with either, but if you're planning on going the BA route, make sure it's the aluminum version.

Sponsored