Sal-XK's Garage

[CmmdrDan]

Sal do you happen to know the sizes of the bolts you got? Planning on going to lowes this weekend to pick all that stuff up. Got to be ready, so I can just throw the rack together and load it up and go. Oh and time to make my payment. Good bye 230 bucks!

[Sal-XK]

No I can measure it though. I bought a grade 5 hardware kit from autozone for $25 I highly recommend you just do that so you have an assortment of hardware to put stuff together and that price is pretty good. I also went to loses and nought the biggest washers they had in the hardware section to get a good bite on the channel. You will also need the 3/4 clamp for the unistrut to hold your basket down.

[CmmdrDan]

Well my dad has a ton of bolts and **** in the garage. I may just go and get grade 8 stuff though. If you could measure that would be great. You Da Man!

[Sal-XK]

Ya I can do that. I'm actually thinking of looking for a better way to mount the strut to the rail instead of using tons of washers. I'll be at lowes today so if I find something I'll let you know.

[CmmdrDan]

Thanks Broshanski!

[Sal-XK]

The bolts were about 3 1/2 long. Make sure you get the galvanized clamps and stuff so it don't rust.

[Sal-XK]

Road test update on new roof rails and shocks.

New Rails:
If your using a basket with a mesh floor like I am you may want to add at least a center cross rail if you're dropping the basket this low. There really isn't any room for the floor to flex down. Now I over load my basket, I double if not tripple the load its rated for on a regular basis. My basket was hitting my roof a little bit every now and again this weekend. So I will be adding a third rail to mine, you guys with the really nice expensive baskets won't have this issue.

Monroe load leveling shocks:

All I can say is WOW I loaded the inside with a bunch of stuff my main box took two of us to lift in plus I packed a bunch around it. Then It was time to load my 125 quart cooler. I put that cooler and my fresh water tank on the hitch basket. The cooler probably was pushing 300LBS my water tank about 50LBS. This combination usually puts my bumper on the ground but not this time. With all four passengers loaded the rear didn't sink that much. The back dropped to almost level with the front and considering the weight I put on it thats pretty good. The biggest advantage IMO was the ride. The jeep handled great the shocks kept things in check on bumps ramps and sections that usually sent me bouncing down the highway the shocks took all that a way too. I also saw improvements while on the sand. I usually slam the bump stops down or my spare tire in the sand a few times getting down the beach but that was fixed as well.

[Matt]

Glad to hear it all worked out for you man!

[IamJEEP]

I did notice a little sag on the rack floor with my spare up there, but I still had room for error so I didn't think anything from it.

Also glad to hear both mods worked for you on your trip.

[Sal-XK]

I did notice a little sag on the rack floor with my spare up there, but I still had room for error so I didn't think anything from it.

Also glad to hear both mods worked for you on your trip.

I have my bars pretty far apart actually about as far apart as possible. I did this for a couple of reasons that have to do with mounting other things up there. I'm guessing age and extreme use will make this type floor sag more over time so maybe something to keep in mind. I use my basket a lot and always have tons of weight up there.