Member Since: 20 Mar 2006
Location: Maryland
Posts: 3
Front Runner 3 Bar Roof Rack (Load Bar Kit) - REVIEW
Wanted to share this here because this rack solution was very hard to find in the states and other owners may be looking for something similar.
I was looking for an LR3/LR4 rack with the front bar as far forward as possible and the rear bar as far back as possible.
I wanted something that could accommodate long boats (canoes), kayaks, paddle boards in addition to the Yakima Skybox I use for trips.
There was nothing out there. The LR extended rail system, as installed, still only had fixed bar locations, only one more attachment point than the short rails, and the bars were not forward and back enough.
I had succumbed to the belief that my only solution was to get the lowest profile Expedition Rack or Platform that I could find, even though I had no use for the full platform. Those were more weight than I needed and I wasn't looking forward to the wind noise reported.
Somewhere along the line I stumbled across pictures of this Front Runner rack. The Front Runner website made it hard to find and it wasn't even listed on the U.S. site. However, you can see the rack on the Australia site (product code below), probably the UK site, and if you contact the U.S. reps they can ship this out as well. The rack is just a subset of their expedition racks so it is easy for them to pull the mounts and bars from stock and get it out to you. They also sell a two bar version of this rack if you only want it on the rear. The rack I have is called;
Land Rover Discovery LR3/LR4 Load Bar Kit / Foot Rails - by Front Runner (Product Code: KRLD016T)
I have to say, I wasn't crazy about the look of it from the pictures on their website, and I could find no other installed pics. However, once I got it, I really like it!
Below is the rack installed. I keep surf pads on the two front bars and I have two FR's roller bars on the rear bar. All easily removed as needed;
Click image to enlarge
Here is an almost 17' long canoe on the roof. Note, with the standard OEM two bar rack, it is very difficult to get a long load on the roof without scraping the front edge of the roof. This Old Town doesn't curve as much as my aluminum Grumman, which is all but impossible to load on a standard rack.
Click image to enlarge
Check out this great load angle! I have a piece of carpet there as insurance, but there is NO WAY you can do this with the factory rack or most others I found. The front of the canoe is resting on the ground and the canoe is not hitting the rear edge of the roof. If you looked up on our roof, this is a tall order as the top of the door extends in pretty far from the back of the truck;
Click image to enlarge
Here is an 11' paddle board on the roof, fully utilizing the spread of the three bars. Very well supported.
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Had an 11' foot kayak on it this weekend. I can actually get 3 kayaks up there... kind of layered on top of each other and tied carefully.
Click image to enlarge
And finally, here is a shot with my Sky Box on the roof. Now, due to the mount locations on the Skybox it has to go on the two front rails and sits a little farther forward than I'd like, but, the forward location ended up being a bonus. With the factory rack the box would obstruct the lift gate. You can see here, the lift gate opens clean.
Click image to enlarge
So, hopefully it's clear now why the factory rack wouldn't fit the bill, and the challenges I had finding something else.
I also got dual rollers in the back;
Click image to enlarge
which make it possible to easily roll on loads from the back. They work great. I still usually put on kayaks from the side, but these are really useful. I usually take my heavier rigid SUP off the car from the rear using the rollers.
I like the rack. The Front Runner support was great when I had install questions and they shipped out some new parts to me without question when needed. They have a lot of accessories you can purchase that go easily into the cross bars. I have several of these screw in rings which are easy to position or remove as needed.
In fairness, there are some install challenges, though. You can and will install this at home using hand tools, but it is A LOT of pieces. It is kind of cool to see this large rack arrive in small boxes, but then you look at the number of nuts and bolts that you have and realize it isn't going to be a 1 hour install. Not including my roof glass break and repair, it took a while to install.
Additionally, there are so many bolts...I mean, I hope they all stay tight but these will not be easy to keep tabs on over the years. Some of them are not easily accessible once you put on the roof bars. I used every socket extension I could find to get in the various nooks and crannies and I still was not comfortable that I was able to torque a few of them to my satisfaction. Still, the key ones are definitely solid. And, I was told that if anything loosens up...I'll hear it rattling long before anything falls off! That doesn't mean it'll be easy to get to the rattle, but it'll be possible.
Also, as I use this on the beach I'm concerned how all the hardware will wear over time with sand and salt spray. I rinse it all pretty well with fresh water after a trip, but on my first beach outing I did notice the start of rust on bare metal. Those were just scrapes on the powder coat or hidden stainless nuts (the side of my truck that had been exposed to a driving salty mist, for what it's worth). I took some hardware off after the first trip and was surprised to see rust. I realize salt is unforgiving.
All said, I've had the rack on the truck for about 3 months now and have been very happy with it. We'll see how it holds up over time.
If you need a 3 bar rack, I'd recommend this Front Runner. It's also good if you think you may want to upgrade to an expedition rack down the road, but don't need it now. FR will sell you just the parts you need so you can get to a tent platform or other purpose pretty easily from here.
Hope this is useful to someone as it was difficult rack for me to find. Let me know if you have any questions.
14th Jul 2017 8:00 pm
Parmenian
Member Since: 28 Mar 2016
Location: St Peter Port
Posts: 129
Love the rack but especially love your Disco. Great colour.
Which bits rust? I thought it was an all aluminium construction? I live on an island so salt air could be an issue. Plus the occasional dousing when the waves come over the sea walls!
I was quite surprised by the cost of this in the UK. I guess that's because it's the main part of the modular system. Looking at your pictures it seems you have to remove the roof rails to fit it. Did you need to purchase strips to fill in the gaps left?
Oh, how did you find wind noise? And, if you noticed, was your mpg affected much with the bare rack (obviously expecting a change with kayaks and/or bikes on top).
Cheers.
22nd Jul 2017 8:44 am
toddjb
Member Since: 20 Mar 2006
Location: Maryland
Posts: 3
Parmenian wrote:
Love the rack but especially love your Disco. Great colour.
Which bits rust? I thought it was an all aluminium construction? I live on an island so salt air could be an issue. Plus the occasional dousing when the waves come over the sea walls!
I was quite surprised by the cost of this in the UK. I guess that's because it's the main part of the modular system. Looking at your pictures it seems you have to remove the roof rails to fit it. Did you need to purchase strips to fill in the gaps left?
Oh, how did you find wind noise? And, if you noticed, was your mpg affected much with the bare rack (obviously expecting a change with kayaks and/or bikes on top).
Cheers.
Thanks for the feedback @Parmenian.
So, the frame is steel. The crossbars are aluminum. That's my guess anyway.
I don't see any rust currently, but I have since touched up any areas where the rack frame powder coat was knocked off during shipping (small scratches on edges). It was just after the first trip and the rust surprised me. I had the truck parked on the beach all day while a mist rain was blowing on it. The side of the truck exposed showed the start of rack rust on any bare non-stainless metal. Also, when I got home I decided to remove the wind deflectors which sit on the underside of the cross bars. While they are assembled with SS hardware, I was surprised to see the start of some kind of oxidation. Nothing major, but it was only after a week.
Regarding price, I believe it is cheaper than buying LR rails and crossbars. They get kind of pricey. Don't just the OEM crossbars cost $500ish?
My truck did not come with roof rack side rails installed. Had it, I may have gone a different route.
I had to deal with the molding strips in the gap. Once I removed the thread plugs, I just trimmed the aluminum best I could to insure a solid connection to the frame base.
For me wind noise is not significant. I don't think it is noticeably different than the factory crossbars I had on my prior LR3. The only exception is that being a 3 bar rack, the front bar is centered over the sunroof. So if you have the sunroof open it drives air down on your head. Highway driving though, it's all fine. I only notice noise if the sunroof is cracked. MPG is not affected. I can get 19-20 MPG on the highway which seems comparable to other drivers. (and that's with gear on the roof)
Let me know if you have any other questions. Be glad to help or take additional pictures if you want to see any mounts.
Here's one more pic. Had it out last week and was pleased to find I could put two kayaks side by side, flat. Couldn't do that with the factory bars, yet these bars still don't overhang the side of the LR;
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