3rd Gen Montero Initial Impressions/Build Thread

[pajombre03]

I wanna see more of that awesome roof rack!

[kchristian]

I wanna see more of that awesome roof rack!

There isn't much to it honestly. It's 1/2" square tubbing with expanded metal and a few u-bolts to the standard roof rack. We threw it together in an afternoon. It's been working great however. We carry a tire, 10 gallons of water, 5 gallons of gas and a couple camp chairs up there. I left a big opening for the sunroof. I like the low profile look and everything gets strapped/bolted down anyway so there was no point in welding on big ugly sides.

Couple more pics:

[off-roader]

Nicely done on the rack! I'm itching to replace mine with a flat one as well.

btw, how well did the elastic netting work to hold the water? in my experience they allow all sorts of things to escape. Even the tops of storage!! I almost always recommend ditching them for ratcheting straps instead.

[pajombre03]

I love the rack. I'm looking to build something exactly like that soon. It looks great, the hole for the sun roof is perfect. I can't believe I never thought of those simple U bolts, it makes total sense. Great job.

[kchristian]

btw, how well did the elastic netting work to hold the water? in my experience they allow all sorts of things to escape. Even the tops of storage!! I almost always recommend ditching them for ratcheting straps instead.

It's worked fine so far (7k miles, 8 countries.) It was one of those many things that on the day of departure I realized I hadn't figured out. So I grabbed it from the box of old motorcycle gear (used to carry my bag on the backseat of my CBR for about a year). I keep thinking I'll replace it but it's nice to be able to pull a tank down quickly.