Front Runner Roof Rack

I have been running the Front Runner 70 series SC UTE SLIMLINE II Roof Rack since 2020 and so far it’s been brilliant.

Weight?

For approximately 6 years I ran a TIGERZ11 (the old 4wdsupercentre/KINGS brand I think?) roof rack. It had completely rusted out from the inside. The weight difference was signifigant, not sure of the old rack weight but it was a two person lift off the vehicle. The Front Runner rack, I lifted up onto my roof myself! It weighs approximately 19kg. Unfortunately my snorkel was custom made to clear my old rack, so to fit the Front Runner I had to space it up from the gutter with little strips of rubber. Im hoping they release high gutter mounts that they currently have on their 60series racks which suit the high roof.

What about load ratings?

The Slimline II has a dynamic load (vehicle moving/motion) of 150kg and a static load of 300kg. However Front Runner did lift a Jeep Jk completely off the ground by its roof rack! For some fun they put a car ontop of a fitted roof rack and they also loaded a rack with 700kg of water barrels. All static loads but definitely shows the strength of these racks even though they are lightweight. Keep in mind the load rating of your vehicles roof when packing a roof rack. Most vehicles today will usually have a rating around 75-100kg static load. Once you account for the weight of the roof rack itself, any accessories (lightbars, side lights, awnings, wiring etc) you may find you cant pack too much else on your rack. The roof rack when it arrived was required to be assembled. However it was a very quick process to bolt together and included easy to understand instructions. Each little bag of bolts also has a card with a hand written name of who packed it, which I though was pretty unique, something you don’t see alot from bigger companies.

Why Front Runner?

The reason I ended up going Front Runner over any of the other major brands was honestly their huge range of accessories. As girly and lame as this will sound, accessory shopping is actually really, really fun! I am still in shock when I visit their website and see the new rack products they are bringing out. They have mounts for pretty much anything including gas bottles, jerries, awnings, surfboards, lights, showers, storage boxes, even dutch ovens! My absolute favourite are the slide out tables they make for their racks, unfortunately the 70series rack isnt quite big enough but the 60series will be! Here is a quick screenshot of some of the accessories I’ve saved but jump on their website to check out the full range!

Accessories

The two accessories I currently run are the light bar mounting brackets to suit my 40″ single row light bar and the Recovery Device Mounting Kit for my Treds. Light bar mount is a quick and simple install as majority of accessories slot into the rail cut outs. The Tred mounts are definitely secure however wouldn’t be as quick to unscrew the four retaining rings if you were in a hurry.

Overall very happy with the rack so far and certainly be looking at installing one on the 60 series when it is nearing completion! To shop the whole range of Front Runner gear here.