Front seat in the back ????

Hitch Hauler

You can buy or make a detachable roof rack to carry gear to camp, then drop it off or leave it on. The soft top will still go up and down.

There is also a spare tire rack that goes above the spare. Someone(s) from this group gave me one and I am waiting until I mount my spare tire rack to the cross member before using it. I have a 'glass body and the spare tore off the steel fenders, so it isn't going near the 'glass....

There are racks that fit in receiver hitches too, but they cut your angle way down so are only good to get to camp and drop it.

I have the plans for a nice homemade detachable rack that someone from the group sent me a while back. It is for kayaks but a couple braces and some expanded wire mesh flooring and you have a cargo carrier over any section of the roof you want. I could email the plans if wanted.

Other than that, you have 3 kids and they only are getting bigger... I am looking at utility trailers. I want a narrow one I can put 31 or 33" tires on to take for a base camp setup or an extended road trip with the camp gear and canoe on it.

When we go with our one son, (Big sucker, 6' tall, 175 lb and counting still) we turn the back seat into a half seat by packing the other side. We use the seat belt and cords to the roll bar to hold things stable. I don't have or if I did I would remove a center console between the seats. This give the rear seat 'way' more leg room and allows behind the front seats to be packed with small or soft stuff.

I also take my hardtop to the base camp lots of times. That way we can pack the back and side(s) to the roof with gear and have my canoe and/or extra gear on top. When I get to camp, I just take it off and use the Bikini top if needed.

They also sell small cargo nets for holding stuff in the back stable.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

"John B. Parisi" wrote:

I tossed a bunch of ideas at him with the thought of 3 kids and more than just the one trip in mind....

I think a top rack or preferably a trailer with tall tires are the ticket for extended trips like I mentioned.

I might make the detachable modular top rack for myself while I am stuck here at home for the summer/fall/who freakin knows how long. I already have the mesh flooring for a PVC pipe framed rack I made for the hardtop.

$100.00 is going to be set aside for materials when the insurance finally comes through so I can tinker away at it.

Mike

Jeff Strickland wrote:

Get a trailer to carry your stuff.

I have a military issue trailer for my CJ5 that I took over the Rubicon. It was not much more work for me than some of the other guys without trailers seemed to have. In fact, we had two or three in our group that had troubles with getting stuck, and everybody _expected_ me to have trouble (some even objected to me taking my trailer), but I was never the hold up at any of the obstacles, and I only used one bypass - the one around the Little Sluice.

There is a guy called RubiconTrailers that has a website. His trailer is a little pricey, but is is an excellent product and it sounds like just the ticket for you and yours.

The Rubicon is about 30 miles and takes two full days, or three easy days. You can aslo start closer to Sacramento and add about 30 miles and a day. Actually, the three day trip is the one that starts closer to Sacramento, but this added distance is not very hard. In any case, this trip is not one where you go from your base camp for a day trip, then return to base. You get up in the morning and go for hours, then camp for the night, and get up the next day and keep going.

Certainly a roof rack is one of the alternatives I've looked at - I've even looked at a variety of racks that mount on the bumper. I have a couple of concerns about a roof rack :

1- Height clearance - Living in No Cal, some of the trails we have here don't allow for alot of room in terms of height - low hangin trees and so on. With a roof rack I would loose at least a foot and probably a little more. Anyone else have this concern ???

2- I would imagine only putting light stuff on the roof rack as not to make it too top heavy but what about the tight squeezes when going at an angle. I know there have been several times while at a significant angle, I would scrape the top or drag a rock ledge on the top of the roll cage. For those of you with roof racks, do you find the rack getting in the way while tilted ? (Specifically on the Fordyce or Rubicon trails ??)

Just some thoughts......Thanks for the input ! John

how about an off road trailer