When the cab of your rig is stuffed to the gills and you still can't fit everything you need for your adventure, it might be time to make use of some of that extra space over your head. To be more precise, we're talking about installing a roof rack. Roof racks are a great way to transport extra gear and also a good way to clean up the interior cargo space by moving nonessentials up top. In our quest for a quality rack to fit our '97 Jeep Cherokee, we discovered Garvin Industries Wilderness Products and its ample offering of off-road-style roof racks.
Garvin Industries manufactures a variety of roof racks in many sizes to fit most 4x4 applications. The racks are made from 3/4-inch steel tube and are powdercoated black. Each rack also includes a limited lifetime warranty. The company's Off Road Series rack offers 6-inch-high sides, and while ideal for toting larger or more items, it isn't as ideal for a daily-driven rig that sees parking garages on a regular basis. For that reason, we were intrigued by the company's Sport Series rack with 4-inch-high sides. It offers the same great construction with a bit smaller capacity. It also has a tapered front end to provide a sportier look with less wind resistance. The vertical dividers that make up the flooring of the rack also aid in wind resistance and feature a proven design to reduce the wind noise that commonly emits from empty roof racks.
Most of the Wilderness Racks will mount directly to factory roof racks or using rain-gutter mounts. Since our Cherokee XJ had rain gutters and a factory rack, we were offered a variety of mounting options. For vehicles without rain gutters or factory rack mounts, the company's Track Racks can be used. The Track Racks allow direct-to-the-roof rack mounting. In addition to a Sport Series Wilderness Rack, we also installed a Hi-Lift jack mounting bracket, a wind deflector, and light mounts. Other available accessories include roof-rack-mounted gas and water can holders, spare-tire bracket kits, ax and shovel mounting brackets, and Thule and Yakima rack crossbar adapters. Check out the photos and captions for more details on the installation of the Sport Series rack and accessories on our Jeep Cherokee.