I want to pick up a roof basket for my truck. I go camping quite often and my gear keeps growing and we look like the Clampett's moving to Beverly already. I have a Yakima rack to mount to and am looking for basket ideas that won't break the bank and still look good.

What are your thoughts on these baskets?

Cheapest, I like the square look and low profile as well as the price.



I like the clean look of this one, not sure if its worth an extra $50 though.



Here is the crossbars I have. They are hand me downs from a ford contour, but do the job. I will probably pick up a larger fairing to make it look a little more proportional. The local JY has explorer racks for $25 and I was thinking of going that route to keep it lower.





The kayaks take up most of the bed so I want to get the bikes and some light stuff out of the way.




Thoughts? Other ideas for not too much money that will look decent when empty? I was thinking of a cap and rack, but don't want to go there yet.

 

Maybe I missed it, but what is the price of both of those baskets you have pictured?

I definitely wouldn't mind having a basket on my Ranger.

 

i have the first one, ebay special

or it is a very similar setup, design






its great for small stuff, but don't expect to stick anything heavy (i had a spare up there at one time) cause it bends under the weight

Scottg

 

Yup, option A is under $100 on ebay, B is about $150 online.

Thanks for the pics Scott, appreciated.

 

Throw a cover on your box and get a Yakima rack that Jim had from RPS!

 

1) Thats a damn nice looking Ranger!
2) If you go with the Exploder rack, go with the newest one you can find. The 02+ are much stronger than the 94-01. Keep in mind that these racks are permanently mounted to the roof and only the crossbars can removed.
3) Sine you're actually going to be using whatever basket you purchase, buy a quality unit. You'll be waisting your money if you don't.
4) Remember, just because the basket can carry "x" amount of weight doesn't mean the roof rack you choose can handle that weight. The way you choose to mount the rack is important as well. It appears you travel off road, so I highly recommend you add plates to the inside of your roof for stronger mounting of the racks feet.

 

He had a great setup, I want to keep the open bed though. Not sure how a cap would look on the flared bedsides since the tops of the bedrails would stick out past the cap.

Thanks. You have a blazer rack right? My favorite is the frontier racks but from what I have found they are way more than what I want to spend. After some more consideration I will stay with the yakima bars. They seem to displace the weight pretty well by putting it on the door frames rather than the roof. My truck is top heavy enough so probably just bicycles and some light stuff up there, under 100lbs.

Any opinions on the rola basket? I am probably going with it unless there is nicer option for the similar price.

Here it is on a jeep.


.

 

I used to have a rack from an S10. I ditched it in favor of an 07+ Exploder unit. The only drawback I have with it is the it's permanently mounted therefor there's more wind noise and slightly reduced fuel milage. I test fitted the Frontier unit but due to the mods needed to make it work on the Ranger with NO added benefit over the 02+ Exploder unit I passed on it.

I see no reason not to go with the Vortex since you'll be sticking with your current rack. I have a couple friends with the Vortex and for their needs it works fine.

 

Oh right, don't even look into it. I've seen a flared bed with a cap before and it look's like ***.

 

Thanks,

I ordered it today. Should be here next week, Ill post up some pics when I get it.

 

The basket was scheduled to be delivered today and finally came about 7:30 tonight. I am heading out camping in the morning and and will test it out. Hopefully it won't involve an upside down truck or gear strewn along the highway. The basket should do what I need, I am going to look into mounting it differently when I get back though. It sits too high IMO. I think I can mount it from the main top rail to drop it about 4". It will work for now though. I put all my weight on the back half and nothing bent or moved, so its good and solid.


Any thoughts on it? If I get it lower I may remove the air deflector that came with it and mount the Yakima one.

 

you sir have one sexy *** truck

rack looks good, but like you said, you need to mount it lower. lol

 

hahaha, it's taller than your old one. but it looks good alex. i agree that it needs to be lowered a little.

 

Yeah, its actually mounted on the old one, the yakima. The height was why I had you price the explorer one. If I cant get it lower I will look back into getting some factory rails off something. The yakima racks are stupid expensive so I can probably custom mount some factory rails off an SUV and end up better looking and money ahead if I sell the yakima.

 

i think it looks sweet. i want a basket for my cap somtime but they are way to much $$$$$$$$$

 

OH! I didn't see that it was just a roof rack. I thought it was the mounting rails as well.

if i go out to the junk yard, want me to see if they have a specific year and take measurements/pictures?

 

x2

 

Yup, needs to be lower for sure!

 

Thanks, but not just yet. I think the yakima cross bars will run right through the basket and I can basically hang the basket from its top rail. Then bolt the two together. I won't be doing any work on it until after the holiday weekend though. If it still doesn't work right I will gladly take you up on a junkyard run. Lately I have been checking out everything from soccer mom minivans to jeeps for their roof racks. I used to always think a rack on a truck was retarded since they have a bed, needs change I guess.

 

If you can find the right rails you may be able to bolt the rack right onto them.
I had a yakima megawarrior bolted to my sport trac rails and it kept it nice and low, plenty secure. But I think the rails were around 48" long, probably too long for a ranger...


And I think you are right about mounting the rails through the rack, I've seen people do that with the megawarrior to mount it lower.

 

Thanks, Thats what I am looking for. Functional and looks good. Nice Truck.

We spent the last couple days camping and the basket worked out well. Strapped the bikes and an easy up to it which freed up a little room in the back. Makes a nice grab rail too. Today I messed some with lowering it down. Hanging from the top rail it was rubbing the roof, but with some tweaking of the hangers I was able to get it secure about 1/2" above. I mounted the yakima deflector on it, but since it is so thin think I will switch back to the one that came with it.

Thoughts???

Full height from the weekend.





Lowered right above the roof. (Yeah it was raining)

 

That looks way better.

 

Much better!

 

yeah... see... just give it to me and stop going camping.... and i guarantee you won't ever have this problem again.

(looks much better)

 

That looks pretty good.