I recently planned on purchasing Thule 450r crossbars to attach to my factory rails (04 Disco, large rails) for the purpose of attaching a cargo box for camping and transporting skis during the winter. I now have the opportunity to purchase a used SD rack and am not sure which way to go. I originally wanted to put the SD or Baja rack on but after reading about losing gas mileage, and the wind noise I was hesitant. I decided to go with the crossbars and cargo box because I could easily remove them when not in use and also for the gas mileage. With it being so hard to find the SD racks I am now debating the issue again now that one is available. I've heard that flooring can help with the wind noise and for all I know I may not even care about the wind noise as I have not even heard it yet. I also liked that I can put crossbars on the SD rack to use a smaller cargo box for the purpose of mainly transporting skis and snowboards if I wanted to. The price cost is going to be around the same, any recommendation or advice will be appreciated.

 

i put an SD on my truck I cant say it made a huge difference in mileage, im sure it has some effect. noise was am issue at first but i found moving it slightly helped greatly, you can say goodbye to drive threw car washes thou.

 

Get the SD rack...you can always sell it later...I like mine and the chicken coup floors make it perfect

 

Many parking garages aren't useable with an SD rack installed.
They are a pain to install/remove if you don't have a hoist similar to a bicycle hoist.
They are useful for spur of the moment things that won't fit inside or on the rails.

If all you ever use, or plan to use, is a cargo box and/or ski rails, I'd stick with the stock rails.

 

If I were to pickup biking and kayaking, do you think the SD rack would be the better choice? I'm not sure on this but I imagine I would need gutter feet instead of using the factory raised rails for a kayak, would this also be true for bike attachments? I plan on doing more with my Disco. I think economically with all the attachments I could potentially need for the factory raised rails, I may want to just go with the SD rack to not have to do this and deal with the wind and gas. Really appreciate the input so far from everyone.

 

I also have a dog who will in most cases occupy the back to herself.

 

I've fitted a couple of Discos with SD racks with Thule setups so that skis/bikes/boxes could be used. I found that because of the shape of the SD rack, that we had to use the Thule mounts that allow connection to the outer rails (I forget what Thule model number), plus the Thule crossbars. So if you have to buy both, it would be far less expensive to simply purchase the Thule tall gutter feet and correct crossbars. Plus, I don't care for the location of the factory rack - too far forward for my tastes, and aftermarket racks can be moved fore/aft to accommodate differing loads and are easily removable.

 

I have always wondered why I rarely, if even at all see the factory raised rails used on the discos, I typically do see the tall gutter feet setup. I imagine it is for the same reason you stated, I kind of wondered how a 22 cubic foot box would look mounted on the raised factory rails. With the tall gutter feet the cargo box along with everything else will be more centered to the vehicle. You bring up a very good point with the gutter feet.

 

SD RACK > ALL , I'd say you barely lose mpgs, the truck is a box...... the only concern would be some extra noise, but I would just turn the radio up.

 

I love my SD rack, only downside is you're adding another 8" or so to an already really tall truck so parking garages are out (especially with a lift) and low hanging branches when wheeling can be problematic.