Well I got my Thule 450 base rack installed on the Disco and nabbed some pictures of it in case anyone else is wondering which model etc fits well for carrying skis, kayaks, or whatever it is you want to put up top. The Rover is a bit tall to be sticking bikes up there, but I needed to get a carrier for my 15' kayak. I used to use pool noodles over the factory bars on my Cherokee and just lay the 'yak up there, but with the Discovery I pretty much had to get a normal rack and it is quite stout.

Anyway, here you go.

Thule 450 base rack




Close up of the actual mount point, might not look like much, but it is rock solid.



Close of the rear area, you can see that in spite of not a lot of room under the rear portion of the bars, there is more than enough for the base rack mount.



Here are the 835XT Hull-a-port whitewater/sea kayak racks



From the back


From the front/side you can see there is plenty of room to mount another set of them for a second kayak. Also you can probably see I've got them pulled all the way to the edge I didn't tighten them down they're just up there for the pictures. You'd want them a little more inboard before actually putting something on them.



And last but not least, the full body shot.

 

Oh, you should also order the fairing which I didn't think I needed till I got on the road. That things howls fairly loudly without the fairing.

 

I have a 15` Kayak as well. Do you think it would be better to have the extended roof rails to spread the load more? I can`t make up my mind to do what you are doing or to get a full roof rack like a S.D. or a Hannible. And when you say a fairing, what do they look like?
Bob

 

Hey Bob,

I considered that, a roof rail option, but decided it wasn't necessary since it really isn't holding that much weight as long as it is centered. My kayak weighs less than 60#, so if I keep the main cocpit (proper spelling got censored lol) over the carrier I think the weight distribution should be fine. The base bars themselves are really, really stout. You can grab them and try to pull on them and they really don't flex or budge at all.

I also considered one of those full size racks myself but after a lot of thought about what I'm really going to use my Rover for I decided against it. With nothing up top I was able to pack for a week long trip with my wife and my dog in stock form. If I had some sort of drawer system and with more clever packing, something I'm now aware of, I could likely get even more in there. There were a few things I'd have liked to have stored outside (fuel, bulky light stuff, etc), but not enough to warrant a huge rack that would have more negative aspects than positive for me. Also the huge majority of the off road pictures I've seen with Rovers with those big racks have one thing in common- they are all empty. Weighing out the pros vs cons of a big rack I came up with.

Pros:
- Store lots of lightweight stuff up top
- Mount lights, shovel, etc to it
- Can attach other brand rack accessories to it
- very expensive ~$1500+

Cons:
- Lots of wind noise
- Less fuel economy
- Hard to put up and take down and hard to store
- Too tall to fit in parking garages

So I decided it would be more trouble that it was worth and went with the Thule, I do like the little flat half rack that covers just the rear area that I've seen however and would consider that as a viable option to offer more rooftop space.

Anyway, the Thule gives me more options this way. I can attach my kayak carrier, then take it down and swap it with a snowboard one, or pull that and stick a basket up there ala Thule or a cheap Surco 50" (they go for about $170, summitracing.com). Here's a poor stock picture of the rack with at least a 12' yak on it, it has rudder controls so it can't be short and it appears the bars are fairly close together as well. As far as the fairing, here's what I'm talking about, they're pretty cheap ~$55

-Tony

 

Tony,
Thanks for the info. I`m still leaning towards a full rack though. Is the fairing for when the rack is empty? I have a Thule rack now, But is for my Chevy truck. Would need to get the 450 cross roads. How wide are your cross bars? I have 52"ers. Are they wide enough?
Thanks, Bob

 

How much were the 450's? I currently have the ulra-high Thule rack and need something lower in height for my surfboard when I park in the garage. I'd like to get the roof rack extension rails and crossbar set because my board is 8'2", and I need to have the bars as close to the nose and tail when traveling. It looks like NWP makes full roof racks that will clear the rails and sunroof. I also like the look of the half racks, and may get one of those someday.

 

Hey Bob,

Yeah if you have 52" bars that should be fine, you can see mine are an almost exact fit and I have the 50" bars.

-tony

 

The 450 with the spreader bars was $183 from orracksdirect.com My bars are about 12 1/2" high, using the rain gutter as a base so you can compare to your ultra-high. Mofab makes a pretty nice half rack however it is too low for the rear sunroof and he wants too much for it, $450 is a bit high for what you're getting. I'll definitely be fabricating something along those lines for myself.