ROLA 59504 V-Tex Rooftop Cargo Basket

This rack fit great on my Jeep Grand Cherokee 08. Make sure to heat up the gasket sleeves so they will go on easier.Personally, I used sprayfoam inside the hollow tubes and screw holes so water had less room to get in. I also used a silicone paste on the seams and under the gasket sleeves.

Per the reviews I read here, I purchased the things people suggested - 2 cans of Rustoleum paint, some rubber friction tape and even rubber grommets for between the wind screen and the rack body (to prevent water from seeping in where the screw and body meet). When the rack arrived, it surprised me how sturdy it was. What REALLY surprised me is that it came with rubber sheaths to cover the seams and holes where I'd read rust was an issue. I also noticed that the exposed metal on the mounting brackets (that I read would rust) was painted already.Maybe someone from Rola went on this site, read the reviews and I was lucky enough to get the next generation version of the rack - complete with fixes.Regardless, I still put 3 coats of Rustoleum on it and used friction tape on the seams beneath the sheathing and put the grommet beneath the windscreen. The rubber sheath was a little tricky to put on, but mainly because it was so tight - a GOOD thing. When I finally mounted it, I was certain it was as close to rustproof as it would ever be.Today, after 3 weeks of varying weather conditions and one long trip to and from Pittsburgh (with several days of rain), I pulled the rack off my truck to evaluate it. There WAS a small amount of rust on one of the brackets, where it looks like it got nicked somehow. Other than that, everything looked sound and rust-free.The precautions seem to be paying off - at least so far.A couple quick notes:- I've had several people comment on how cool this rack looks on the truck - a plus.- It WILL cause additional road noise, but nothing the radio can't drown out.- I highly recommend the Highland carry bag. It fits great on this - with the tie-down straps working great with the bars. It also freed up a ton of room in the cabin and kept everything dry.- getting the ROLA "spider web" Cargo Net is a bit of overkill, but once you figure out how to use it, it adds another layer of security.Final comment: This is a cool looking, effective product and I'd recommend it. Personally, I wish there were more aluminum options, but I'm not unhappy.

Great rack. Very stylish and sturdy

Update, March 2023: Still using this rack, although it’s on a new vehicle! Still no rusting and works great. The plastic on the front lost its logo, but it is still going strong!Needed some additional space for a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. This rack looks great! Flat black paint and comes with everything needed, except the roof bars of course. You need those bought separately.As far as I can tell this is built well and I like the way it goes together. Word of warning, you will need strong fingers to work with the rubber gaskets that go over the tubing. Lay the thing flat, put the 4 gaskets on the tubes and roll them up. Push the two rack pieces together and screw in place. Then roll the gaskets back over everything. Gaskets too the longest for me and it helped to have it leaned up against something for down pressure. Screws are hard to install and seem like self tapping, so don’t expect to take them back out. They stripped pretty easily so don’t go crazy.Only issues I had that the book couldn’t tell me was how to use the pieces that connect the rack to the bars. I put in a picture example. On the rack, plastic spacer goes UNDER the bars of the rack, on top of your roof bar. Metal piece goes on top of bars and over the spacer. Then U-bolt goes underneath.Overall a good buy!

UPDATED: Oct. 20, 2021. (BELOW)... I have a 2017 Explorer with fixed (non-sliding) OEM crossbars, and I took the chance, given some mixed Explorer reviews.I took a lot of advice from the previous reviewers… I was initially nervous when I simply placed the constructed carrier, with extension, on top the roof on the crossbars. It teetered side to side. When looking at the Explorer from the aft end, I later realized the OEM crossbars, are higher in the center of the roof than on the sides… the roof rack 'rocked', left and right, UNTIL I added the hardware clamps which actually evened-out the height difference from center, to the sides.The U-Clamp Assembly supports leveled the high center point of my crossbar. I wasn't initially pleased about the alignment of front and back supporting rails, as the carrier rails were resting so close to the edge of the crossbars edges, I wasn't sure it was as formidable as I might prefer... (see the pictures). Yet with the cranked-down U-Clamp-Assembly, it seems unmovable. (I wish there might be better shaping of the U-Clamp-Assembly for my specific vehicle, yet for the cost, I'm okay with it for now.)EXTRA STEPS I TOOK...There are some fabulous $800 rooftop storage solutions, and I feel I looked at dozens and dozens, but I kept circling back to the robust and seemingly fair cost of this roof rack. I drive Chicago salted roads, so I decided to follow the prior reviewer's suggestions, to add (304) stainless screws, and taping the ends of the interlocking tubes, and double-coat painting the brand new rack for added rust resistance with '3M Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating' on the outside. I'm not sure my extra effort was needed though...There were earlier reviews suggesting indications of rust over time… Yet I was impressed that it seemed the inside of the tubing beings had been well painted. I saw no bare steel inside, although one can only see a few inches.The comments about the rubber tubing being 'made by satan himself', not far off the mark. (I should have tried the liquid soap idea. Cautious use of a heat gun did help a bit. Our weather in Chicago was snowy this week, and I had to move the project from the garage, to the house, since the rubber joint covers were cold and less malleable).I did take a reviewer's suggestion of removing the logos. (Sorry Rola).I typically search Reviews using 'Most Recent' so I can see indications of improved manufacturing techniques. I did see improvements with Rola.The screw hardware from Rola seemed good, and the U-Clamp-Assembly (as I call it) was awesome. I added a M8-125 (304 marine grade) self-locking nut, as a stop nut, to each knob.I saw my box came well protected with an outer brown box sleeve that was push along the snow on the driveway by the shipper. Box was in great shape regardless and all internal parts and box within the main box was cleverly (plastic) wire-tied with one of the biggest wire-ties I've seen in a while. Also, the two piece rack was smartly wire tied to everything else so my unit had no scratches.SO far pleased. If needed, I'll return more insights.(Thank you prior reviewers. Your tips were helpful, and I appreciate you taking time to share your insights and suggestions.)OCT 20, 2021 REVIEW ADDITION...Well, is nearly two years later and I'm still enjoying this Rola Roof rack with the painting and hardware upgrades I applied before I installed it in Dec 2019 (I think). Additional NOTE: The suggested '3M Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating' applied to the outside became chalky by Spring 2020 and thought I may have had to get the rack professionally painted. A car body shop gave me an estimate ($650 to $725) to paint the rack alone in a paint room. I declined. INSTEAD I decided to use Ace Hardware BBQ spray paint. WHICH WORKED GREAT! Perfect look. I didn't prep the rack before applying the Ace BBQ spray paint, which still looks great (like new) even after a full summer parked in the sun in Greenville, SC area, and it's blazing hot down here (moved away from Chicago aft 40+ years). So maybe due to the original toughness of the '3M Rubberized Undercoating' on the outside but this rack, and the ACE BBQ paint, (now my favorite black spray paint), the rack is one of my appreciated purchases. I'm updating this post as I saw a more recent buyer/reviewer note his cleverly use of an 'expanding foam' to keep water from later infiltrating the inside steel. I would likely do that to a prep a new rack as pre-2019 review cited that rust was a culprit from the inside out. I haven't experienced that as I was very careful to seal each possible entry point. BTW - I used Stainless 304 screws and heavyier Rubber washers to keep a full seal of the screws into the frame so (hopefully) no water gets inside.(Maybe Rola has learned from the earliest reviews to 'undercoat' the inside of their Racks. I like the expanding foam idea. (thoughts?) - Thanks all. -tg