Many Aussies are dazzled by the bewildering house prices, and with the risks with travelling just about anywhere overseas, we’re left with just one sensible option, to see more of this great country that we live in!

With the current record selling car in Australia being a 4WD Ute, the trends are obviously swinging towards travelling and touring around Australia in style and comfort. Whilst most modern 4WD’s are quite capable offroad and offer luxuries and safety features that are unparalleled by the small car market, even with their 3500kg towing capacities and large Ute trays, they tend to leave cargo capacities somewhat lacking, when factoring in your whole campsite setup!

The option to add aftermarket accessories like ladder racks, Under Tray tool boxes and even drawer systems like the Titan Rear Drawers, all offering improved storage capacities there is nothing quite like a solid Steel Roof Rack to improve the cargo capacity of your 4WD!

With massive  a range of custom roof rack systems available on the market, you will find that the options end up becoming a bottomless pit of choice that all seem to tick the boxes, but what makes the difference between a more affordable model in the $200 range and the top players that range in excess of $2000?

Other than a sticker, there isn’t too much to distinguish between the two ends of the spectrum.

So what should you be looking for when deciding on your brand new 4WD Roof Rack?

There are a few things to keep an eye out for when shopping around for a solid steel roof Rack system for your 4WD so pay close attention to make sure you are getting a rack system that is perfect for your camp setup!

1.Weight ratings

When looking at purchasing a Roof Rack system for your 4WD it is important to look at the overall weight rating that your 4WD’s roof can take, this is the maximum legal load your vehicle can carry without being “overloaded”. This will also determine whether or not you can add extras like a roof top tent, or even an awning to the roof of your vehicle. Bear in mind that the Maximum load is factoring in ‘dynamic forces’ so only applies to the load that will be on the roof when driving, not including the occupants of accessories like Roof Top Tents!

Things can get a little confusing where a roof rack system can carry in excess of your vehicles load limit, in this case, you should ALWAYS refer back to your vehicles maximum load limit for roof cargo!

2.Mounting options

Depending on your vehicle you may have one of 2 separate mounting options. As an example, older style vehicles like 1^st and 2^nd generation Pajero, 60, 70, 80 and 90 series LandCruisers, MQ, GQ and GU Nissan Patrols, Land Rover Defenders, earlier Discoveries, and even many vans offer a rain channel or ‘gutter than runs around the perimeter of the vehicle.

These Rain gutters are one of the most versatile options for mounting your new Roof Racks, they offer an exceptionally strong place to mount your roof racks too and being a surface that runs the length of the vehicle there is no set fixing points your roof racks must be mounted to, if your vehicle has these rain gutters, you can purchase the “universal” style of roof rack mounting mechanisms.

If your vehicle has a rubber strip running lengthwise or even comes fitted with sports bars that run the length of your vehicle, you will have to consider other methods of mounting, if your vehicle is listed you can choose the specific mounting kit for your 4WD, however, other people take advantage of the existing sports rails or cross bars, they might already have fitted to their vehicle.

Using rated U-bolts you can easily fasten a set of Steel Roof Racks that don’t have specific mounting points for your 4WD directly to your sports rails!

3.Solid Construction

When presented with a handful of options you might find that you have a limited selection of roof rack systems to choose from that actually suit your vehicles mounting options as well as ones that are suitable for your needs. When looking at build quality and the stability of these systems the material and coatings used will help you to determine the best option for you!

There are often 2 main styles of material used in roof racks, Aluminum and steel with advantages to both.

Whilst aluminum systems are built to be light weight and durable, their biggest asset is their self protective nature, aluminum automatically prevents rust and corrosion by forming a layer of aluminum oxide on the surface, which is able to fend off the harsh effects encountered in salty environments, however aluminum suffers from fatigue and also isn’t as strong as steel models, and to add insult to injury aluminium models offer a more expensive manufacturing process that obviously gets forwarded to the end user!

Steel is a much stronger material and is much cheaper to work with, however has the tendency to rust on the surface, luckily for us there are modern coatings such as powder coating hat are extremely durable scratch heat and chip resistant ceramics that are baked to the steel preventing corrosion in harsh environments. The steel systems weigh slightly more, but offer a much more durable setup with stronger load ratings and even better resistance to fatigue on rough roads!

4.Affordability

Hands down the battle is lost by aluminum systems in this point, aluminium is expensive to weld and fabricate with, as it requires specific tools to work with. Where as steel can be welded easily with very simple tools, on top of this the ductility of steel makes it easier to bend without fatiguing which also makes the construction process much more affordable.

Our pick here is a solid steel roof rack not only are they more durable, they are more affordable, and will offer 4WDers the ability to  mount their whole campsite setup without breaking the bank!