XPLOR Jeep Gladiator Half Bed Rack

[RebelOffRoad]

Adventure Rigs Magazine - We recently went with Bond Gilmer of Rebel Off Road and his crew to the majestic Alabama Hills in California with 3 of their fully built Jeep Gladiators to hangout and take photos of their rigs with the picturesque Eastern Sierra as the backdrop. Bond obliged us with an interview and shared with us some overlanding knowledge and why he uses particular products and brands when it comes to upfitting their rigs for off-roading, adventuring, and camping out in the back country. You’ll find this interview very informative, useful and important when putting together your builds list for your next project and gaining some overlanding tips to make your overlanding adventures fun and safe. www.rebeloffroad.com

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[msujedi]

Great video! I enjoyed the stories, travel tips, and equipment overview.

I just installed your full rack along with the Access literider tonneau. I like the set-up. The rack looks good, is heavy duty, and modular. However, I need some advice. I need to open the rear crossbar channel an 1/8 of an inch. The uprights it mounts to are 4" wide. The crossbar is 1/8 of an inch narrower, so I had to expand it to get the uprights to nest into it. I used a pair of clamps, stood on them, and pushed the uprights down into the channels for my original install.

However, I need that crossbar channel to stay open 4" so that I can remove it and set it in back in place by hand. Advice?

I need to be able to remove the rear crossbar to have enough clearance to transport 4 mountain bikes on a tailgate pad. I also want to retain the ability to transport some taller items on occasion. I've assembled the rack in such a way that the rear crossbar should be quick and easy to remove & replace. I attached the rear uprights to the middle uprights using side panels ... not the top beams. I also replaced the 8 short bolts on the rear crossbar with 4 x 5" stainless carriage bolts & wing nuts for quick removal.

The rack mounted in this way with the rear crossbar in place is still plenty sturdy for transporting kayaks on top, and a few items on the sides. But, the uprights are wedged too tightly into the rear crossbar to be able to remove & replace it by hand. Thanks for your help!

 

[BajaDrifter]

I don't like that I have to spring an extra 250 for the bed rail system to install this rack. I do like it over the JCR half rack, but the price point is bit much and more so that its an extra 300 for the black powder coating. Its twice as much as the JCR that comes with dual mounting systems and already powder coated. Just saying...

 

[RebelOffRoad]

Great video! I enjoyed the stories, travel tips, and equipment overview.

I just installed your full rack along with the Access literider tonneau. I like the set-up. The rack looks good, is heavy duty, and modular. However, I need some advice. I need to open the rear crossbar channel an 1/8 of an inch. The uprights it mounts to are 4" wide. The crossbar is 1/8 of an inch narrower, so I had to expand it to get the uprights to nest into it. I used a pair of clamps, stood on them, and pushed the uprights down into the channels for my original install.

However, I need that crossbar channel to stay open 4" so that I can remove it and set it in back in place by hand. Advice?

I need to be able to remove the rear crossbar to have enough clearance to transport 4 mountain bikes on a tailgate pad. I also want to retain the ability to transport some taller items on occasion. I've assembled the rack in such a way that the rear crossbar should be quick and easy to remove & replace. I attached the rear uprights to the middle uprights using side panels ... not the top beams. I also replaced the 8 short bolts on the rear crossbar with 4 x 5" stainless carriage bolts & wing nuts for quick removal.

The rack mounted in this way with the rear crossbar in place is still plenty sturdy for transporting kayaks on top, and a few items on the sides. But, the uprights are wedged too tightly into the rear crossbar to be able to remove & replace it by hand. Thanks for your help!

Jed could you please shoot an email over to [email protected] with your contact info. I'm going to have Bond give you a call and try and get a better understanding of the whole situation so that he can walk you through to a solution.

Thank you very much!
Evan

 

[RebelOffRoad]

I don't like that I have to spring an extra 250 for the bed rail system to install this rack. I do like it over the JCR half rack, but the price point is bit much and more so that its an extra 300 for the black powder coating. Its twice as much as the JCR that comes with dual mounting systems and already powder coated. Just saying...

Hi and thanks for the input. I can see a little clarification is needed here.

We don't and will not make a bed rack that attaches to the lip of your truck. There is very good reason for this. I have been on major overland excursions in many countries on this lovely round ball we call home. With the knowledge gained from these excursions, the design that we have is second to none.

Our racks are intended to have heavy items mounted to them and then driven on all types of off road trails and terrain. We chose to mount our rack system in the strongest way possible. Our heavy duty bed rail system is rated at 1800lbs for every 18 inches. The factory lip of any truck bed doesn’t event remotely come close. We use ½ inch bolts to attach the XPLOR Rack to the bed rail and we use 12 of them. We use 6 uprights! Why? Strength is the answer. More attachment points equals more strength and far less chance of something going wrong.

Here are 2 Hypothetical scenarios.

Scenario 1 (Lip mounted Bed Rack. 4 slotted attachment points.)

Let’s say you are going on a trip with your family. All loaded up. With your roof top tent/ propane tank and other heavy items attached to your Bed rack, traveling down a corrugated dirt road (road with lots of wash bumps). You have a bed rack that has only 4 attachment points and is attached to the lip of your factory bed. Vibrations cause the brackets / bolts to loosen just slightly! The bracket slips down as this is how it is designed (it is slotted and you need to push it up when you are installing it). And now your bed rack is moving up and down on the bed bracket and comes loose. What happens next???? Bed rack comes loose / damages your vehicle/ rack hangs off/ rack falls off etc. Trip ruined and hopefully no injuries or crashes.

Scenario 2 (REBEL XPLOR RACK. 6 UPRIGHTS with 12 ½ inch bolts attached to the strongest part of the Truck Bed)

Let’s say you are going on a trip with your family. All loaded up. With your roof top tent / propane tank and other heavy items attached to your bed rack, traveling down a corrugated dirt road (road with lots of wash bumps). You have your XPLOR Rack by REBEL OFF ROAD. The rack has 12, ½ inch bolts holding the weight of your rack and accessories. It is attached to the bed rail (factory or Heavy Duty one offered by Rebel). Vibrations cause the brackets / bolts to loosen just slightly! Well that is very unlikely as there are 12 of them and they are ½ inch to boot. If for some reason they did, you have no slotted brackets to slide off of the lip of your bed. You arrive at your destination with your family and everybody is safe and sound.

Spread the Load!

Using the mounting method that we have chosen means the load is spread evenly around the entire bed of your Gladiator. Not just on 4 small mounting locations on the bed lip. Our XPLOR Rack also utilizes all the available bed space. We use all the available real estate that the Gladiator bed offers.

You get more with the XPLOR system.

You get 6 uprights as compared to 4 from other brands.
You get 4 mounting plates for the sides as compared to 2 from other brands.
You get 6 top channels as compared to 2 with other brands.
Totally customizable design. Additional side and top plates are available as individual pieces. These can be mounted inside or outside, top or bottom.

Even our Powder coat process is unmatched.

Our powder coated racks are sandblasted, pre-treated with 4 stage iron phosphate wash with deionized water rinse. They receive a basecoat of zinc rich primer and then are shot with a top coat of black fine texture. We use a Tier 1 OEM supplier for our powder coating needs which has incredible quality and longevity. We spent a lot of time locking this down as we wanted to provide a powder coat for our racks and bumpers that people would be proud to own.

These are the reasons why our XPLOR Rack costs more than above mentioned rack, you pay for the for the additional quality and peace of mind.

Thank you,
Bond

 

[BajaDrifter]

Hi and thanks for the input. I can see a little clarification is needed here.

We don't and will not make a bed rack that attaches to the lip of your truck. There is very good reason for this. I have been on major overland excursions in many countries on this lovely round ball we call home. With the knowledge gained from these excursions, the design that we have is second to none.

Our racks are intended to have heavy items mounted to them and then driven on all types of off road trails and terrain. We chose to mount our rack system in the strongest way possible. Our heavy duty bed rail system is rated at 1800lbs for every 18 inches. The factory lip of any truck bed doesn’t event remotely come close. We use ½ inch bolts to attach the XPLOR Rack to the bed rail and we use 12 of them. We use 6 uprights! Why? Strength is the answer. More attachment points equals more strength and far less chance of something going wrong.

Here are 2 Hypothetical scenarios.

Scenario 1 (Lip mounted Bed Rack. 4 slotted attachment points.)

Let’s say you are going on a trip with your family. All loaded up. With your roof top tent/ propane tank and other heavy items attached to your Bed rack, traveling down a corrugated dirt road (road with lots of wash bumps). You have a bed rack that has only 4 attachment points and is attached to the lip of your factory bed. Vibrations cause the brackets / bolts to loosen just slightly! The bracket slips down as this is how it is designed (it is slotted and you need to push it up when you are installing it). And now your bed rack is moving up and down on the bed bracket and comes loose. What happens next???? Bed rack comes loose / damages your vehicle/ rack hangs off/ rack falls off etc. Trip ruined and hopefully no injuries or crashes.

Scenario 2 (REBEL XPLOR RACK. 6 UPRIGHTS with 12 ½ inch bolts attached to the strongest part of the Truck Bed)

Let’s say you are going on a trip with your family. All loaded up. With your roof top tent / propane tank and other heavy items attached to your bed rack, traveling down a corrugated dirt road (road with lots of wash bumps). You have your XPLOR Rack by REBEL OFF ROAD. The rack has 12, ½ inch bolts holding the weight of your rack and accessories. It is attached to the bed rail (factory or Heavy Duty one offered by Rebel). Vibrations cause the brackets / bolts to loosen just slightly! Well that is very unlikely as there are 12 of them and they are ½ inch to boot. If for some reason they did, you have no slotted brackets to slide off of the lip of your bed. You arrive at your destination with your family and everybody is safe and sound.

Spread the Load!

Using the mounting method that we have chosen means the load is spread evenly around the entire bed of your Gladiator. Not just on 4 small mounting locations on the bed lip. Our XPLOR Rack also utilizes all the available bed space. We use all the available real estate that the Gladiator bed offers.

You get more with the XPLOR system.

You get 6 uprights as compared to 4 from other brands.
You get 4 mounting plates for the sides as compared to 2 from other brands.
You get 6 top channels as compared to 2 with other brands.
Totally customizable design. Additional side and top plates are available as individual pieces. These can be mounted inside or outside, top or bottom.

Even our Powder coat process is unmatched.

Our powder coated racks are sandblasted, pre-treated with 4 stage iron phosphate wash with deionized water rinse. They receive a basecoat of zinc rich primer and then are shot with a top coat of black fine texture. We use a Tier 1 OEM supplier for our powder coating needs which has incredible quality and longevity. We spent a lot of time locking this down as we wanted to provide a powder coat for our racks and bumpers that people would be proud to own.

These are the reasons why our XPLOR Rack costs more than above mentioned rack, you pay for the for the additional quality and peace of mind.

Thank you,
Bond

Wow.... Ok, knowing this will make me reconsider. However, I don't think the trail rail system is secured to the bed strong enough to support all the weight you mention. I believe the weight actually rests on the bed side walls and is secured to the trail rails to prevent shifting, right? Still, I like that you have an extra set of uprights with extra bolt on points and that the rack does come all the way to the rear of the bed. I caught that right away. Good points. I will scratch my head on this some more. Tks.

 

[BajaDrifter]

Taking into consideration your points, I bit the bullet and purchased your half rack. I have to say you guys made it easy and helped me save on shipping by letting me pick it up at your place of business. Glad I made the drive out, it was a pleasure to see the several beasts of off road machines you have there. Awesome builds! You could tell they just weren't show room machines either.

Anyway back to the rack, it took a couple of hours to get up, but it went up with no issues thanks to your instructions with pictures. Appreciated that. You can tell its a bear of a rack, great welds, big beefy bolts throughout, and heavy gauge steel. It came together nicely and fits like a glove on the bed. Molly panels and cross bars galore on this thing too. I'm very happy with this purchase and thanks for pointing out the differences between yours and others.

 

[RebelOffRoad]

Taking into consideration your points, I bit the bullet and purchased your half rack. I have to say you guys made it easy and helped me save on shipping by letting me pick it up at your place of business. Glad I made the drive out, it was a pleasure to see the several beasts of off road machines you have there. Awesome builds! You could tell they just weren't show room machines either.

Anyway back to the rack, it took a couple of hours to get up, but it went up with no issues thanks to your instructions with pictures. Appreciated that. You can tell its a bear of a rack, great welds, big beefy bolts throughout, and heavy gauge steel. It came together nicely and fits like a glove on the bed. Molly panels and cross bars galore on this thing too. I'm very happy with this purchase and thanks for pointing out the differences between yours and others.

Oh wow thank you so much! Man love the color of the Jeep. We've been looking forward to seeing a Gladiator with your color purchase our rack. Gobi was going to be our original color selection but it wasn't released in time for SEMA. Would love to see more photos once you get it all equipped with your gear.

 

[NC_Gladiato]

Couple questions:

1) Is there any reason to favor a half rack over a full one?

2) If you plan on having a RTT is there an advantage of having one (half/full) over the other?

 

[RebelOffRoad]

Couple questions:

1) Is there any reason to favor a half rack over a full one?

2) If you plan on having a RTT is there an advantage of having one (half/full) over the other?

The advantage of the half rack is a lower center of gravity and since the tent will be closer to roof line you’ll get less wind resistance (better mpg).

I prefer the half rack for RTTs myself the only trade off is you get less space for mounting accessories to the sides of the rack.

 

[Raiders3259]

To clarify is the 14" from the top edge of the bedside to the bottom-most point of the horizontal top bars of the rack or is it to the top side of the top bars. Awesome looking rack BTW.

@RebelOffRoad have you guys considered making the height of the rack adjustable? Like 2" increments? I'm asking because it would be awesome to fit a portable fridge/freezer (16"-20" high) on top of a bedslide (4.5" high) and decked system (12" high) underneath the rack. I know you guys offer the full height, rack but it would be nice to get the weight of a RTT as low as possible.

 

[ddubb]

I picked up the JCR Half rack when it was the only rack on the market to work with a tonneau cover. But I’ve been following your newer rack and love the modular design, seriously considering buying one of your half racks soon and selling my current setup.

 

[Jaydebe]

Is the Rebel 1/2 rack really 150lbs or is this just the shipping weight? This is not intended to be swipe comment/question; but more clarification.
I know it has more panels and uprights; but it's almost 2x as much as other racks.

 

[Frenzyrider]

Will this rack work with built right bed rail system?

 

[RebelOffRoad]

Will this rack work with built right bed rail system?

Can you share a link to these here?

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