Modified Rhino-Rack XTray fitted to Renegade

[Tony-U]

I've had my eye on the Rhino-Rack small XTray cargo basket (#RMCB01) for my 75th - I think it suits the Renegade perfectly. Trouble is, it's impossible to find in the UK, and high shipping costs, plus import VAT and duty charges make importing from the USA prohibitive. I finally tracked one down in Germany; 4-Wheel-Parts agreed to ship one to the UK for a reasonable fee, plus no import charges .

 

I've modified it in two ways:

 

Firstly, I've modified the mounting onto the Thule Aero Bars to avoid clearance issues with the MySky electric sunroof: Using the supplied U-clamp brackets on the front Aero Bar would have prevented the sunroof from opening. My solution was to open out the middle hole on each of the mounting clamp plates and rectangular plastic locating spacers to 10mm, and also to drill vertical 10mm holes right through the Aero Bars, after some careful measuring. This allows the XTray to be fitted to the Aero Bars using four M10 x 55mm marine grade A2 stainless steel bolts, secured with nyloc nuts. The U-clamp brackets could be used on the rear Aero Bar, but use of bolts instead allows more clearance for MySky panel removal.

 

Secondly, I've fitted a pair of Rigid Industries D-Series Pro amber LED spotlights (#202223) to the front of the XTray; these were "on sale" from Rigid Industries UK. Obviously these lights are not road legal, so strictly for cosmetic/off-road use! I used a pair of Rigid 1" bar clamp brackets (#41040) - imported from the USA (Lytle Racing Group, Arizona - via eBay) as this was substantially cheaper than buying these from Rigid UK. Because the XTray comes in two halves (front and rear), it allows the light cables to be routed inside the tubular frame - very neat. Just a few holes plus a lot of fiddling around required - but the end result is well worth it.

 

The entire XTray assembly can be easily removed by undoing the four mounting bolts and unplugging the weatherproof cable connector fitted underneath the rear Aero Bar. I will be putting some kind of security lock on the whole thing!

 

Possible next project: To fit a pair of 6/7" round driving lights to the front of the Jeep - KCs, perhaps . However, I'm struggling with a mounting bracket arrangement to fit these adjacent to the headlights - I want them at exactly the same level as the headlights.

 

Hope you found this interesting; it was a pleasing little project. Pictures below:

[TimC]

Looks very nice