Since snow season is close I would like to get a roof rack or something similar to hold a few pairs of skis and a snowboard. I would also like to use it for other things like camping in the summer. I don't want to drill into the body of the Jeep or hardtop. I've got a 2012 Unlimited with the hard top and soft top sharing an equal part of the year.
I like to put the soft top down often when its warm and use the sunrider fold back portion pretty much every day it's not raining.

I noticed Garvin's Adventure rack that bolts on with no drilling and that has a crossbar for Yakima / Thule accessories as well as a basket I could use for camping.
Also noticed Gobi racks that have a similar setup with a few more features, accessories and add-on's for more money. Even though the Gobi rack is more money it seems to be a better overall choice considering the style, lighting mounts, accessories included and available.

My issue is , are either of these racks compatible with the sunrider soft top feature? Looks like it might be too bulky to have folded back with the rack in place. If this won't work than does anyone know of anything else I could just use for skis & snowboards while the hardtop is on only?

 

I have a GOBI and love it, but you're right, it is not compatible with the sunrider feature of the soft top. Honestly, if you go through the trouble of tilting the GOBI rack back(even with quick disconnects) you might as well take the top all the way down instead of just the sunrider. However, with a hard top, you can still remove the front panels with the GOBI rack still connected. I did this a lot before I bought the quick discos.

Before the GOBI, I used a set of Thule load bars w/ gutter mounts which fit perfectly into the rain gutter on the 4-door JK hardtop. It's strong enough to haul a lot of gear, including skis/snowboards/surfboards/luggage. It requires no drilling, and they're easy to install/remove. On the soft top, with the top down or sunrider, I used to wedge the thule mounts into the door surrounds. It wasn't ideal because it doesn't have the same rain gutter as the hardtop, but it did the trick and it worked fine. I'm actually selling my old thule bars and gutter mounts because I don't need them but to ship them would be a PITA.

 

Im interested in your Thule racks. Where are you located?

 

Redondo Beach 90277. (Next time send a PM instead so you don't hijack someone's thread)

 

Well when I know it's going to be nice for more than a day or two I usually put down the whole top. Conveniently I have a garage to pull the Jeep in if I didn't feel like putting up the top up, not sure if the garage will work when I eventually put a lift on it though.

Anyway, I have to think a bit about the whole rack thing. In the meantime, and even though it requires drilling into the hardtop, has anyone used the Yakima hardtop overhead rack system that includes the rails, risers and crossbars? Quadratec sells this. I could then just use the ski/board attachment with that. That would suffice for my needs now.

I'm just a bit reluctant to drill into the hardtop. I'm sure after rubber washers and polyurethane it won't leak, but I'm more concerned with the fiberglass top strength for holding a rack and anything that is attached to it and not being more damaged by just drilling into it. Perhaps there is nothing to worry about with this setup, but it's just my first thoughts when thinking about a setup mounted to the top.