I just swallowed it and bought the LR roof rails. Expensive at $630 with discount card from dealer, especially when they are more like $300 in the UK. What a rip off for dealer fitting, glad I did it myself. They wanted $360 I didn't have a clue and it took less than an hour. I reckon if you were doing it all the time and had a template for drilling the plastic it would take about 10 minutes. Essentially it is drill 6 holes throught the plastic strips and screw the bars on. The kit I got was faulty, it had 2 right hand rear cover strips instead of a left and right...oh well

But if a rip off over here Mike.
You should have got a quote from the UK anyway.
With postage, I recon it would still have been cheaper.

Hi Mike. I spent $15 buying some aluminium and installed my own. The first try worked fine except for a "whirling" noise due to wind resistance over 80Klm. A roll or two of black tape and a couple of round tubular additions to the front of the square cross rails and whacky-do - very little noise. I tried different mountings to get a balance between strength, wind resistance and ease of use (install/uninstall). High tensile bolts hold everything together and if I could get my hands on some of that 'wing style' aluminium extrusion that is used on balconies for high rise apartments, I suspect I'd have the perfect noise-minimising roof rack cross bars. I take mine on and off depending on the nature of the journey. I have also added easy points to connect an awning for a shade/shelter on longer trips. I figure if we could get Australian aluminium, ship it to China, have it cut, extruded and moulded and re-shipped back to Australia, we could probably retail them for about $250 (bearing in mind most automotive retailers want about 50-60% gross margin). If ordered directly, from China, it would be about 30% cheaper again (no big mark up and no 10% GST).
Nonetheless, they would never look as good as the genuine bars from LR; particularly if they are used as often as yours in conditions you experience.. By the way, the 'strips' along the rail are aluminium, coated in a plastic-like paint - I was surprised when I drilled them and would have sworn they were plastic beforehand. Despite plenty of off-roading, including plenty of beach work, I was surprised out how little "gunk" was under the rail covers. Still, it concerns me that there is a depressed track on the roof area - long term concern for corrosion????

I did get a quote from the UK and would have been about $430 posted. As it turned out I'm glad I bought
local because of the missing back left cover plate. I can sort it out easier with the dealer being here. That is exactly why I chose to pay the extra $200.
Now I can fit my roof tent onto the FL2. Before I had just racks sitting on the roof with clips into the doors and couldn't get the crossbars far enough to the rear of the car. The tent only weighs 17kgs so easy to put on and off. Would hate to have it on all the time. Cheers

Jak, the black strips in the grooves on my roof where definately just plastic. I drilled the 24mm holes with a broad wood drill not a hole saw and they where black plastic all the way through. I agree about the possible corrosion, however the metal must be treated with something as I have a 'war' wound on one of the doors that is down to the metal and no sign of rust after at least 12 months. We have had so much rain this year as well....summer was cancelled, in Sydney anyway.

Hi mikehzz,

I don't want to drill any holes on the roof. Do you think a removable roof rack could hold a spare tire and some other bits and pieces (MaxTrax, long shovel etc.). Most are quoted with a load rating of 75kg.

Can you recommend anything?

Hi Vesko,

I had the racks that sit on the roof and have clips that go into the door frame. I have a Rhino roof basket that carries a spare tyre without the wheel to save weight and a couple of 20 litre jerries of diesel so a fair bit of weight in that. I went for the flat basket without sides to lessen air resistance and to allow easy overhang if needed. Everything gets tied down on it anyway. I got the rails so I can put my tent on top. You don't actually have to drill into the roof, just the black plastic runner down each side.
My racks were Thule but I prefer Rhino. They are stronger I reckon, I have Rhinos on the Jeep.
I'm off to cross the Simpson Desert on the 14th April Just me again. I am taking the Jeep because my wife doesn't want me bashing the suspension and racking up the kms on the Landy. I'll end up doing about 5000kms in 9 days. Should be 3 days doing the 500kms in the desert itself. Going via Coober Pedy, Oodnadatta, Simmo Desert, Birdsville, Sydney. I want to check out the Painted Desert near Oodnadatta as well.
I am taking the Landy to an off road training weekend up near Gosford at the end of April. I belong to the Subaru and Recreational 4wd Club, a bunch of really nice people who have trips about once a month. The Gosford trip is with the Land Rover club so taking the Landy is a must.

Cheers

Your upcoming adventure sounds amazing! I envy you. I started getting ready for my trip to Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre, but what you are planning…. I cannot even imagine.

I wanted to go during the Easter school holiday, but have to do a promised long ago to my wife driving tour of Spain (we fly out tomorrow actually), and now I am left with plans for the Winter holidays. I still don’t want to drill holes, even in the plastic.

Do you think I could join your Subaru and Recreational 4wd Club to attend the Gosford off road training weekend? I’ll be back from Europe by then and could see your roof racks set-up.

Mikehzz, I wish you great luck in the desert!

A driving tour around Spain isn't too bad either I've done 3-4 around Europe, UK and Scandinavia and it's always good fun. Have a good trip.

The club is at http://www.subaruclub.com.au and there are lots of different types of cars in it, funnily enough hardly any Subarus It's not a hard core type of club where you need a winch and big tyres, more a touring, camping and social club. They do play on some interesting tracks though where you can test how well the car goes. Everything from tricked up Landcruisers, to X Trails and Foresters.

Hi Mike,

Can you please post some pictures with the Rhino roof rack fitted on?

Thanks!

Just remember that when you go into some multi storey car parks it wont fit with roof rails!