Fitting Roof Bars to Our Ineos Grenadier: Why What and How
- karenconnolly59
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Adventure awaits, buckle up!
Are you thinking about roof rails for your Grenadier? I will tell you what I chose, why and how I fitted them.
OK Fitting Roof Bars to Our Ineos Grenadier: Why, What and How did I do it
1. Why did I want Roof Bars?
We use our Grenandier as a multi-purpose 4x4 as our daily driver, for general moving items, for touring both here and abroad and for camping. What we found was that on occasion the large volume in the rear was not quite enough especially when we are on tour using our Grenadier like a campervan. A little extra space on the roof would be more flexible to move items out of the back to allow us to use the inbuilt bed and to not always put the tent up i.e. we can freedom camp
2. What type of Roof Bars have I chosen?
Well guys I did some research for a roof rack and roof bars for our Grenadier. As you may know there are several makes and types, all stating that they are the best whilst doing the same job.
Before I decided what I did want, after some research I knew what I didn't want:
I didn't want a roof bar which attached to the gutter as we wanted this to remain clear to do the job it was designed for ie keep the rain away from door openings
I didn't want the weight of the roof bars, rack and luggage resting on the gutter.
I didn't want roof bars to clamp around the side roof rails as I wanted these to be left free as anchor points when we are off road.
The option I really liked was a design which used the mounting points for the roof side rails. I had seen a company on YouTube which made them but at the time they were not made available on the UK. However, now they are!
I elected for the ALUCAB roof feet and bars sold by Buzz Overland. This company are now well known in the Ineos Grenadier world and on social media but what was great is they have a local manufacturing unit not far from where we live. Rather than purchase online (which you can do at www.buzzoverland.com) I took a trip to the unit in Northwich which was great.
I met Ryan Thomson the co-founder of Buzz Overland and the Design Engineer and what a top man he is. Ryan showed me around the workshop and the Grenadier they have kitted out with the interior storage they have produced along with other accessories like side steps, door hinge steps, rock sliders and a host of other goodies you can view in Buzz Overland’s Product Catalogue. It was great listening to Ryan's story and seeing other vehicles in his workshop including a 4x4 off road racing vehicle that he designed and built himself from scratch.
The roof bar kit cost £400 and as I unpacked them from the box they looked and felt a quality product. They are powder coated aluminium robust enough and designed to take a static load of 420kg and a dynamic load of 150kg across 4 feet and 2 load bars. For a standing weight 200kg is considered safe but always consider the vehicles load capacity as well. (taken from Alu-Cab website)
3. How to fit the roof bars and feet
There are many YouTube Buzz Overland videos showing the fitting method for the roof bars and feet, along with many other accessories Ryan has available.
As an engineer I thought it would be useful to share with you my step by step instructions and some inside tips to make your life a little bit easier. Fitting the feet and the bars couldn’t be simpler.
a. First unpack your rails and feet removing all packaging and empty the small bag of bolts, nuts and washers into an old carton or box to keep them altogether and to make it easier to pick the right item when you need it.
b. Second you need to decide how far apart you need the rails to be. Mine are going to take a cage roof rack (46"x 36"x 4.5") so I want the rear foot to be located in the rear mount point of the roof side rail ie closest to the rear doors. The front foot will be fixed into the rear mount points of the front roof side rail. This will be a perfect fit for the roof rack I have ordered and can be changed in future if we need a larger roof rack.
c. Unscrewing the roof side rails was easy enough using a Torx T30 and initially i fitted the feet first. However, this wasn't the best way so at this point just get the feet ready and undo the brackets holfing the roof side rail in place (only at the points where the feet will go)
d. Next, you need to remove the plastic end cap from the roof bar. Don’t go prising it off with a screw driver, it will look a mess if you damage the powder coating…use your 13mm spanner in the bar slide and knock it off.
e. There is channel along one side and one edge. Place four of the bolts in the side channel and replace the end cap. The edge channel is for additional accessories if needed. I have placed this channel to the rear as I won’t be using for now.
f. Now, I have to admit. I couldn’t manage to get the nut and washer on the bolt with the feet in place as I mention in point c, as there was no room for my fingers. So the best way is to turn the bar upside down fit the feet to the bar leaving the nuts loose and then fit to the roof side rial mount points; This way was a breeze and easy to tighten up.
g. NOTE: This is important. In the kit there are eight small rubber/fibre washers, these need to be in place and are water seals. They go in the small recess on the roof side rail bracket, so in between the feet and the side bar bracket. The indent was where the bracket bolt sat. (see image xx)
h. Tighten the feet and now centralise the roof bar and tighten the 13mm nut on the bolt so you are securing the rails in place.
i. Now stand back and admire.
So I hope you found this post 'Fitting Roof Bars to Our Ineos Grenadier: Why, What and How' to be informative and make it easier for you to choose and fit yours.
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Thank you for reading
Michael
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