G550 Eezi Awn K9 Roof Rack

[Eric Edwards]

So I snagged one of the last two K9 roof racks left in the states from Equipt yesterday. I have to say I am very, very impressed by the quality of this rack. I've owned a Baja Rack and FrontRunner on my Landcruiser 200, and I have to say Eezi Awn has a winner on their hands here. Some thoughts:

Pros:
- rack is aluminum and welded together
- rack is very light, total of 71 pounds including feet
- powder coat is on par with FrontRunner and light years ahead of Baja
- quieter than FrontRunner and a touch bit louder than Baja
- entire assembly is very, very rigid and well built. Feels like fortress
- Eezi awn has some very nice tents and awnings that K9 works seamlessly with
- Completely flat top
- slats run length of roof vs. horizontally

Cons:
- not as many accessories as FrontRunner, though I think many will work on the K9
- about 10-15% more expensive than FrontRunner

The entire assembly on 275/65/18 tires and no lift is 82 inches (about 2 inches shy of 7 feet). These images were taken a couple minutes after the rack went on at my buddies garage... and apparently I had put the wind fairing on backwards. I did try it without the fairing and the noise definitely increased, but nothing like the insane resonance you get if you remove the wind fairing off the FrontRunner, which made the vehicle impossible to tolerate.

Almost forgot, I used Mercedes felt tape on the feet cover to protect the gutter and keep it from rubbing on the four height adjustment bolts on the legs. I got this idea from another member here in PDX who did the same when installing his FrontRunner.

 

[safariguy]

The rack looks on the tall side, as if there is a huge gap between the roof and the rack.

 

[Eric Edwards]

200 mm legs, not sure if they make shorter ones. It couldn't be much shorter and still clear the tilt on the sunroof... Maybe an inch shorter? I think it's 30mm taller than the Frontrunner rack.

 

[safariguy]

Gotcha. I have an older Frontrunner Cheetah rack, and it's the wind deflector that makes the unit taller than I would wish. These G Wagens are already tall enough to begin with, and now that I have a new suspension and taller tires I cannot park my G in my garage. Sigh.

 

[Eric Edwards]

Just confirmed that I have the tall legs at 200 mm, and that they make a 150 mm set of legs (1.96 inches shorter). The gap between the sunroof and rack on the 200 mm legs is about 40 mm (1.57 inches), which means the 150 mm legs will not allow you to use the sunroof. = /

Amazing photography Andy! My wife has been an safari twice... hope to be able to make the trip one day.

Gotcha. I have an older Frontrunner Cheetah rack, and it's the wind deflector that makes the unit taller than I would wish. These G Wagens are already tall enough to begin with, and now that I have a new suspension and taller tires I cannot park my G in my garage. Sigh.

 

[safariguy]

I will do a similar measurement with mine over here. My rack isn't available any longer, though. It's the older welded design.

Thanks for the kind comments!

 

[thebigblue]

Upracks make a similar design, welded and with a selection of legs: http://www.upracks.com/?page_id=49 ORC sells it as their.

Photo shows my setup: UPRACKS 63-241400 aluminum roof rack, 2493 by 1477 mm., 6 pcs. legs 63-FK001B 120 to 160 mm.

 

[NYCRover]

That looks like a decent rack. I have a front runner low profile rack that I like and don't realy care that I can't tilt my sunroof due to clearance issues with the rack. I really the racks used for the K2 expedition.

 

[Jwestpro]

Just confirmed that I have the tall legs at 200 mm, and that they make a 150 mm set of legs (1.96 inches shorter). The gap between the sunroof and rack on the 200 mm legs is about 40 mm (1.57 inches), which means the 150 mm legs will not allow you to use the sunroof. = /
.

Sure it would, just not fully vented upwards but the G sunroof slides open into the roof structure without lifting up. Not sure about each year but one of my vehicles allows manual degree of tilt-up height whereas others automatically try to tilt 100% of their potential "vent" angle.

 

[Eric Edwards]

I plan on doing the under table slide, which takes up 2 inches beneath the rack (leaving about an inch clearance) and requires the tall legs. I'll also be doing a front led bar which will take up at least 1/2 to 3/4 of the existing space under the front of the rack. I'm digging it so far.

http://www.equipt1.com/item/k9-roof-rack-table-mounting-kit

 

[mk216v]

Looking good Eric! Bonus points for the factory Mercedes felt!
You're going to love the under-rack table, such a handy place to put it.

--FYI, for those with FrontRunner racks, they now have a few different height feet(I used different when putting the same rack on my van). I had the tall version for the under-rack table. I could slide my sunroof back without issue. I don't think I could tilt it up.

PS--NYCRover, those Preining racks are $$$$$$.

 

[otiswesty]

Nice rack!

 

[Eric Edwards]

Well drat, the rack was too tall with the 200 mm legs to fit in my office parking garage the second I put on the shovel mount... meh. I reached out to Paul @ Equipt who very generously offered to swap out the 200 mm legs for 150mm free of charge. Great guy and great customer service. Can't say enough nice things about him! So here is the before and after. The only down side is that I can't use the tilt on my sunroof anymore and I wont be able to have room for the table slide underneath the rack. The clearance is now 1 inch above the roofline.

 

[mk216v]

A classic case of letting work come before play.

 

[Jwestpro]

office parking garage

The obvious solution was a commuter car.... so with 150mm legs, you still can't leave anything on the rac...why bother having the rack, sort of. Time for work day car I hear VW tdi get great mileage but the current market is interesting...