Yet again another product from NWparts. I actually have this basket on the rig right now and it looks great. It feels very sturdy, but have yet to load it w/gear. It mounts to the rack by using the rear 2 bolts of the factory basket and 4 more holes that need to be drilled into the rack. They supply you w/jacknuts to secure it to the rack. here's some pics. I have the first basket made, the production baskets will be 2 pieces. Making the rack 2 pieces will dramatically decrease shipping costs as shipping a 1 piece would cost in the ballpark of $100. Anyways here's some pics:

Sweet!!! I may have to ditch my Loadwarrior as if my X gets any higher it won't fit in my garage and this would be an awesome replacement!! What is the cost and when will they be available?

Very, very (very) nice.

I'm a soon-to-be-ex-LoadWarrior-owner! That basket looks great and I will surely save up for it!

I'm glad that you guys like what you see. contact northwestparts, or email jason@getrhino.com w/any specific questions. oh yeah url is www.northwestparts.com

Thanks for the address. What's the part number?
Also, thanks again, this things will really fit the bill.

will it work with the basket still in place?

jparf i'm not sure if it will or not. I'll check it out and let you know

Probably not, the basket goes almost againt the middle post and that roof rack seem to extend over that.

Ideally, it should either be short enough to handle the basket as well or the full length, but it is still a sweet rack.

yea, taking a closer look at the second pic, it will most likely not. thats a shame, i really like that one better than the load warrior but i want to keep my basket in place. if they adjusted it and made it a bit shorter i would definatly get one...

The couple things I dont like comapred to my load warrior is the less depth and the overall size. My load warrior has the extension which nearly runs my full stock bar lenght plus it is much wider than the in between the bar rack show. Plus the added depth to the load warrior makes taller loads more stable. But if height is your concearn the sunken mounting is definatley a cool idea.

I think its a great idea, my roof rack hits most parking garage roofs as it is.

just a suggestion but it might be a good idea to make one where you can keep the basket. lost of people like their baskets and it might be a bit of an issue w/ the 05'rs our there.

I would buy one if i didn't have to take off the basket.

We each have different preferences. I would prefer that it would run the entire lenght of the rack that way I would use the front and rear of it to support my canoe.

What is the diameter of the main tubes? Will Yakima bike racks fit onto them?

Tom

It looks like there is still room for you to put one of your crossbars in front of that for such purposes.

What will the cost of that rack be? I am very interested in this rack!!!

tom all yak accessories should fit from my understanding. Email jason@get-rhino.com or contact northwestparts for more details

Still haven't gotten a reply from these guys...I'd really like to know what the cost of the rack is.

Tom

tom who did you email? i'll try and contact someone and find out what the deal is

They are on vacation.

I have a full length one on order (first one.)
One piece because I am local.
Should be ready about June 18th.

The one like Nutz has lets you use your sun roof (if you have one)

Toy man

Hey Toy Man, if you don't mind how much did you pay for it? And how much longer is the "full length" one?
Thanks for the help.

Casper

the full length one is just that, basically from the front of the rack to the back

I just gave them my credit card and said 'build it'. Est. price is about $200.

Length is as Nutz reported.

Toy Man

tabs for lights would be nice.. or clamps to mount them..

Think they couuld build one that lets you keep your basket?

Tom

I see they are working on a rear bumper as well..Any idea on what it looks like?

about the tabs, i think the racks will either have an option to have them, or already come with them. Mine is the first one and doesn't have them on it.

Here's a full length version of the rack

Clicky

I really like the look of the full length basket.....what was the final cost for that?.....their Discovery racks are pretty pricey, so if in that $500-600 range, I will have to pass for the old loadwarrior...

realize their discovery racks are full replacement racks not just baskets like the picture above.... I'm guessing that the price will be significantly cheaper than those. Email jason@get-rhino.com and he'll be able to provide you with more details. I only helped them build it, i'm not selling it :p

Ok I just got some pricing info. For the standard length it will be 299 and the full length is 369. Email jason@get-rhino.com he should be able to help you out with any questions

Has anyone gotten one of these yet?

I have the prototype full length (one piece). My understanding is that the production racks will be 2 piece to facilitate shipping.

I love it.

You cannot use the basket with it.

I was going to use the baskets rear mount bolt for the front hold down but decided it was too small. I originally positioned the front mounting tabs ahead of the rear basket mount (which I kept to use as a tie down) but then I had a 'singing' noise above 50 mph. Moved the rack so the front mounting tab was behind the basket rear mounting 'bolt' and no more 'singing'.

I have not gotten around to drilling holes in the roof rails to install the mounting hardware. I am using 175 lb nylon ties to fasten the rack to the rails. They work so well I may not install the mounting hardware.

I also added a 1/4" rubber 'pad' on the bottom of the mounting tabs.

The first picture is looking towards the front of the Xterra.









Toy Man

OHHHHH...Me Likey!

I used a Yakima Basketcase suspended between the rails by Mighty Mounts and a couple pieces of angle.. This looks sooo much nicer!

Looks nice, but I'm cheap. So if any of ya'll in the South West are getting rid of a Yakima for one of these, let me know and I might take it off of your hands.

I just received this email from the manufacturer:

Email Andy at Northwest Parts - customerservice@northwestparts.com

Any new info?

I just sent them my comments...their website seems to be down right now...I want one but I also want to be able to keep the stock basket since I use it all the time for my dirty smelly biking stuff...

Tom

Is it held in place by zip ties?

I like the look of this rack, but I'm not into drilling holes in my rails or holding it down with zip ties. It would be great if they could come up with some clamping mechanism like what's on the OEM crossbars.

Toy Man!

NICE RACK!

BTW - WTH is in your garage? The blue thing looks like a personal pontoon for fishing I suppose, but WTH is the thing on the right? It looks like some antlers from hell, or maybe an entire tree? WTF?

The blue thing is our new 15' cataraft. The antler 'thing' is a twisted juniper tree I am making into a cat tree.

Toy Man

anyone ever get an update on a basket that fits with the stock gear box?

Looks decent, but...

1. The holes in the bottomw are WAY too large. It needs about tree more pipes running lengthwise.

2. It's too short. If I was to take off my cargo box, I would want this basket to fill the entire space. Since this is a custom design for the X, there's no reason for them to leave a gap.

3. The price should be 1/2 to 2/3 of the quoted price. Otherwise, I'll just buy a real safari basket.

Anyway, it's a great idea, but it needs some serious work before I would even consider it.

Hey Toyman, could it be possible to fix the rack with this: http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=7064

Dear Fellow Xer's... I sent an email to northwestparts asking if they made a smaller roof rack that would fit between the rails and still let you keep the OEM roof bin on. Well, he said he had one left, and posted a few pictures on the slightly revised web site. A picture shows it fitting tight up against the roof bin, but without the bin top on. It looks like there is NO room for the roof top to close what with the handle it has. Back to the drawing board for them. So close... to making the perfect little roof rack too. He wants 299 for it. Somewhat expensive if you ask me. Gosh, if some company could make this little roof basket for us weekend adventurers they might make some good money.

http://www.northwestparts.com/

This would be perfect for me as the X will not fit in the garage with any other kind of rack. I hope they can come up with a modified version that would accomodate the handles on the bins on the newer X's - I'd buy it in a flash...

Beats me. I am happy with the zip ties. Might get ambitious some day and install the bolts that came with it.

Toy Man

Hi All -

Just wanted to add that I got the last one-piece model from NW Parts a few days ago. They have 1 (one) two-piece bolt together model still available, so give them a call if you want it. I am planning on "installing" the basket this weekend (will take about 20 minutes from what I can tell). I'll take some pics of the completed project when I'm done. Right now it's just held in place with stock screws from the air dam, but it looks great, and it's very sturdy. Couple things:

I wanted...

• A low profile basket to haul a heavy cooler, some camping gear, and firewood.
• I want to be able to open my sunroof
• I want to use the stock air dam
• I don't care about the gear basket (see "opening sunroof")
• I need to remove it from time to time
• I don't want to spend more than $300, and I want it to be good quality

I got...

• Cost: $314.00 (regularly $349, I got 10% off for paying cash and picking it up locally). Little more than I wanted to spend, but worth it.
• I can open my sunroof
• The stock air dam will fit
• Will the gear basket fit? I'm not sure yet, will let ya'll know.
• Installs with 6 jack bolts, drilled into stock rack tubes. I will probably only use 4, the mounting tabs are super strong 1/8th inch steel.
• It will be easy to remove, almost too easy. I'll probably get some locking mechanism to prevent theft.
• Powder coating is very good
• Welds are good, but not *quite* as good as the Calmini rack. Still, the plastic ends of the stock rack will fail long before these welds give out.

The one I got is the 3/4 length model advertised on their website, http://www.northwestparts.com I hope to be done with the install tomorrow morning, provided I don't have to work.

Well, as promised, here are some shots of the install. Click the link below any photo for a larger version of it. I'm having some issues with my free Web host, so if the pics show up blank, just click the "Larger Version" links.

Here's the rack prior to install:

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Here's a shot of the weld detail:

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The hardware includes these heavy duty rubber thingys which go under the tabs:

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I drilled out the holes for the "jack bolts" by first drilling a 3/8" hole, then widening it to roughly 7/16" as I don't have a 7/16" bit:

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Next, tighten the jack bolt until the provided rubber washer compresses against the stock craptainium roof rack rail:

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(Rest of post below)

Next, just screw the rack into place with the provided hardware. The finished product:

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This is a very low profile basket, so your clearance is about 3/16" of an inch. I'm a little worried that with a load, I'll be close to touching my roof. Only time will tell:

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Here she is, loaded up with some camping stuff:

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pretty cool

I like that rack a lot. I just wish it was a bit cheaper and that it fir the new X's and still allowed access to the roof bin.

I like the low-profile look. However, I'm not real keen having to drill holes.

Looks like they have made one that fits with the basket. ( hope this is not old news )

- dk

$349.00

A load warrior costs almost 3 bills.....

i got the bvg adventure rack for $75 on overstock.com.

I got the loadwarrior and like it. May cost alot but it was worth it for me. And I know I can hold at least my friend and I on it. About 300 pounds. But all the styles I saw where nice.

I e-mailed them to ask about plans for one for the '05's/'06's that would let us keep the basket and lid in place. Hope to hear back soon.