For a long time I’ve been drooling over a Front Runner Slim-line 2 roof rack for my Jeep WJ (mine’s technically a WG, European spec version of the WJ). Once upon a time Front Runner offered a model specific rack for the Jeep WJ, but a few years ago they stopped offering it. It’s understandable as WJs get rarer by the day and few are crazy enough to get a rack worth as much as their 4×4.

Why Front Runner?

Why a Front Runner Slimline 2 rack instead of the competitors? There’s really just a few reasons (that some might think are silly), i hate dealing with distributors and Front Runner has a great sales experience with a good website and technical documentation. I like talking to the manufacturer directly. They are the experts on their own product. With Rhino Rack I’d have to go though one of their dealers that might not have the knowledge and understand my scenario.
I do however believe that all of the major manufacturers of modular slim roof racks (like Front Runner, Rhino Rack, ARB, Ezi Awn…) are of equal quality and they all have a great reputation. The limiting factor in my case is the roof weight rating of the Jeep, not the racks.

As Front Runner roof rack kit for the Jeep WJ and WG is no longer available, a good start was the Front Runner support team, and i was pleasantly surprised. They are friendly and usually answer fast. They helped me put together a kit that would work with my Jeep WJ. The original kit consisted of 3 pairs of feet, tray and rails (195cm). The 195cm rail is no longer made, so i ended up with the longest they offer (180cm). The custom kit also consisted of 4 pairs of feet, adding a full extra set compared to the old WJ kit. Front Runner recommended a 115cm wide tray, i opted for the 125cm wide tray because it matched my use-case better and i thought it looked better.

Additional slats was used to match the foot spacing on the WJ roof. This was from a forum recommendation not by Front Runner.

Front Runner Slim-line 2 kit

Front Runner helped me put together a kit for the Jeep WJ.

Parts list.

• 1x RRSTD10 – Slimline II Tray – 1255mm(W) X 1964mm(L)
• 2x FASS012 – Foot Set / 40mm-50mm
• 2x FASS013 – Foot Set / 60mm-70mm
• 1x TRAC010 – Universal Track Non Drilled / 1800mm
• 2x RRSAD1255 – 1255mm Slat Add-On Kit

Non Front Runner parts:

• Sealant (sikaflex or similar, do not use RTV)
• Zinc-primer (by recommendation of Rhino Rack)
• Something to plug the left over hole

Install

1. Remove OEM rails

Remove the OEM rails is in theory straight forward, as long as the OEM nutserts doesn’t give any trouble. But as Murphy’s law states, that’s not the case. Two nutserts started to spin in the hole and gave me trouble. It was a bit of a pain to remove as access was limited from the inside.

2. Drill holes in Front Runner tracks (TRAC010)

Next up is drilling and counter sinking the holes for the OEM nutserts in the roof of the WJ. Take your time and measure twice and drill once. The rear most hole is not used if using a 180cm track (TRAC010). The rear most hole can be used to pass up cables to the roof. I utilized a IP68 rated cable gland to do this.

3. Drill additional holes for strength (optional)

I opted to drill additional 2 (per side) holes for support though the track and the roof to mount extra bolts though the roof with the provided hardware that came with the Front Runner track (TRAC010). Some access can be gained without dropping the headliner. by simply removing the rear seat handles.

Don’t forget to to paint any holes drilled with a rust preventative primer to seal it. I used a zinc rich primer as recommended by the install manual for Rhino Racks.

Finished track install

With provided rubber feed between the track and roof.

4. Assemble tray and mount.

Assemble the tray the front and rear most “empty slat” was used with the two additional slats as to assist in mounting the rack as low as possible. See image for feet placement.

Final thoughts

Install took a few hours, mostly due to problematic nutserts. This guide was written a few years after install, and the rack still holds up great. Super happy with the results and the flexibility of the rack. It’s low profile and there’s no wind notable noise even at highway speeds.

More images available on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hipernx