Member Since: 28 Sep 2009
Location: York
Posts: 143
The rack attaches by bolting down to the roof rail using six M8 eyelet bolts, through a welded tab on the rack and into a thick, squared, zinc plated nut which runs inside the roof rail. On the front, it bolts down through two machined bosses which are welded to the front of the rack, into the standard Expedition rack tapped holes.
Our tabs clamp onto both sides of the top of the roof rail which is where they derive their strength from. It is a simple system, but strong and effective.
Thanks,
Olly
7th Oct 2009 8:26 pm
MartinR
Member Since: 27 Jan 2008
Location: Oxon
Posts: 708
Got any pictures of the cross bars in place?
Martin
7th Oct 2009 9:05 pm
DiscoStu
Member Since: 09 Apr 2006
Location: London
Posts: 11412
Member Since: 01 Dec 2008
Location: Buckinghamshire
Posts: 70
What's the height of the rack, actually more usefully - what's the height of the car including rack at different suspension heights? Really handy to know how it compares to LR expedition and frontrunner racks for the old SWMBO scrape the ceiling of the multi-storey test!
8th Oct 2009 7:28 am
tanters
Member Since: 24 Oct 2007
Location: Oireland
Posts: 4287
Hi Olly
This composite floor will only fit your rack correct?
Had you thought of doing a lite weight floor of similar design for the existing D3 expo rack?A happy childhood ... is the worst possible preparation for life.
8th Oct 2009 8:17 am
Steff1
Member Since: 17 Aug 2009
Location: Trondheim
Posts: 67
Is the height in front the same on those two versions? The sunroof version looks taller on the picure..? And it lacks the wind shield.
And what about the rear door ladder?Land Rover - It Hurts So Good
2005 TDV6 HSE PP Java Black, 2009-
MTR, Prospeed Quest roof rack, OEM ladder, B.A.S FBH Controller
9th Oct 2009 6:35 pm
prospeed Site Sponsor
Member Since: 28 Sep 2009
Location: York
Posts: 143
Hello all,
To answer a few questions which have cropped up:
The rack adds 105mm to the height of the car. That equates to a total height 207.5 cm in access mode. I'm afraid I can't give you any other measurements because our car has a set of our suspension links on which change the ride height - more on those later though!
I'm afraid our composite floor does only fit our rack. Making a composite floor for the LR rack maybe something we look at in the future, but I'm afraid we are busying ourselves at the moment with a number of other upgrades and parts for the Disco3 and 4.
The standard and sunroof version are both exactly the same height. They also both have the front wind deflector, we took it off in the picture to make it easier to see the different floor tube layout - sorry for the confusion.
Pictures of the cross bars will be up today.
We are working on a rear ladder at the moment. The standard Land Rover one will work, but does foul the rack slightly when the rear door is fully open. We had to run our rack where it is though as it has to sit outside the roof rails to keep it low enough.
If there are any more questions, please don't hesitate to post away, or PM me.
There is now a group buy for the flooring in the group buy section.
Thanks,
Olly
Last edited by prospeed on 12th Oct 2009 6:22 pm. Edited 1 time in total
12th Oct 2009 12:06 pm
prospeed Site Sponsor
Member Since: 28 Sep 2009
Location: York
Posts: 143
Hello again,
Here are some pictures of our cross bars fitted to the rack:
They are designed for fitting roof tents, roof boxes, or aid putting anything else which will not fit into the rack on top of it.
They are completely adjustable from front to back as the top rails are parallel. They also are a completely flush top, so tents etc. which are wider than the rack can overhang at either side.
As always, if you have any questions, pop a post up, PM me, or give us a call: 01904 728112.
Thanks,
Olly
12th Oct 2009 6:20 pm
RichieP
Member Since: 19 Sep 2006
Location: Reading
Posts: 380
Hi Olly,
Please take this as constructive - I am genuinely interested
I'm interested in one of the racks, but I'm slightly worried that the first group buy may be the beta testers. The reason I have come to this conclusion is that there only seems to be one picture of the rack actually attached to a D3 and that is on your website talking about the sill protectors. Inaddition the pictures of the cross rails are a 3D model not a photo, i.e. I'm not convinced you've actually made any. While I appreciate your company has probably made all this before for bespoke clients, I am concerned that for a small discount (and 10% is small) our first five racks will be the first five 'production' models. Inaddition I have two D3's and I will be looking for the HSE (sunroof version) so that I can use it on both 'trucks' - but we haven't seen a real picture of the modified version that doesn't foul the sunroof. And finally I am slightly worried by the comment that the LR ladder will foul the rack slightly - can you show how this is?
If I am wrong then please do post more pictures of the rack in use, on a real D3 and I will eat humble pieRichard......
2006 HSE Lugano Teal - with screens a DVD....PS2.... Freeview, and MANTEC plate!
2007 XS Commercial Java Black - with leather, Aux Battery and MANTEC plate
12th Oct 2009 8:48 pm
prospeed Site Sponsor
Member Since: 28 Sep 2009
Location: York
Posts: 143
Hi Richard,
I can completely appreciate where you are coming from. Although not a new company in what we do, we will most certainly be a new company to everyone here. We have had a very warm welcome from the forum for which I am grateful, but it would be silly to expect that our products are not met with a healthy scepticism.
As you are being constructive, please don't think that I am trying to be clever with my reply.
As a company, we have invested heavily over the last 5 years in a very technology centric solution to design and manufacture. In the industry we have grown up in, it is essential to be able to react quickly to design needs, and produce an end product which is not just fit for purpose, but exceeds it in every way. We have evolved into a company who does rely on this technology. I don't believe this reliance is misplaced though. We are one of only a handful of companies in the UK approved to homologate roll cages by the FIA (international motorsport governing body). The roof rack was designed in a similar way to our roll cages. We have a good blog article on the process - http://www.prospeed-elite.co.uk/post/2009/...Evo-3.aspx
I apologise if this has given the wrong impression of the company, one of many 3D models and few actual products, but in reality this is not so. We are a company who push the boundaries of the technology available to us, to develop our products.
Having focused so intently on technology, I now have to point out that it will never replace real world testing. It can shorten development time greatly, but cannot replace using the product for it's designed purpose.
That is something we have been doing for two months now, in a variety of different ways. Here are some photos of the rack stemming back the last two months. I have to admit to them all being unloaded, as they were all taken as marketing material for a sponsor, but they do show that it exists. There is also a photo of the rack in our blog about it - http://www.prospeed-elite.co.uk/post/2009/...-rack.aspx
The first people who buy the rack, will be the owners of the first production models. I don't mean to pick at semantics, but there are no production models until you actually go into production. There has been a rack in existence for some time before then though, satisfying the need for a development model. This gives rise to the spec of the production model. We wouldn't sell a product until we were satisfied it was ready for market. On that basis, the people who get the first racks, will not be guinea pigs.
One final point I would like to draw to everyone's attention is that the racks, along with all our products carry a lifetime warranty. If one were to fail (which it won't), you would get a replacement.
To satisfy your other questions. I'm sorry you feel the 10% discount is not particularly large, but it is a hand fabricated product, and we don't work on massive margins, and so can't pass on massive discounts. However, I'm confident that the final price to Disco3 members is very reasonable for the type and spec of rack it is.
Also, here is a photo of the ladder fouling the rack (real one this time):
We are working on our own ladder which will clear. The standard one has a raised curve on the right hand side which is what causes the problem. We need to position our rack where it is, as it has to sit outside the roof rail to keep it close to the roof line.
Some people have committed to purchasing a rack based on the information they've got so far, to whom I am grateful and delighted. However, I appreciate that some people will be happier having had more contact with a production rack.
The first batch of production racks is underway now. As I have mentioned before, there is going to be a test rack made available to Disco3 members and the press so that the real deal can be experienced.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch: 01904 728112.
Thanks,
Olly
Last edited by prospeed on 13th Oct 2009 12:34 pm. Edited 1 time in total
I find it surprising that you don't make the rack a little bit smaller or alter it in some other way to accommodate the OEM ladder, a lot of owners already have the ladder and I'm sure some will be put off buying your rack as they won't want to pay more to change the ladder due to what appears to be an inconsideration in the rack design
Can you post a picture from a bit further away showing how far the tailgate can be lifted before the rack fouls the ladder?
Other than that rack looks great, seems to nicely fill the void left by the demise of Safety Devices
Is it available without the front cowling, or is it easy to remove/refit?
SimonThe End
13th Oct 2009 12:12 pm
ronp
Member Since: 29 Nov 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 15263
prospeed wrote:
Also, here is a photo of the ladder fouling the rack
well that's me out!...... always on the road less travelled 🚧
13th Oct 2009 1:08 pm
prospeed Site Sponsor
Member Since: 28 Sep 2009
Location: York
Posts: 143
Hi Simon,
I understand where you are coming from.
BUT (you knew it was coming), it's not from a design inconsideration. I will explain all with the aid of photographs. As I have described, the whole design intent of the rack is to be as low profile to the roof line as possible. To do this we chose to have the bottom rail run around the outside of the roof rails. Running them on top raises the rack considerably, and running them inside wastes good available space. This means that the rear of the rack can only sit as far forward as is allowed by the roof rails. I have taken some photos to show this:
Front the back.
Fron the side.
We could move the top rail forward in relation to the bottom to resolve the problem. However, it completely destroys the lines of the rack. While I appreciate that there is always a fine line between form and function, it makes the rack look as if you're permanently driving backwards! It loses the swept look that we think forms the majority of it's styling.
There comes a point where we have to choose to pursue our design intent, not another manufacturers. I know that the Land Rover ladder is an established product, but making our rack compatible with it made too many compromises to our rack design. We felt it was a better solution to offer a sensibly priced alternative which was compatible.
As you can see in the photo below, the LR ladder rises a lot at the top. We felt that to change this design was a better solution, to allow the design of our rack to remain.
Here is a photo of the rear door open to the point where rack and ladder touch:
To answer your other question, we chose to sell the rack complete with the front deflector, but it does snap on and off quite easily.
Thanks,
Olly
13th Oct 2009 2:20 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
Thanks for the photos Olly - now I can understand why it touches - the pictures explain this very well
As you've got your camera handy, is there any chance of some close-ups of the front end, fixing points (front, middle and rear), cowling, clearance and composite flooring?
What logos etc are printed onto the production part?
Thanks in advance,
Paul2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
Olly, Is the composite floor strong enough to lash a spare wheel or two to it (a likely primary use case)? If not what is your recomended way of mounting wheels on the rack?
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The rack adds 105mm to the height of the car. That equates to a total height 207.5 cm in access mode. I'm afraid I can't give you any other measurements because our car has a set of our suspension links on which change the ride height - more on those later though!
well that's me out!
