I bought this bone stock three months ago. I have since had a 2.5 lift put on, new rims and 33s, I installed a new front bumper and winch, the light bar on the windshield, the tube rockers and the roof rack. Some minor trim stuff like antenna, inside grab bars etc. but for now that's where it's gonna be for awhile. I wanted to build it more like an over-lander instead of a crawler as it's my DD and is on the highway quite a bit.
Anyway the most difficult part was figuring out a kayak carrier system that would handle a 17' boat without the rack going across the Freedom top. After trying a couple different crossbar configurations I decided to try mounting the front cradles on a light bar anchored to the windshield support and I put the rear rollers on a short roof rack that is made to clear the Freedom Top. This has worked very well and has spread the overall support further apart which is way more stable than the two crossbars that had to be as close together as the gutters would allow. Had to do a little fab work on the front cradles to level it out and not high-center on the front of the roof rack but all-in-all I'm happy with it.
original system -
new set-up -
Anyway the most difficult part was figuring out a kayak carrier system that would handle a 17' boat without the rack going across the Freedom top. After trying a couple different crossbar configurations I decided to try mounting the front cradles on a light bar anchored to the windshield support and I put the rear rollers on a short roof rack that is made to clear the Freedom Top. This has worked very well and has spread the overall support further apart which is way more stable than the two crossbars that had to be as close together as the gutters would allow. Had to do a little fab work on the front cradles to level it out and not high-center on the front of the roof rack but all-in-all I'm happy with it.
original system -
new set-up -