2018-2025
2007-2018
1997-2006
1987-1995
1976-1986
Installation Time
(approx) 2 Hours
Difficulty Level:
Simple installation for anyone.
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Smittybilt Welded One-Piece Defender Roof Rack; 4.50-Foot x 4.50-Foot (07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK 4-Door)Find parts that fit my vehicle
Item J121799
$0.00
21 Reviews
12 Answers
Product Videos
(1)Hey guys. Today, I'm here with the Smittybilt Defender Roof Rack, fitting all 2007 to 2018 JK Wrangler with the OEM hardtop. So you can never get enough storage space inside of your Wrangler, and this roof rack by Smittybilt is gonna be the perfect solution to taking all of that extra cargo that you don't want in your Wrangler and putting it up on top.Now, this is gonna be very durable, made of a 16-gauge steel, it's gonna hold up to 150 pounds of cargo, and it's gonna have a nice, textured black powder coat finish to give it more of a rugged look. Now, you're also getting a couple of different benefits with this. You have a couple of light mounting options right on the front, as well as the rear for any additional lighting or any additional accessories. You have a ton of tie-down points on either side, and this is very easy to remove with just a couple of basic hand tools.So I also do like the fact that this is very sleek with its aerodynamic design. It's not as big and bulky as some of the body-mounted options. And it definitely looks good mounted up on top of our Wrangler. So this is roughly gonna be $500, making this a more affordable choice as far as roof racks on the page go. Other more expensive options are usually going to be for those body-mounted choices that I mentioned earlier just because they're going to have a higher low capacity and take up a lot more space on top of your Wrangler.Now, on the other hand, less expensive options are usually gonna be for those very basic crossbars and not come with a basket like this one does. I personally like how this serves a good middle ground. It's got a lot of space to work with. And it still stays aerodynamic, making it a very good choice to take a look into.So as far as install goes, I would like to mention that you will need the hardware kit in order to install the basket. However, you can find that on the product page. Install's gonna be a one out three wrenches on the difficulty meter, and I would recommend another friend to help you just get the basket up on top of your Wrangler so you don't damage your hardtop. It should probably only take you about two hours to get this installed with basic canned tools. So speaking of that install, let's jump into it now.The tools that I used for my install were a 10-millimeter socket and a 13-millimeter socket, 1/4-inch dry ratchet, and a 13-millimeter wrench. So before we can install our roof rack, we do need to install all of our brackets in order to attach it. So we're gonna start at the back here. We are going to attach two brackets to our rear glass hinges. So we're gonna open up our tailgate, and then open up our rear glass. So what we're gonna do is loosen up these two hinge bracket bolts so that we can slide our bracket in between the hardtop and our hinge. Now, you don't wanna completely remove them. We just wanna make sure that there's enough room between the hinge and the hardtop.Now we can take our bracket, put it around the other side, and just slide that in between. Then we can go ahead and just tighten that back up with our 10-millimeter socket. Now we can do the same thing on the other side.So now that our rear brackets are installed, we can just close up our rear glass. We won't need to be in our tailgate anymore. We can just close that up. So now we can install our side brackets before we install our brackets and then our roof rack. Now, I did take a rough measurement on where we should put these. It's gonna be about 42 inches from the rear to the front. That's gonna be right above our rear door here. So we're just gonna install this in the little rain gutter here, and then we can install the bottom part, which is going to clamp on to that. Then we can take our provided hardware, our flat washer, lock washer, and nut, and install that on the top.Now, we're not gonna completely tighten this down. We just wanna make sure that it's snugged up and staying in place. So I'm gonna grab a 13-millimeter socket and a 1/4-inch drive ratchet and just snug that up. So we do wanna kind of leave it a little bit loose just in case we do need to adjust it front or back because we just took a rough measurement. So now we can do the same thing on the other side. So now we can install our other bracket. I would like to call out there is a little rubber gasket. I do like that that's here because it's not gonna damage our hardtop. So we can just stick this in place.So now we can install our secondary bracket on our primary bracket. We're gonna be using the same provided hardware. You're gonna have a bolt, two flat washers, and a lock washer and a nut. This will also have a little bit of adjustability. So once you get your roof rack on, you will be able to adjust it to whatever height you need it at. So again, we're not gonna tighten everything down. We're just gonna snug everything up just to make sure that we do have a little bit of room to work with if we do need to adjust these in the future. Now we can install the rest of our brackets.Now we can attach our roof rack. So now with a friend, we can go ahead and place our roof rack up on top of our brackets. So now, our roof rack is placed on top of our brackets. We can secure our roof rack to our secondary brackets with our provided hardware. So I'm just gonna stick our bolt underneath. Now, we can do the same thing on all the other brackets.So now with a 13-millimeter wrench and a 13-millimeter socket, we can start to tighten up all of our hardware. I'm gonna start with the basket on our secondary bracket.So what I would recommend to do to make sure that everything is oriented in the correct way, everything's adjusted in the correct way is just to tighten down your basket bolts first. This is just going to be these two bolts on top, and then you can go back to your brackets, your secondary and primary bracket, and tighten those down.So I am just gonna move to our secondary bracket here. We've tightened down all of our top brackets, or our basket brackets first, then we can take our same 13-millimeter socket and 13-millimeter meter wrench and just tighten those up. And then for our side brackets, you wanna make sure that that is tightened down to your Jeep. So we're just going to tighten down our gutter clamp. And then you can just repeat that process on the other brackets.So that's gonna wrap it up for my review and install. Make sure you like and subscribe. And for more videos like this, always keep it right here extremeterrain.com.
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Jeep Wrangler JK Smittybilt Welded One-Piece Defender Roof Rack (2007-2018 4 Door) Review & Install
13:08
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Product Information
Features, Description, Reviews, Q&A, Specs & Installation
Features
- Durable Roof Rack
- Requires Smittybilt Defender Roof Rack Mounting Kit
- Features 150-Pound Load Carrying Capacity
- Great Aerodynamic Styling
- Welded, 1-Piece Design for Strength
- With Welded Light Tabs and Integrated Flooring
- Durable, 16-Gauge, Fully-Welded Steel Construction
- Features Textured Black Powder-Coat Finish
- Designed for Multiple Mounting Options
- Limited Lifetime Warranty on Structure
- Five-Year Limited Warranty on Finish
- Requires Smittybilt's Defender Roof Rack Mounting Kit
- Fits All 2007-2018 Jeep Wrangler JK 4-Door Models
Description
Great Loading Capacity. Hauling bulky cargo onto your Jeep Wrangler should not be a problem with this Smittybilt Welded One-Piece Defender Roof Rack 4.50 x 4.50 feet. This basket-designed rack can handle up to 150 pounds of evenly-distributed loads. With heavy-duty capacity, you can now transport bulky or odd-shaped items easily and without straining the interiors of your Jeep. For specialized cargo like sports gear, tires, or trail jacks, this roof rack can be outfitted with adapter brackets.
Designed to Match Your Jeep. The Defender Roof Rack is not only made with great cargo capacity, but it’s also designed with an aerodynamic styling that perfectly blends with your Jeep’s design. The overall appearance of this roof rack is geared to match the rugged form of your vehicle. The rack is also designed with multiple mounting options so you can attach it to any vehicle roof.
High-Quality Construction. Quality will never be a question when it comes to Smittybilt products. And this Defender Roof Rack is one that is made from high-grade, 16-gauge steel tubing. This material is a fully-welded, 1-inch round tubing that offers durability and long-lasting service. In addition, the tubes are applied with a textured black powder-coat finish for resistance against rust and corrosion. The rack also includes 4 welded front light tabs and 2 rear tabs as well as integrated flooring for maximum functionality.
Straightforward Installation. Designed with multiple mounting options, this Welded One-Piece Defender Roof Rack is easy to attach to any Jeep Wrangler JK with Smittybilt's Defender Roof Rack Mounting Kit, part# DS31-4. It is also a 1-piece contraption so there’s no need for you to worry about assembly. This is a direct-fit application and will not require any drilling for installation.
Limited Lifetime Warranty. This Defender Roof Rack from Smittybilt comes with a limited lifetime warranty on structure. It covers defects in materials and workmanship only. There is also a separate 5-year warranty on finish. Both warranties will be void for products found to have signs of misuse, abuse, neglect, modification, improper installation, unauthorized repairs, submersion, or any other type of impact.
Application. This Smittybilt Welded One-Piece Defender Roof Rack - 4.50 x 4.50 feet will fit 2007-2018 Jeep Wrangler JK 4-door models.
CA Residents: 
WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Installation & What's in the Box
Installation Info
What's in the Box
- (1) Defender Roof Rack
- Instructions
4.6
