The Starlight (Jeep Wrangler JLU Roof Rack)

The Starlight is a Great Rack for the JLU

This is a great rack for the JLU if you’ll never consider a roof top tent. For almost anything else you’d dare mount on the roof of a Jeep, it’s perfect. The Wrangler user manual says not to put more than 100# on the roof. That’s citing 2 factory crossbars, or 4 points of contact with the fiberglass rain gutters. The Starlight is rated at 150# static/300# dynamic. Its 8 points of contact spread the load over the length of the roofline, increasing efficiency. Does it also increase carrying capacity? I don’t know - but after mounting the 55# Starlight and seeing how rigid, stable and low-profile it is, I’m confident in putting whatever I need up there. Installation: The Starlight mounts well. I printed the instructions off the web site and working alone it took half a day. Because you assemble 4 main cross bars/supports first then position each on the roof individually, you’re not assembling the whole rack on the ground and lifting a heavy assembly up onto the roof. This makes it easy for one person. A thick blanket on the roof prevents any scratching as you slide the bars into position. The instructions are good, indicating ideal positioning of the 4 main supports. Where the remaining cross bars are positioned is very flexible. Each cross bar weighs about 4.4# so if you’re really weight conscious you can probably eliminate a bar and apply that weight savings elsewhere. All hardware was perfect - the package wasn’t short any nuts or bolts and the taps in the cross-bars were clean and perfect allowing everything to thread together without incident. Unfortunately the package was short 2 brackets. But they had them cut and powder coated immediately and ready to pick up in half a day. If I didn’t have the ability to drive down and pick them up waiting for them to be shipped would have been inconvenient. Wind Noise: Wind noise isn’t too noticeable - but the Jeep isn’t exactly a quiet vehicle on the highway to begin with so who knows what the real noise penalty is? At 70mph I don’t notice anything excessive; well within what I’m already used to. Just turn up the radio and you’re fine. Rigidity: The rack is extremely rigid. While watching competitors videos it was evident Sherpa’s 1/4” thick side plates were an advantage over the other’s 3/16”. There’s no flex what so ever under load. Because the Starlight mounts in 2 sections you can leave the rear of the rack mounted and remove the front so you can take the freedom panels off. This was a selling point for me. The faring doesn’t mount to the rear section of the rack. Accessories: Sherpa offers a ton of accessories to set your rack up exactly how you want it. We added the offset low pro brackets for our River Quiver 2-banger, opting for 4 brackets because the 22# fly rod mount doesn’t rest on top of the brackets but hangs below. It’s now rock solid. We’ll also add a set of billet grab handles. Another great feature about the Sherpa rack is each cross bar has 4 useable tracks running the entire length allowing insertion of their half-moon/detent slotted T-nuts anywhere along the track. Competitor’s systems have only one groove in the top and force removal of anything mounted to slide new T-nuts in. Hard to explain, but Sherpa’s system is much better - more flexible and convenient. And of course the rack looks great on the Jeep. It’s low-profile, adding only about 2.25” to the height, so it’ll still easily fit in the garage. Because the design appears integrated into the lines of the vehicle it’s form-fitting and sleek, not a clumsy, bulky add-on. I’m fortunate to live a 20 minute drive from the Sherpa facility so it’s easy to go down and ask questions before making decisions. The guys and gals are great - super helpful and easy going. I can recommend the Sherpa Starlight for any Jeep JLU Wrangler owner needing a great looking, sturdy roof top rack that feels like it’ll last for the life of the Jeep - if not longer. It really is a premium product designed, engineered and manufactured by people passionate about what they do, and it shows.

Sherpa Starlight Jeep JL 2018

This is our first roof rack that we are going to use to put a RRT (roof top tent) on for back country trips. Well-built product that came with all the nuts, bolts and washers to complete the installation. Took about 1-1/2 to 2 hours install the rack. You will another person to help place the racks on top of the Jeep for final install. Overall, a great, well-built American product.