In the September issue, our dechromed and flattened Hummer H3 Alpha received a set of rugged BFG All-Terrain tires, handsome GT Simulock wheels, and durable Rod Hall remote-reservoir racing shocks. This month, our H3 gets another trio of bolt-ons: A Gobi Stealth roof rack, roof-mounted marker lamps, and rocker protection.
Our desire to install a roof rack was twofold. One, we wanted to significantly increase our H3's available cargo room. And two, we wanted a place to mount full-perimeter lighting. The trick was to find a lightweight low-profile rack that met these criteria while not negatively affecting our Alpha's decent fuel mileage and outstanding handling. We perused a bunch of different racks before we found, and instantly decided on, the Gobi Stealth rack. This full-length 8-foot rack is a quality unit that weighs only 88 pounds and creates 26 square feet of new storage space. Its low-profile design means that its aerodynamic impact is minimal. It comes with a fairing to direct air up and over the rack; it has four forward-facing light tabs, two rear-facing light tabs, two fixed 11/8-inch crossbars, and polished stainless-steel bolts riveted through black powdercoated steel bands. The Stealth has an ultra-rugged black-powder topcoat finish over a super-tough epoxy undercoating, so it should hold up well to the salty Midwest winters. The Stealth is available with or without a sunroof opening, and Gobi offers other options like a ladder and tool brackets. Gobi also offers racks for a variety of other vehicles too.
Our H3 came to us without the factory rocker protection. We know all too well that rocker panels are some of the most easily damaged items on the trail. Hence we put in a call to our friends at Hummer and they provided us with the Hummer Accessories Rocker Protection. The kit comes with a duo of bars as well as the hardware needed to mount 'em to the rig.
Finally, to us a Hummer ain't a Hummer without roof lights, and ours came without 'em. OK, some may construe roof lights as bling, but so be it. We think it adds "truckness." Hummer provided its roof-mounted marker lamp kit that is available through Hummer Accessories. This all-inclusive kit includes everything needed to install the five marker lights.
Following is a basic overview of how it all came together.
We've had the Gobi Stealth rack installed for a couple of weeks now and we continue to be impressed by its quality and function. We're ecstatic about the 26 cubic feet of new storage space, and thanks to all of the integrated light mounting points we've already begun installing our full perimeter lighting. Thanks to the Stealth's light weight, we haven't experienced any handling aberrations either. Around town the rack creates virtually no added wind noise. At highway speed the wind noise increase is nominal and actually a bit less than we expected. Conversations in a normal tone are still very much the norm. We noticed that on the highway wind noise was pronounced before we installed the four forward-facing lights because the fairing directed the wind directly into the front upper bar. The wind noise decreased immediately after we installed our four forward-facing PIAA lights (we'll cover that install in an upcoming issue), as they acted as an extension of the Gobi fairing to direct air up and over the front of the rack. The rack can interfere with XM satellite radio reception. We've found our reception to only suffer momentary interruptions when we're heading west. Gobi has an antenna upgrade that is said to solve this so we'll be installing that in the near future. From what we can tell after a couple of tanks of fuel, any fuel mileage loss is minimal, which is cool with us. The Gobi Stealth rack is premium-priced with an MSRP of $1,648.90, but it's worth every penny.
The first step to install the marker-lamp kit is to position the included template on the roof. This template will provide the exact locations to drill the six holes needed to mount the marker lightbar assembly. Here Bergstrom Hummer technician Mike Wedel uses a punch to mark the locations to be drilled.
Here's the complete Gobi Stealth...
Here's the complete Gobi Stealth roof rack kit. Included is the steel rack, fairing, support brackets, instructions, and all required hardware.
The first step of the Stealth...
The first step of the Stealth install is to remove the factory covers on the forward end of the roof tracks and slide the six Gobi "T" nuts into the tracks (three per side). The instructions include measurements as to where to position the "T" nuts. A rubber "T" nut pad is then placed on top of each "T" nut.
The six Gobi support brackets...
The six Gobi support brackets are installed to the "T" nuts using the supplied stainless steel hardware. They are only finger-tightened at this time so they can be adjusted after the rack is mounted.
Near the front of the H3 are...
Near the front of the H3 are two screws that hold factory trim. These screws are removed and replaced with longer screws and spacers so the two Gobi forward support brackets can be installed.
With the support brackets...
With the support brackets positioned correctly and only finger-tightened, the guys from Attitude Performance positioned the 88-pound Stealth on the support brackets.
The Stealth rack is then attached...
The Stealth rack is then attached to the support brackets with the supplied stainless steel hardware. The support-bracket hardware and the rack-mounting hardware are then tightened.
The last step is to install...
The last step is to install the fairing. There are two fairings available from Gobi. One is for rigs with roof marker lights and one is for those without. Either way, there's a rubber molding along the bottom to ensure a tight seal with the roof of the truck. The fairing is adjustable and affixed using three "L" brackets.
With the six holes drilled,...
With the six holes drilled, the next step is to install the included riv nuts.
After the riv nuts are installed...
After the riv nuts are installed the marker lightbar assembly can be mounted.
The right- and lefthand clearance...
The right- and lefthand clearance lights mount to the factory A-pillar trim. From the factory the three areas that need to be drilled are clearly marked on the inside of the trim. The largest hole is opened with a 2-inch holesaw.
One of the cool things about...
One of the cool things about this kit is that it comes with a factory eight-way connector that plugs into the Bussed Electrical Center (BEC) so no cutting or splicing is required. The only other connection that needs to be made is a ground connection. The wires are routed under the A-pillar trim to complete this easy installation.
There's more Project Trailhugger stuff online at fourwheeler.com. Visit the blogs section and you can see Web-exclusive stories covering all the installs thus far, including some that haven't even published yet. As a bonus, most are accompanied by our really weird Krappy Kam videos.