A proper adventure van needs a proper safari rack, at least in my mind. There are some good options out there and after checking them all out we went with the Freedom Van Go roof rack. This rack looks the part and has some great features. It is basically a round bar frame with a ton of mounting points on the side and rear. It also has a mounting plate for a light bar in the front. It does not come with a floor but it does have a TON of attachment points where you can customize a floor based on your needs. The build quality is great and it accommodates an easy mounting solution for a Fiamma F45S awning.
We wanted a floor we could walk on so we worked with Owl Van to fabricate a custom floor that wraps around our ceiling vents and to accommodate solar panel mounts. Owl Van has since gotten out of this custom fab work so if you are looking for a truly custom roof rack I would suggest working with a local metal fabricator or checking out Aluminess who still does custom fab work. Another option is to get Freedom Van Go’s roof floor panels but they don’t wrap around vents or AC units, but they are quick and easy and might do the trick for your needs.
We plan on mounting a KC Gravity Pro6 LED light bar up front and then Rigid D-series Pro light pods on the sides and rear. After doing many nights of off-road driving to find some privacy we have found we need surround lights to avoid cliffs and rocks. What I love about our rack is that I can have two large solar panels, two ceiling vents, an awning, and lights and still have some flat space for storage or just hanging out to watch the sunset.
Now comes the question of how to get up to the roof rack. For that we went with an Owl Van ladder and tire carrier. This serves two purposes. The first is a strong and clean looking ladder to get you up to the roof. The second is to move the spare tire from under t he van to the ladder which also means you can get bigger tires. The Owl Van stuff is extremely well built. I also liked that they are based in the Bay Area as I am trying to work with local businesses as much as I can.
