I just went through this debate with the same exact thoughts and concerns you mention. I really liked the Rocky Road rack, because the side rails looked like they added strength to the existing roof rails, and would be pretty easily removable when I don't want the additional aerodynamic drag. However, I could not get past the fact that the Rocky Road rack basically bolts into nutserts in the stock plastic roof rails, and that those plastic roof rails aren't really sitting on the strongest part of the roof. I couldn't get them to give me a static weight limit number, and their stated "no weight limit" didn't give me a lot of confidence they did their testing.

I went with the Gobi Stealth. Their stealth rack pushes the load stresses out toward the stronger edges of the roof. They do not list it on their site as an option, but you can ask them to customize the rack and have the platform mesh removable so it doesn't cover the panoramic roof, but you can always put it back in if you need to carry roof boxes. We've done a couple trips with this rack and a Tepui Autana (3 people in tent...~400lbs total) so far, and it is solid. Took a fairly rocky trail on one of the trips, and it held strong. My only gripe is that while the rack is easy enough to detach, Jeep's terrible roof mounting points make it a bit more risky to remove and reinstall repeatedly. I'd love to remove it when not in use because It does increase wind noise on the road. I also find that I lose about ~1mi of electric range with the rack installed, but haven't noticed much drop on the highway, still seeing 22-26mpg on longer trips.

I highly recommend Gobi. I have used their TJ roof rack for 7 or 8 years now on my Wrangler, and I am just as impressed with their Grand Cherokee racks. They were able to compensate for some pretty unacceptable design decisions on Jeep's part. I'm about to take the rack off soon to check for any issues. I'm hesitant to mess with it, as people report that the nutserts Jeep uses in the roof can break loose and spin, making it impossible to loosen or re-tighten bolts. If I find anything interesting, I'll report back.

 

Regardless of what any roof rack company might say, the dynamic load limit of the GC's "roof rack load capacity" is 150 lbs. (see p. 94 of the owner's manual). Since the owner's manual distinguishes between the "roof rack" and the "crossbars" (for example, it says "do not carry any loads on the roof rack without the crossbars installed"), it's safe to assume that the 150 lb. limit includes the weight of the crossbars; so if your crossbars weigh 20 lbs. then you have 130 lbs. of weight allowance left.

With regard to static load, Thule's guideline is that the static limit is generally 3x the dynamic limit (https://www.thule.com/-/s/approved/std.lang.all/02/00/670200.pdf?rev=9.2).

 

I've been wondering about that. I remember speaking to a Gobi Rack rep and said their rack upgrades dynamic rating to 300lb. But knowing about the 150lb from the manual, I wasn't too trusting about the upgrade to 300lb. I was told the reason that the 300lb limit is real because the weight was more evenly spread out Gobirack's "footprint" on the roof. Is it possible that they could really upgrade the dynamic load to 300lb like that or no matter what, we're limited to 150lb?

I stuck with a Megawarrior on crossbars but would like Gobirack if it is true that it can go up to 300lb.

 

Jeep could have done better than 150lbs simply by mounting roof rails closer to the roof edges, but chose to design it the way they did. An aftermarket rack with an empty roof tent is definitely over 200lbs, but the fact that Gobi distributes this weight closer to the gutters/corner seams made me feel better about this overage, versus trusting the factory rack components that have the 150lb rating.

Regardless, I would definitely not drive too fast off-road with any roof rack setup that is fastened using the factory roof mount points, though. I think those roof buttons are likely to fail way before the roof structure buckles.

 

An aftermarket rack with an empty roof tent is definitely over 200lbs. . . .

Not necessarily. A 2-person Thule / Tepui can weigh as little as 98 lbs. And basic Yakima or Thule crossbars, feet, and clamps don't weigh 50 total.

 

I spoke with both Rocky Road and Gobi. As much as I didn’t initially want to remove the stock rails, the Gobi is looking more and more like the best option for what I’m trying to do.

Although connecting the rocky road rack at all three stock point would distribute the weight better than if it was just two cross bars attached to the same points, I think a 160lb tent plus the weight of the rack could make those nut inserts a risk for failure or at least the plastic they are housed in. The Gobi weighs 67lbs so I’ll round the total dynamic roof load to 230lbs. Gobi rates at 300lbs dynamic load capacity and I’m more confident in their design and weight distribution than the rocky road.

The Roam XL I’ve got my heart set on is 72"×48” and requires 60” center to center for mounting. The Gobi measures 72” long but they said that those dimension are from tip to tail for the base and you lose about 4” on the front and few more on the back since the front riser and rear upper lip taper up from the bottom. I took a screenshot of their spec sheet:

Utilizing their elevation cross bars rather than the standard low profile bars then raises whatever you mount equal to that of the front riser. Therefore, allowing for a 72” tent or w/e you are mounting to not hang over the back and gives another point of contact for weight distribution. Good to note that you can also get their rack without the front riser and have it fully squared off but I like the riser and would probably go with that so the bit about the elevation bars was useful for me.

Also, since the Gobi’s are built to order the selections you make on their website are essentially a place holder until someone calls you and you pick final design options.
For example: They advertise the sunroof stealth rack but they will build a pano sunroof rack which expands the empty space further back but comes with one of their grate inserts at the same price as the advertised sunroof rack. Buying just the normal sunroof rack does not include an insert but they do sell them for $250 I think? I should have written it down but it was something like that… Either way, I think getting the pano rack is the play for me. Can always put the insert in when you want it and take it out when you don’t. I’m thinking in the winter so it doesn’t fill w/ snow and I probably wouldn’t be putting much up there anyway.

All in all, I think the Gobi gives the most versatility and best method for securely putting +150lbs on the roof. They said their lead is about 3-4 weeks right now and there’s a $250 discount going on through Monday. So baring any delays or my continued flip flopping I think that’s what I’m going to do.

 

If you don't need the Gobi ladder, ask if they can trade the ladder for the additional sunroof panel. They did that for me for the same base cost.

I personally couldn't picture myself putting body weight on the rear lift gate with the attachment system they have for that ladder.

 

This is a great idea! I felt the same way about the ladder. Thank you for mentioning that.

 

Here's a picture of the rack with the mesh panels and removable crossbars taken off (one welded crossbar remains). For the most part, you really can't see the rack through the roof at all like this.

These are closeups of how the rack transfers the weight to the outer edge of the roof, instead of directly down through the roof nutserts. At least twice the contact patch at a stronger part of the roof.

 

i put a pioneer plateform and a ikamper x cover on and it works fine!

 

Pulled the trigger on the Gobi Stealth for full pano sunroof. 3-4 week lead time. They exchanged the ladder for an additional insert so thanks for the tip @bike2deth