ARB Base Rack: Narrow or Wide?

Two numbers, one vehicle

ARB’s April 2025 Australian price-list edition lists two BASE Rack combinations for Everest MY22: 1835 × 1155 mm (1770010) and 1835 × 1285 mm (1770030), both with mount 17940090. The width difference is 130 mm, or 65 mm per side. This is a source-edition example; confirm current exact-vehicle fitment before ordering.

The extra width changes available mounting area and appearance. Tent compatibility depends on the approved mounting position, support spacing and overhang limits, not just whether the closed tent footprint sits inside the platform.

Part numbers and dimensions above: ARB Retail Price List RT20250414.1, April 2025, Everest MY22. The current ARB narrow Everest pack B01623 also identifies 1770010 and 17940090. Retrieved 13 September 2026; this is not confirmation of a later vehicle build or a live quote.

Our preference and its limits

FitFourby’s starting preference is the smallest approved platform that supports the load you have actually chosen. That is an editorial judgement about mass, footprint and usefulness, not a claim that ARB mandates the narrow rack.

Ask the supplier to show the applicable fitting guide when recommendations differ. The source edition above lists both widths; it does not establish a universal narrow-first policy or a current price premium for the wider option.

What the extra 130 mm is actually for

A rooftop tent has specified supports, mounting positions and sometimes overhang limits. Check those instructions against the rack’s load-bearing beams and the approved tent brackets. Do not improvise shims or extensions to make an unsuitable mounting arrangement fit.

Choose the tent first if it is driving the rack decision. Supply both sets of instructions to the fitter and have the exact mounting arrangement confirmed; external width alone cannot prove compatibility.

A wider rack does not increase the vehicle roof allowance. Check the vehicle, mount, rack and tent requirements, including system mass and any lower off-road allowance.

The look, and why it matters more than people admit

The Everest roof curves inward toward the top. The narrow rack sits inside that curve and reads as part of the car. The wide rack does not — it runs past the roofline on both sides, and from the front three-quarter view the vehicle looks like it is wearing a top hat.

Some people love it. It is the aggressive, kitted-out silhouette that sells a lot of gear, and if that is what you want then buy it and enjoy it. We only raise it because it is the part of the decision people discover after the rack is bolted on, and by then it is a $2,000 aesthetic they did not choose deliberately.

The things nobody mentions at the counter

Wind noise. ARB themselves recommend fitting a wind deflector or a Base Rack light bar, and that recommendation is not marketing. A bare platform on a wagon roof at highway speed generates a note you will hear on every trip you ever take. Budget for the deflector as part of the rack, not as an option.

Fuel. Roof hardware and cargo can affect drag and consumption. This article has no measured comparison establishing the extra fuel used by either width on an Everest.

Weight, twice over. The rack is a permanent addition to kerb weight, and it is mounted at the highest point on the vehicle. Every kilogram up there does more to the handling than the same kilogram in the tub. Run the numbers before you buy, not after.

Static versus dynamic roof load. Driving and parked limits are different checks. Obtain the exact stationary allowance and tent approval; do not assume it is a multiple of the dynamic rating. Count the complete installed system for driving, and occupants and gear for parked use.

Garage height. Measure it. Then measure it again with the tent on. This is a boring failure mode with an expensive outcome.

So which one

Buy the narrow rack if you are carrying gear, recovery boards, a shovel, an awning, jerries, or a tent you have already confirmed fits within it. This covers most people. Our preference is about using only the platform area the approved load needs; obtain a current quote for both options.

Buy the wide rack if you have chosen a specific rooftop tent whose mounting spread genuinely needs the extra width, or if you want the wider stance and you are making that choice knowingly rather than being sold it.

What we would not do is buy the wide one "to leave options open". A rack you can barely fit in the garage, that whistles at 100 km/h and sits proud of the roofline, is a poor hedge against a tent you might buy in three years.

Specifying racks across a work fleet rather than one vehicle? Consistency across the fleet matters more than the optimum on any single vehicle — see mine and fleet builds, or get in touch.