I remember these dog-day projects so here you go jd:

1- Currently own ARB Roof Rack

2- They would be useful but at the expense of strength. All I care about is fitting a 4x8 sheet of plywood on it so a min. 4' width sounds good enough for me. However I have wanted to incorporate a roof top tent to mine and the walls will make this more difficult. I would probably have to cut out the rear or mount the tent above the top of the basket.

3- No, I dont see the point of it. Plenty of anchor points is handy though

4- Not on a car that barely fits in the garage already. My fealing is why waste you roof space for a tire. Design or use the mount on the back of the car for better utilization of space and perhaps even save on some damage in a rear end accident

5- Ability to walk on - i.e. lotsa cross rails with beefy steel - like my ARB <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. Light mounts front rear and side would be nice. Walls- i.e. cage type. Mounts for jacks, hi-lift, etc are nice too. Gotta brain fart on this one...

6-I'm pretty happy with what I got so none of the above would move me to something else - I'm pretty set already. Understand the ARB is kinda one of a kind here in the states, its round tube, made exceptionally well, and looks cool. I paid around $700 for it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> including shipping from Australia.

Some pics of at the links in my sig.