I have started fabbing up a roof rack. Here are a few pics of the start of the project:
I am building it out of 3/4" square tubing, .083 wall to be exact. I first wanted to come up with a design that did not require a tubing bender and did not look too boxy.
I opted to fab up the corner brackets out of 16ga. sheet metal. They have a lip on them that supports the 3/4" tubing and they are dimpled to stiffen them up and save a little weight.
Today was the first test fit after I tacked the frame together:
Custom bent and dimpled corner pieces:
Custom bent and dimpled side brackets:
I still have to add several more features to it, weld it up, and get it off to the powder coat shop.
Stay tuned.
Cheers,
tp