My brother, friend and I built a custom safari rack for my fj60. We are looking to build and sell some you can customize any way you would like to and we have them powder coated any color you want pm me if you are interested we are selling for $1850
custom built safari racks (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Yotaboggs
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Great! Now please buy a Vendor tag and keep it out of tech. 
seems pricey for a roof rack, no?
Correction:
Niceish rack (if it didn't have the upper hoops). If I was looking for a rack, I might consider it if it was under $800 with mounting hardware included.
This is why we don't weld galvanized steel children. Damages the brain.
Now you know why I don't build roofracks, Yotaboggs....China and Mexico already have their fingers in it ( ARB, Baja Racks ). At this point it can no longer be done in the USA. 1800.00 is two days labor plus materials in the USA. Unless you can build enough to set up an assembly line and get it done in less than a day ( that includes sales and packaging ) you're screwed. You should market it as a totally custom rack, width, height and length. You will pick up the people that fall through the gap where off the shelf offerings don't meet their needs. In 25 years of business, I built a dozen. Every one was very custom.
mcguirejohnson
SILVER Star
I built mine for around $300 w/ mounting brackets. Granted I was using scrap steel, but a roof rack for more than $1000 is insane. Especially since it is not aluminum...
That price seems a bit high...
This guy was building and selling them for much less...seems that towards the end of the thread there was an issue with another member and some interesting comments were posted.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/building-a-safari-style-roof-rack.816980/
This guy was building and selling them for much less...seems that towards the end of the thread there was an issue with another member and some interesting comments were posted.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/building-a-safari-style-roof-rack.816980/
Can you post some pics?
mcguirejohnson
SILVER Star
I don't want to clog up this thread, I have a bunch in my build thread
https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/789450-fj60-soa-build.html
Mj
cwwfj60
Supporting Vendor
curious why you would have permanent hoops across the top....seems counter productive but I'm sure you had a purpose if you could explain please....
Welcome!
Great! Now please buy a Vendor tag and keep it out of tech.
This!
Unfortunately this as well.
true, the "cost" of a roofrack would not even reach 100.00 in most cases, Factoring in wastea product made with steel is about 1.00 a pound.. but the labor and overhead has to be worth something. labor costs in the US account for roughly 40 percent of a company's overhead. Compare that to China where the labor costs are less than 5%.
So the apparent perfect solution is for everyone in the US to take one for the team
and request a 90% pay decrease so we can build roofracks for 125.00 and take the market back from the Chinese.......any takers?
mcguirejohnson
SILVER Star
I get what your saying. I just personally try and do most things to my rig by myself, but that is mainly because I am a cheap-a** and being 19 in school I don't have a super high income. But I can say with confidence that I would wait and buy a high quality product from you and the other vendors that support cruisers opposed to a cheap product from China.
Mj
I checked out your thread. You're doing very well for your age. The earlier you start seems the better your potential. My very best fabricators started with me when they were between 14 and 18. I really prefer to start training a welder before they get "certified" especially if the certs are aimed at industrial welding. The Industrial side of welding is the slowest to change as welding technology changes. They also have very little emphasis on appearance which is important in commercial products. It's hard for a welder to make really GOOD money unless you buy a rig truck and travel, working plant start ups and such...... or underwater welding on oil rigs of course. It's unfortunate that the trades are disappearing to third world nations. As we send jobs away and products become cheaper as a result, companies know they can offer less and less pay with the justification that cost of living is dropping with the influx of cheap imported product. The world is now divided by economic classes more so than countries with states. Corporations operate internationally and target their business to economic classes. The sales map is the world and the customer base is their earnings.
mcguirejohnson
SILVER Star
Hey thanks for the kind words. I was fortunate enough to take a welding class that was offered at my high school for 3 years. It helped out a lot with my arc welding skills which is what we primarily focused on for exactly what you stated above, job opportunities. Also my uncle moved to the city from a rural setting and passed along all of his welding supplies and a few welders to my dad and I (miller bobcat generator, and a 220 miller mig) which helped out a lot with gaining experience and working on my rig. Prior to that we only had a little 110 miller mig that wasn't really capable past 14ga steel. I still haven't really gotten the hang of tig welding, but I would really like to in the future.
I'm a firm believer that anyone can become a decent welder as long as they spend a lot of time under the hood and focus a lot on different welding surfaces ( flat, angle, gap) and also the different body positions. But some people are blessed with a steady hand that is required to produce the picture quality welds.
On a side note, you makes some kick a** bumpers. A friend of mine has one on his 62 and I really liked the lines and how it looks installed. If I hadn't found my ARB on a junkyard cruiser, I would've definitely gone with one of yours.
-MJ
