Advice on building the "Perfect" ROOF RACK

[Nor_Cal_Cruiser]

After about a year of lurking and such I have started to get my 96' LC project going. I am a Newbie here and thought I would say hello, and see about gettting some advice on my roof rack build.
My question is what would be the perfect roof rack if you were to have one fabricated? I like the sturdiness of the ARB rack, the light protection of the INTI and so on. Being a newbie I thought I would seek some advice on thing such as the size, heighth, material and other things such as the light protection offered by the INTI rack. I have the Con-ferr bulldog clamps and thought I wold ask some seasoned IH8MUDers.

 

[tech_dog]

It's gotta be light.

 

[reffug]

Unless your fab skills are out of this world I would suggest purchasing one. The african outback rack that Christo sells is the ultimate IMHO.

Oh and welcome........

 

[ginericLC]

Definitely Aluminum. You want it light, strong, and rigid. If it isn't rigid you'll tweek the roof. You'd probably do better asking this question in the Outfitting section.

 

[turbocruiser]

Unless your fab skills are out of this world I would suggest purchasing one. The african outback rack that Christo sells is the ultimate IMHO.

Oh and welcome........

Ditto. Even though my fab skills are admirable, and even though the wifey just loves it when I'm welding (inside joke for a few in the know!) I could not fab something like the AO rack; it is so well engineered and so extremely flexible (not in terms of flex per se but in terms of all the ways you can configure cargo on it). I'd say it weighs less than forty pounds and will hold five hundred. Super sweet rack, I think he only has five left at the moment, get em while the gettin's good!

 

[extremetoy1]

chromoly steel, nice and light and very weldable you can get it in many shapes sizes and thickness.

 

[rockclmbr]

What I like most about the INTI is that the sides can fold down. For those with a standard height garage, it sure make getting in and out easier if you have to pull it in to work on it.

 

[barrypt5]

I have HEARD but do not know first hand that Aluminum is Very difficult to weld...you may want to stick to steel...actually it is funny this is brought up b/c i am working on a rack right now but i am using 3/8" square bar solid...the only reason i went with this is b/c we have an ironworker that does bends and it worked out pretty well...so far it is not to heavy but i am not done and it has a pretty open design so we will see how it works...FWIW i would say give it a shot i am only into the project for like $20 in steel! Good Luck!

barrypt5

 

[WildYoats]

You may wish to consider the "J-Moose" rack. See the thread link in my signature below.

Good luck.

 

[NorCalSam]

Definitely Aluminum. You want it light, strong, and rigid. If it isn't rigid you'll tweek the roof. You'd probably do better asking this question in the Outfitting section.

Ditto that

Go with the INTI or the Outback and be done with it you can always custimize your rack but I would start out with a good light proven base.

and welcome

 

[cruiserdan]

and even though the wifey just loves it when I'm welding

;p

 

[PKP80]

IMHO, order a la cabra rack...if i wanted one that would be the "perfect one." extremely useful and diverse. Only issue would be weight and for what it has and can do I think it works out.

my $.02

 

[scottm]

Try building it out of this stuff: http://www.8020.net/. I design and build industrial machinery, and I use slotted extrusions to keep the machines light and versatile. The 1x2" (1020 profile) would be excellent for a roof rack, I'd use six gutter mounts to distribute the weight. No welding, there's no limit to the ways to attach extrusion and accessories with all the bits and pieces here. You can make most anything fit on by drilling a couple holes in it, and dissassemble the whole thing with a couple tools. You'll want a decent saw to make square cuts, and a drill press helps make the holes clean and square.

 

[Walking Eagle]

Try building it out of this stuff: http://www.8020.net/. I design and build industrial machinery, and I use slotted extrusions to keep the machines light and versatile.

That is kool stuff, and you can even use the center channel for routing protected wires. If memory serves, it's quite expensive isn't it?

edit - found pricing


http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?pagenum=1522

 

[scottm]

We don't buy most stuff from 80/20, local extruders make the aluminum extrusions, and there are a few sources for the most common accessories. We make a lot of our own pieces custom.

 

[gearguywb]

You may wish to consider the "J-Moose" rack. See the thread link in my signature below.

Good luck.

The J-Moose is very cool. I used the design and then added a couple of things for my own use. Came out great and a good sense of satisfaction from building it myself.