- Joined
- Jun 21, 2011
- Threads
- 225
- Messages
- 20,977
- Location
- Redding, California
- Website
- trail-tailor.com
Same here
This was my professional rendering before building my rack lol
S, Thanks better than me... HA!
J
home made roof racks? (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter hudyhue
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
S, Thanks better than me... HA!
J
Is that a bought program for the CAD rack renderings, or is there some free software out there?
Google sketch up, free and once you get the hang of it, your imagination is your only limitation.
mongoose2231
Supporting Vendor
in my case it's CAD/ INVENTOR both have to be bought. But if you have an idea of what you want I can help out by drawing it in 3d for you
Made mine out of aluminum square tubes, fun stuff to work with...
Made it so the top rail can be removed so I can either park in the garage or use a RTT.
The truck is currently too tall to get into the garage and I'm getting a RTT in a week or two so I'm going to cut off the back part of the rail and open the tent to the back.
Since my tubes are square, I had to make light brackets which can be placed 90* or 45*.
I haven't put my lights on yet, currently don't have free time to do anything.
I used gamivity towers, the rack is very sturdy, I'm thinking it can handle 1000lbs without issues, but I'm not sure if the gutters can handle that much weight.
IMO, the top rail is a bit taller, I want to cut it off and maybe leave 1" gap to make it look better.
Made it so the top rail can be removed so I can either park in the garage or use a RTT.
The truck is currently too tall to get into the garage and I'm getting a RTT in a week or two so I'm going to cut off the back part of the rail and open the tent to the back.
Since my tubes are square, I had to make light brackets which can be placed 90* or 45*.
I haven't put my lights on yet, currently don't have free time to do anything.
I used gamivity towers, the rack is very sturdy, I'm thinking it can handle 1000lbs without issues, but I'm not sure if the gutters can handle that much weight.
IMO, the top rail is a bit taller, I want to cut it off and maybe leave 1" gap to make it look better.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2011
- Threads
- 225
- Messages
- 20,977
- Location
- Redding, California
- Website
- trail-tailor.com
Latest EXPO -LO PRO Rack 52 x 84
J
J
Hi socallove, what size alum tubing did you use in your rack?
Thanks
Thanks
I'm cruiserless at the moment, but I built a rack for my cousin's tundra crewmax camper shell.
I wanted to give back to this thread because I searched through here a lot when planning this one.
Materials, 1/2" emt, 3/4" superstrut, 1.5" superstrut and .5"x1.5" thin wall c channel (If I was starting over I would've used more 1/2" emt instead of this c channel. The mounts are 1.5" superstrut that will be bolted through the camper roof since he does not have rails. Overall dimensions are 54"x60" usable space, 66" overall length with the front hoop and 48" between the the side rails that attach to the rear so he can slide a piece of plywood up there if he needs to.
Hope this helps someone else with more ideas.
EDIT: I'm very new to welding and not an expert (this was my 3rd project ever), but it never hurts to mention this again: weld galvanized materials at your own risk. The fumes are bad and can make you sick. I moved a fan around with me to each weld after I had used a grinder to remove as much of the galvanized coating as I could.
I wanted to give back to this thread because I searched through here a lot when planning this one.
Materials, 1/2" emt, 3/4" superstrut, 1.5" superstrut and .5"x1.5" thin wall c channel (If I was starting over I would've used more 1/2" emt instead of this c channel. The mounts are 1.5" superstrut that will be bolted through the camper roof since he does not have rails. Overall dimensions are 54"x60" usable space, 66" overall length with the front hoop and 48" between the the side rails that attach to the rear so he can slide a piece of plywood up there if he needs to.
Hope this helps someone else with more ideas.
EDIT: I'm very new to welding and not an expert (this was my 3rd project ever), but it never hurts to mention this again: weld galvanized materials at your own risk. The fumes are bad and can make you sick. I moved a fan around with me to each weld after I had used a grinder to remove as much of the galvanized coating as I could.
Last edited:
I have a wilderness rack for my truck shell and I wanted to weld up an extension to go over the cab using same style. I bought 3/4x3/4" 1/16" wall square stock from the home center and proceeded to do some practice welds using a small Lincoln MIG welder, no gas. Forgot the welder settings and wire size but it was as recommended for thin gauge welding. I watched some videos on welding etc.
After many, many hours I finally gave up. Problem is that I would inevitably blow through the cut metal on the edges and make a big hole. I even tried shaping the end of the stock to fit perfectly against the other piece (T joint). I asked someone if gas would make a difference and they did not think it would but I'm not so sure. I nearly always see pros MIG welding with gas. I got all the bits and pieces to add gas to my welder but have not tried it yet.
I hate to give up on anything but this kicked my butt. I don't think it should be this hard because I believe the primary use of this bar stock is to make gates, right? Also, the original wilderness rack is welded and of course the welds look beautiful. I did practice welding on 1/4" flat stock and it's relatively easy so I'm not a total bonehead.
After many, many hours I finally gave up. Problem is that I would inevitably blow through the cut metal on the edges and make a big hole. I even tried shaping the end of the stock to fit perfectly against the other piece (T joint). I asked someone if gas would make a difference and they did not think it would but I'm not so sure. I nearly always see pros MIG welding with gas. I got all the bits and pieces to add gas to my welder but have not tried it yet.
I hate to give up on anything but this kicked my butt. I don't think it should be this hard because I believe the primary use of this bar stock is to make gates, right? Also, the original wilderness rack is welded and of course the welds look beautiful. I did practice welding on 1/4" flat stock and it's relatively easy so I'm not a total bonehead.
I'm a retired tooling engineer, aerospace. We used a lot of aluminum for jigs, fixtures, etc. Yes, aluminum is 1/3 the weight of steel. But as previously noted it turns to butter when welded. Welding aluminum is an art to maintain strength and avoid inclusions, voids, etc. Stress relieving is not always necessary, but if you have an oven big enough to swallow it you need to restrain it or it can pretzel on you. This holds true for steel as well. Typically we use 6061-T6 aluminum. You want to avoid using the 2024 stuff.
In the aerospace industry I can see the need for normalizing after welding. However, for a roof rack, bumper, trailer, etc.. It's never done.
It really doesn't matter what the application is, aerospace or farm plow. Welding aluminum requires a lot of preparation and know how to effect a good weld, solid structure. Yes, in aerospace we use a lot of aluminum scaffolding due to weight considerations, however, that isn't really any different than your roof rack. Consider that using a Moose loading ramp gets you some great benefits. A company that is regulated by the State requiring certification of the welder as well as equipment. Documentation signed off by a professional engineer, etc. So you can be pretty certain that you are starting with a quality component. What you do after that can be the difference between a good structure and the rest of us worried about whether or not we are going to have to dodge your roof rack on the highway when welds fail and it separates from the vehicle.
"In steels a weld can be made as strong as the parent material, but this is not the case with aluminum. In almost all instances, the weld will be weaker than the parent material.
To further understand why this occurs, let's look at the two classifications of aluminum alloys: heat treatable and non-heat treatable. The latter category is hardened only by cold working which causes physical changes in the metal. The more the alloy is cold worked the stronger it gets.
But, when you weld an alloy that has been cold worked, you locally anneal the material around the weld so that it goes back to its 0 tempered (or annealed) condition and it becomes "soft". Therefore, the only time in the non-heat treatable alloys that you can make a weld as strong as the parent material is when you start with 0 tempered material.
With heat treatable aluminum alloys, the last heat treatment step heats the metal to approximately 400° F. But when welding, the material around the weld becomes much hotter than 400° F so the material tends to lose some of its mechanical properties. Therefore, if the operator doesn't perform post-weld heat treatments after welding, the area around the weld will become significantly weaker than the rest of the aluminum - by as much as 30 to 40 percent. If the operator does perform post weld heat treatments, the proprieties of a heat treatable aluminum alloy can be improved."
"In steels a weld can be made as strong as the parent material, but this is not the case with aluminum. In almost all instances, the weld will be weaker than the parent material.
To further understand why this occurs, let's look at the two classifications of aluminum alloys: heat treatable and non-heat treatable. The latter category is hardened only by cold working which causes physical changes in the metal. The more the alloy is cold worked the stronger it gets.
But, when you weld an alloy that has been cold worked, you locally anneal the material around the weld so that it goes back to its 0 tempered (or annealed) condition and it becomes "soft". Therefore, the only time in the non-heat treatable alloys that you can make a weld as strong as the parent material is when you start with 0 tempered material.
With heat treatable aluminum alloys, the last heat treatment step heats the metal to approximately 400° F. But when welding, the material around the weld becomes much hotter than 400° F so the material tends to lose some of its mechanical properties. Therefore, if the operator doesn't perform post-weld heat treatments after welding, the area around the weld will become significantly weaker than the rest of the aluminum - by as much as 30 to 40 percent. If the operator does perform post weld heat treatments, the proprieties of a heat treatable aluminum alloy can be improved."
Workingclass,
I like your roof rack mounting brackets and some of the custom designs I've seen tied to your posts. I've got a hummer H1 and don't like the idea of giving 3K plus to Predator or RubberDuck for a low pro/tree hugger rack. The gutter mount brackets are the key. Are you still making them?
Thread revival. I'm currently fabricating a roof rack for my FZJ80. On a different vehicle, I made some gutter mounts using 10 gauge u-channel (see below). I'd like to use a similar design for the current project, but the door seal on the '80 is much closer to the gutter and the door seal will catch/rub on the u-channel when opening and closing the door. Has anyone else had this issue or have any suggestions?
Could you have your gutter legs for support and add this clamping gutter leg just on the corners/ends for mounting? Or will they not clear the front doors like that?
I forgot how much I missed scrolling through this thread. Thanks.
I forgot how much I missed scrolling through this thread. Thanks.
Yeah, I could put the clamps over the B pillars and on the rear, behind where the doors swing. Other thoughts I had were to grind off some thickness off the bottom of the clamps, or make a smoother transition for the door seals to slide over, like a "ramp" instead of a "wall".
A ramp is exactly what I’m planing for my 80. How did yours turn out? I’m using 8th inch steel that I bent past 90 degrees to insure the rubber seal slides over as best it can. A ramp shape should help too.
