home made roof racks?

[JohnnyDoyle]

I had a homemade roof rack, mounted with gutter clamps on an old chevy suburban. It was pretty simple, mostly 2x4s, but it had a few bike mounts, and a big flat platform to put a camera tripod on (that truck was so tall that you could almost always get up out of the line of sight of trees/bushes/etc to get better shots).

Problem was, one day coming back from the lumber yard, we loaded too many pieces of nice, dense, heavy russian plywood on the top, and the gutters collapsed on the interstate. Which made it so we had to climb out the windows to re-secure the load. Not the most fun I've ever had.

Unfortunately, that truck is long gone, so no pics. But, yeah, pay attention to the people here telling you that mounting to the gutters isn't the greatest idea if you want to carry large loads.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Before I started building mine, I put a bit of thought into the design...

I looked at all of the available racks as well as some of the homebuilts and started making sketches of what I thought would look good and more importantly, fulfill my needs....

I needed sumthin strong enough for my whole family to walk on, but still be light enough to remove easily...

I wanted the look of a full rack, but with a large opening and unrestricted view from the sunroof...

I also wanted minimal protection for the lights without blocking the actual beams...



After kicking it around in my head for a while, this was my professional paint rendering of the final design

Picked up a set of mounts and started off by making a base platform and fitted it to the rig to make sure everything was level...

Drove it around like that for a few days to test for wind noise, made some adjustments, then pulled it and started adding the rest of the pieces...

Did a little work each day and before I knew it, I had sumthin pretty decent going on

My only regret was not powder coating it

Since it was a very low budget build (most of the metal was leftover stuff behind my shop), I just couldn't see spending hundreds of dollars on powder coating at the time

Decided to go the rattle can route instead and even though it seems to be holding up decently, I'm beginning to see a few rust spots

 

[woytovich]

Um... that's not your "family" on the rack in the second to last picture... right?

 

[D'Animal]

Is that a mail box?

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Um... that's not your "family" on the rack in the second to last picture... right?

Nope

Is that a mail box?

Not yer average mailbox

 

[rondog]

roof racks

That rack is sweet! that is how I like the light area, but I'm going a bit more low profile.Awesome job!

I made mine from 1 1/2" & 1 1/4" tube & mounted it thru the roof. I'll add some false bases made from sheet metal & large rubber grommets to seal the roof later on in the build ;p

 

[ExpeditionXJ]

Those with the ATV ramp... have you mounted an RTT on top?

I have an Overland 1.8 coming and am thinking i want a flat deck rack atop 4 Thule crossmembers.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Note to self: Do not brake check any white FZJ80's w/ roof racks on I-95!

 

[SAMI188]

incase nobody posted this.... i saw a variant, but here's Johnny's original design... The J-Rack

 

[rondog]

roof rack idea

I have started a design for the guy who wants a roof rack without the high profile of aftermarket designs.This is all just in drawing right now ,but trying to put it into a build in FEB.I will post build pics once it starts!
RONDOG - VIGILANTE FABWORKS

ok starting to build my roof rack on my 40....using some gutter mounts....was wondering what you guys have done or any things you would nt do if you were going to do it again...

 

[woytovich]

I have started a design for the guy who wants a roof rack without the high profile of aftermarket designs.This is all just in drawing right now ,but trying to put it into a build in FEB.I will post build pics once it starts!
RONDOG - VIGILANTE FABWORKS

It's pretty funny that the owner of this WAY lifted truck is worried about a high profile rack! It's not like anyone is gonna notice another coupa inches... to each his own.

 

[AdventureToolCompany]

What clamps/mounts are you guys using on these racks? I'm ready to build one, I just would like to find some clamps that are strong and simple.....thx

 

[made4surf]

I personally think Con-ferr clamps are the strongest but they arent in production anymore. Maybe try ebay or craigslist for used ones.

 

[BMAN]

It's pretty funny that the owner of this WAY lifted truck is worried about a high profile rack! It's not like anyone is gonna notice another coupa inches... to each his own.

That's Rondog's truck. I think he's just using the pic for mockup purposes for a customer.

 

[AdventureToolCompany]

Thanks! I've ordered some form Groucho from Longmont Co. and I'll LYK how they turn out once I get my rack builtup.

 

[REZARF]

I made mine from 1 1/2" & 1 1/4" tube & mounted it thru the roof. I'll add some false bases made from sheet metal & large rubber grommets to seal the roof later on in the build ;p

Sweet rack, why the truncated shape? Is it for a spare tire or something? Very cool indeed, just trying to figure out the shape...

Rezarf <><

 

[fj40tom]

I didn't realize this tread existed when I started a "roof rack build" thread in the 4Runner section.

Anyway, here is a little project that I have started: Roof Rack Build

Cheers,

tp

 

[LC_Hamma]

Sweet rack, why the truncated shape? Is it for a spare tire or something? Very cool indeed, just trying to figure out the shape...

Rezarf <><

Yep, my spare is goin up there. I still hafta figure out how I'm gonna tie down the tire, so it's not finished yet. I wanted to angle in the upper bar on 3 sides, but keep the rear straight up & down.

 

[canucksafari]

Yep, my spare is goin up there. I still hafta figure out how I'm gonna tie down the tire, so it's not finished yet.

I'd recommend you hold it down with a screw clamp just like on the tire balancing machines. You can drill a hole through the bolt shaft to put a pad-lock through it if you are worried someone might steal your tire or to prevent the screw clamp from loosening on washboard.

 

[Atoyot1031]

Here's a link to my roof rack build thread:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/163919-roof-rack-build.html