How tall is your roof rack?

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hodag

hodag

Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Threads
119
Messages
707
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
I am fabbing my own roof rack for the 60. My plan is to mount my 31" spare, 3 KCs on the front, Hi-Lift on one side and Max tool on the other. How high are the sides on your racks? I'm thinking about 5" on the sides, then ramping up in the front to clear the lights, maybe 7".

Just looking for ideas, possibly pics.

Thanks, Hodag
 
How much would you guys say a roof rack affects stability in off camber situations? The kind of trails i run are largely off camber and being tippy or having my roof stick out 6 more inches would probably get me into trouble. Is the difference noticable if topside loads are kept to a minimum? What about if the rack was made of aluminum?

Matt
 
I like a rack that has 4 inch side for a '60. Looks much better with the lines of the rig than a 6 inch tall one. I made the rack on the '62 that Todd K had for a while and the one that Bruce Miller had on his '60 too. I doubt that I'll ever make a rack for this model that has sides of any other height.
 
6" for mine

Bruno%20008.jpg
 
4" is the way to go... mine is open on the front and you can't notice any increased noise and YES it most definately effects off camber situations with a spare tire up there... esp 33" or bigger...

IMG_3476.jpg


pass_side.jpg
 
I have a 6" side wall rack. I used to have my spare 33" tire on top and it was really top heavy. If I took a turn to fast you could definitely feel the weight up top. Had a rear bumper fab'd up and like that much better, safer too for road and offroad.
You can look at the pictures of my cruiser at my website below or just go to wilderness roof racks website and see it there. They also have a 4" side wall rack if you want to look at that for some different ideas. Good luck.
 
sebo4wd said:
I have a 6" side wall rack. I used to have my spare 33" tire on top and it was really top heavy. If I took a turn to fast you could definitely feel the weight up top. Had a rear bumper fab'd up and like that much better, safer too for road and offroad.
You can look at the pictures of my cruiser at my website below or just go to wilderness roof racks website and see it there. They also have a 4" side wall rack if you want to look at that for some different ideas. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Did you try moving the spare to different locations on the rack? Just wondering if forward or back may make a difference.

How did you wire the lights on your rack?
 
euclid said:
6" sides

If I was building one from scratch I would make the front and back such that they easily removed so that a canoe or kayak would sit down flush on the rack.
Click to expand...

:idea: That's a good idea! Definetly worth keeping in mind. No need for a rack currently but I wouldn't want my canoe sitting any higher.
 
I found that having the spare as close to the middle of the vehicle worked best for me. As I stepped up from 33's to 35's to 37's, the weight issue obviously got worse. I have since removed the spare and will run it on the rear bumper that I can't afford.

I did fit a 35" in the stock spare location. It keeps the weight nice and low but at the sacrifice of clearance (or long range fuel tank).

The other thing that sucked about having the spare up top was that it made it hard to throw gear up there. I was always trying to pack around the spare and it got annoying pretty quick.
 
Looks like all these racks are at least a couple of inches off the roof. I'd like to keep my roof rack profile as low as possible, almost touching the roof. Is there some benefit to keeping it higher? Wind maybe?

Thanks
 
Most mas produced racks and mass produced moints sit up a bit high. Tucked down close is best. Don't make it so close that any sag of the cross bars make it contact the roof though. You bars have to be REAL stiff to never sag at all under any load. Best to allow a little room just in case (a half an inch to an inch is plenty).


Mark...
 
Here is a picture of the roof rack (Bruce Millers old rig) that Mark W is talking about. Bruce Miller had the rack redone in aluminum and powder coated, the sides are 5-6 inches tall instead of 4 inches from when Mark built it. the tire in the picture is a 36' bias swamper, I now run 37' MTR's and the spare rides on a large 3 draw chest in the back when my dog isnt riding with the family.
Copy of Picture 143.webp
 
thanks for all the input guys. I think I'm gonna go 4" sides, then ramp up at the front to clear the lights. Ive got the bottom built, Ill post some pics as I get farther along.

Thanks, Hodag
 
Mine is 6in deep. I would LOVE to build a custom one, and have some ideas how I want it, but it itsnt a priorty right now since my Con-Ferr is doing the job. I wouldnt go less then 5in deep though, it seems to be a good dimension to tie stuff with.
 
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