Low Profile roof rack "build"

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Several people have inquired about where I bought my low profile roof rack, so I thought I would chronicle its transformation here for posterity.

My 95 LC came with a mostly square Con-fer roof rack already on it when I purchased it from the PO. I did not like the rack because it had no bottom, and because it sat at least 8" to the top of the rack...which meant I had to take the rack off to work on the truck in my garage. So, it begins...

Here is the rack as it started...a typical shorty ConFer rack.

The first thing I did was chop the rack up into pieces and disassemble the front section from the rear.

As you can see, I kept the bow bends and chopped the corners down to about two inches high.

 

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Then, I started piecing it back together, adding 18" in the center to make the rack long enough to go from the front of the sunroof all the way back to the lift hatch. I also welded in an additional cross brace from Gamiviti so that I would have at least three tower gutter supports on each side. Finally, I added a mesh bottom, which mad it a little heavy, but I absolutely love just throwing things into the "basket"

 

[bhicks]

nicely done! You know what, I think you need a little more practice so you should make me one.

 

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Then, I welded in a bunch of supports with weld nuts so that I can attach various attachments quickly. I have Thule crossbars that attach on quickly with bolts, and I have an awning where I can do the same. I also recently welded up a RTT bracket that I can put the tent on and off in about two minutes...I'll chronicle that in another thread.

Finally I re-drilled all 6 of the gutter towers, 4 from the ConFer and two that I got from Gamiviti. EDIT: SEE ADDED PIC BELOW. I don't have any close ups of this, but you can see that the upper part of the bracket actually comes nearly down to the gutter. This sits the bottom of the roof rack at most 1/2" from the top of the truck. This rack is extremely strong. I can walk up on top of the truck on the rack.

After I wheeled it a few times and was happy with the design, then I took it to be blasted and powder-coated. I absolutely love the rack now and it fits in my garage, even with 315s and the OME Heavy lift!!! Another advantage to the low profile and starting the rack at the sunroof front, is that I get ZERO wind noise from the rack. Others in Rising Sun who have ridden with me can attest to the lack of rack noise...although it may have something to do with my horrifically loud tires

 

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The pictures are with 285 tires, not the 315s, but you can see how low the rack is to the truck now.

And a teaser for the RTT attachment...

 

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Please hold your comments about how great the cheap paint job looked in 2008 and how bad it looks now

 

[largeone]

nicely done! You know what, I think you need a little more practice so you should make me one.

First I have to weld up my tabs for all of my cheap China LED lights!

 

[UnderDawg]

How much $$ do you have invested in it if you dont mind me asking?

 

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A bit of welding and grinding/cutting time and about $100. The most expensive purchase was the heavy mesh which I purchased a 4x8 foot sheet for around $65, if I remember correctly? The rest was from the scrap pile.

However, remember that I started with a ConFer rack that saved me a bunch on bending and materials.

 

[UnderDawg]

How much was the rack to begin with? The original floor on the ConFer rack is just stamped steel right? The rest is square tube?
What kinda welder are you using? Wire size and what not..

 

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The conFer rack came on my truck from the previous owner. It did not have any floor to it...only the cross-braces which are stamped thin gauge steel. I have seen some of these racks floating around for a couple-to-few hundred bucks. So, if you count that price in, then I would have $400 into my rack.

You are right, it would not be hard to replicate the bends, the steel square tubing is maybe 3/4" and thin walled. The heaviest part of the whole rack is the mesh flooring. Even though it is heavy, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is so nice to toss ANYTHING onto the rack and have endless places to attach the bungie cords!

Here is another pic of the rack off the truck. This pic shows the feet and how I lowered them.

And here is another one of the rack loaded up in the Maze.

 

[Get outside]

What's the trick you came up with to make mounting the RTT so quick? I have the same one with Tim's expo rack and it's all great but turning the nylock nuts to the tent studs without any room for your hand really sucks!

 

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I built a small frame with cross-bars, welded nuts to the angle iron which sits front-to-back on top of my roof rack, against the sides of the rack. The cross-bars run parallel, and slightly above the cross-bars of the rack...enough room to get the tent mounting hardware b/w them. The frame stays attached to the tent at all times, so you just throw the tent (w/ frame) on top of the roof rack and put 4 bolts in from the side (into welded nuts on frame). So the frame acts as the crossbars and stays attached to the tent. I'm going to make a video to show that it is about two minutes to completely mount the rack on the truck.
The teaser pic above shows the two stainless bolts from the side. They go into the welded nuts of the tent cross-bar frame. It literally took longer to paint the frame than it did to weld it up. I used 1" square tube for the faux crossbars.