My Roof Rack Build (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Apr 23, 2012
Threads
4
Messages
34
Location
Atlanta, Ga
Hey everyone. I have been around the forum a bunch and figured it was time for my first thread. I have a 95 FZJ that I love to death. It was passed down from the parents and now its time for a transformation from your average looking daily driver. It has a lift and tires and now it needs its own roof rack.

The screen shots are a general idea of what im thinking of doing. Right now as it stands it is 4'x5' so it would come just short of the sunroof. I want to have plenty of space to put stuff and some lighting on the front as well and maybe a few little ones on the side. I want to make it out of aluminum but I dont know how to how to TIG weld so I think I might be stuck with steel for now.

I had a few questions and was hoping yall might have a few suggestions.
1) Does anyone have a rack that either goes over the sunroof or stops short and how do you like it? I like having the sunroof open but I feel like most of the time im wheeling I have it shut to keep trees out.
2) Since I think im stuck with steel does anyone have suggestions on tube size? In the CAD model the base structure is 1" and the vertical uprights are 1" as well but im going to take them down to 1/2".

Any other suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. Also im gonna CAD the mounts to attach to the rain gutters. Ill also attach pics of my ride as well.
backIso.jpg
roofBackIso.jpg
roofIso.jpg
 
Welcome! Nice Rack!

I have the full ARB rack with a mesh floor. This rack goes over the sunroof for sure, it's a little loud when you have gear up there and you'll hear it only when you open the sunroof. FWIW, I like having a mesh floor over the bars alone. Sorry for the dark photo.
rack.jpg
 
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If I were going to build this I would make it go all the way to the front, over the sunroof. The only reason I say that is if it sits behind it I would think it would look like you got a rack for a Jeep and made it work. The cool think to me about fabbing stuff on your own is making it look like it really belongs on the vehicle.
 
What part of Georgia do you live in? (I take it you live in state from the GA Tech logo)
 
ExpoGeorgia said:
What part of Georgia do you live in? (I take it you live in state from the GA Tech logo)

Yeah, I grew up in Atlanta. I'm a 4th year ME at tech.
 
Sorry, brother and I get screen names messed up sometimes.
 
Unless you're dead against going full length, I would vote for that option. You could go with cross bars and leave the sunroof area open (I've had to climb out of mine in the water, and the :princess: likes it).

The full length would let you get your lights to the front and look more like it belongs on the truck.

Just my $.02 :cheers:

Either way, I'm looking forward to the results. I would like to build a rack myself here in the future.
 
If your going the cross bar route run them side to side rather than front to back like your CAD drawing. I also would go full length. You can always leave the gap open for the sunroof as already mentioned.

Tubing wall thickness is a simple trade off of total weight over strength. What do you plan to put up there? Do you plan to leave it on all the time?
 
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To clarify, allmud13 was shared with my brother and mmeister13 is my new name.
 
I would recommend using the size tubing that Yackama and Tule use for their accessories. In my humble opinion..... Even if you dont ski or bike or anything else, you might have occasion to put those, or kyack, etc accessory mounts up above. For my purposes, and everyone is different, I would make full length, have cross bars that attach, to hold gear, and the above mentioned mounts.Check out Gobe racks for more ideas.Good luck, and GO GET IT ! You will enjoy a huge sense of accomplishemnt by doing this yourself.
 
Are the ARB racks tubing 1" outside diameter or some different thickness? I'm going to start a new one over the long weekend. I want something between an ARB and Inti style. Any info on tubing size is appreciated. I don't have one to look at and need to get some tube before the supply house closes Friday morning.
 
Are the ARB racks tubing 1" outside diameter or some different thickness? I'm going to start a new one over the long weekend. I want something between an ARB and Inti style. Any info on tubing size is appreciated. I don't have one to look at and need to get some tube before the supply house closes Friday morning.

I'm going to guess ARB uses metric tubing as they are an Australian company. So probably not 1" unless its 25mm which would be very close.

Personally I'm going to build with 1 1/8" tubing as all my Yakima stuff will fit. But 1 1/8" tubing is not a common size so I'll have to deal with what's available in wall thickness.

1" is a good choice. The smaller you go the tighter radius it can be bent generally. And lighter the rack will be overall.
 
ARB uses two sizes:
The bottom tube is 1 3/8 inch and the finished size is 1.395 after coating.
The top tube is 1 inch and mics out at 1.020
 
Love the Tech symbol out back.
 
Consider mounting rack bottom 1" above roof with 4" risers for a low CG.

Floor it with expanded metal for increased functionality.
 

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