In preparation for the hopefully soon to come roof top tent I started my full length roof rack build. I first looked into buying pre-bent tube but shipping is killer. I finally settled on borrowing a friend's tube bender. The only set back with that is that he only had 1 3/4" dies. I went with 1 3/4" x 0.095 walled tube to try and keep the weight down. The tent I'm planning on putting up top is 72" wide (mounted sideways). So I decide to keep the rack mostly flat. I settled on a size of 90" x 48". I took a chance and bought 6 JCR Offroad roof rack mounts that were meant for a Cherokee. I ended up extending them 1 inch to help clear the factory roof rack. Having use of the sunroof was important too, so I left open a section above it. Once the tents on it it will cover most of the sunroof but when it's off it will be usable. I also added an upright bar to the front to help keep whatever gets strapped up there from falling on to the windshield. For tie downs I added 1/2" x 0.065 round tube around the edges on the inside of the perimeter. The plan is to add aluminum diamond plate to the section in front of the sunroof opening and behind the sunroof opening. I'll add 3 inch holes above the 1/2" tube to reach down and hook a strap to. I'll have to line the holes with something to keep the straps from rubbing on the diamond plate. I had the rack (and my rock sliders) powder coated with a semi-gloss black hammertone. It left a nice texture but is still all black. Here are some pictures of what's done so far. Enjoy...
