roll bar, roof rack, soft top combo

[mattcamp]

OK, I have been milling around the idea of putting a roof rack, which I built for my dad's fj45lv and it looks way to small up there, on my 40. I traded my old hard top a while back for a soft top and I never want a hard top again. I also want a family roll cage instead of my cheesy factory one. Now I have been trying to figure out the best mounting system for the rack and I had an idea that I want to throw out and hopefully get som input on. My idea is an exo full cage that the rack can mount on, freeing up some inner cab space and being dual purpose. I have never seen this before but maybe someone else has. I was thinking a six point mounting system, running boards then in front of the rear tires and then the rear bumper, going high enough for the soft top to fit under and then the roof rack on top and no roll cage inside the vehicle. Any ideas or thoughts, or even better pictures, I can't be the first have considered this. thanks -Matt

 

[mattcamp]

by the way, I wasn't trying to take over the best roof rack in the world thread, this is more focussed on the exo roll cage idea to mount the roof rack so there isn't a bunch of tubing inside and outside the 40, just a functional set up

 

[alkarich]

There was a recent thread on this topic.

 

[alkarich]

Here ya go:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/40328-roof-racks-over-soft-top.html

 

[CruiserStuff]

If you're looking to mount to the frame, you'll need to factor in body roll/flex under articulation so that the body panels don't rub on your exo.

Instead of the running board mount, you might think about taking off the running boards, running your front mount down and under the truck to mount on the frame. Then, your next tube would do the same - down and under the truck to the frame in front of the rear wheels. You could then tie these tubes together by building a slider/step/running board that runs between the two tubes. Can you visualize that?

I'm still working on a rear mount myself, but maybe the above will help you out....