Roof rack ideas 84 4runner

[beatdown83fj60]

I have the capability of building a roofrack, but the only hard part for me is finding a way to clamp it to the roof. Is there a place where I don't have to pay Yakima a rediculous amount of money for nothing more than 2 clamps with square or round holes to base my own roof rack off of? I need to move soon and I want a good sized roof rack so I can try to make it in one trip. I don't have a lot, but my 2 dogs will take up a lot of space in the cab so most of it's going on the roof and on a rack I build into my bumper. 2 clamps that will support a roof rack and 2 crossbars dont seem to exist through my search for under 200 dollars.

 

[Spud]

Try these...

http://motors.search.ebay.com/yakima-1a-towers_W0QQfromZR40

New cross bars are $40...last I looked. Hook it up and bolt on a piece of plywood.
If cheap is what you want...I have been there too.

Incidentally, I have a 84 4runner too...I have yakima bars/uprights with bike mounts. Have hauled lots of stuff up there.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Wilderness makes a roof rack for fiberglass tops that will bolt right on to your 4Runner. I have an '85 4Runner that I'm upgrading and I am planning on installing one of these. Your roof should be about 42" wide by 67" long (the fiberglass part) and the mounting rails on these are fully adjustible on the width.

This one is 44" x 60" so it will stick over the edge by about an 1" on each side. They aren't cheap but 4x4 Connection has them on sale at the moment.

http://www.4by4connection.com/truccaproofr1.html

 

[Cletus]

i've got 4 Thule feet i'd sell cheap, they've just been sitting in my garage for years. PM me if your interested
clay

 

[beatdown83fj60]

I've got a welder and a ton of scrap 1x1 1/8 wall steel, so I can't justify paying for an entire roof rack, I just don't have a good way to attach a rack to my roof.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Then just build one of these:

http://www.wildernessracks.com/roof_wild_tracks.html

The track is bolted through the fiberglass. Just use a bunch of RTV and go for it. I wouldn't think you would need more that 3 or 4 3/8" bolts per side. There isn't really any good way to attach a roof rack of any size to a gen 1 4Runner (or a Jeep for that matter).

Since you're building to fit, you don't need to make the mounting tracks adjustable. Just weld it to the rack frame and drill some holes.

 

[beatdown83fj60]

Hey that's a good idea, I didn't even think of that, and if I ever changed my mind I see 4Runner tops cheap pretty often so I could have one without a rack, and one with a rack.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

I think the best place to attach to the fiber glass top is the rear sides, sandwich the sides with something strong and a few bolts through.... So the weight goes down through the sides, not down on the top where it'll break it if you put too much on....

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I think the best place to attach to the fiber glass top is the rear sides, sandwich the sides with something strong and a few bolts through.... So the weight goes down through the sides, not down on the top where it'll break it if you put too much on....

I agree that you want the weight to go down through the sides but disagree that you should bolt through the sides. If you stand on your gen 1 roof you will see that it doesn't flex near the edges at all. These roofs are actually quite strong. If you bought one of these wilderness racks (or built something similar), the roof support rails can be mounted very close to the top edge. That will transfer most of the weight into the sides via the top curve (which is very strong). Bolting through the side will leave the bolts and the fiberglass sides exposed to direct shear forces which is not a good idea. It's better to have everthing in compression as much as possible. Also, the windows on a gen 1 roof extend just over the top by an inch or so. You wouldn't want to run clamps on either side of the window.

Just mount the roof rails about 2 or 3 inches from the top edge which should clear the window by an inch or so.

I think you could eaily put 500 pounds on this roof if the support rails on either side ran most of the length of the top.

Good luck with the build.

 

[beatdown83fj60]

Good idea. Im thinking some 2" x 3/16 strap will do the job there. I'm not going to have too much weight up there though, mostly clothes and smaller personal items. All my tools, my pile of scrap steel, some toyota parts of course , are going on a small trailer. Should be a nice long trip because at that point my Runner should be on 35's with stock gears, a welded rear and one tired little squirrel cage under the hood.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Well, with the clamping effect (Properly designed mounts and all...) the bolts should not ever have to touch the fiberglass, but yes, mounting a rail along the very edge the the roof sides would be good too, and probably easier to not screw up!

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Good idea. Im thinking some 2" x 3/16 strap will do the job there. I'm not going to have too much weight up there though, mostly clothes and smaller personal items. All my tools, my pile of s**** steel, some toyota parts of course , are going on a small trailer. Should be a nice long trip because at that point my Runner should be on 35's with stock gears, a welded rear and one tired little squirrel cage under the hood.

35" tires, stock gears and a normal 22re....sounds like a lot of fun. Is it down hill all the way to your destination?

By the way, you guys are up rather late. I'm up because I'm in the UK at the moment and it's 10:00 am.

 

[beatdown83fj60]

I'm a night owl. And its a 22r haha. Should be fun, a lot of flat though so it won't be too bad.