Roof Rack (1 Viewer)

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anyone make there own roof rack ? any specs etc?
 
I made one this summer. My goal was to make a rack with a deck that would hold a small tent (black diamond lighthouse ). I had a 1/2 length rack made from 3/4 inch square tube similar to the modular roof rack that MAF sells. I first made longer center sections out of steel with double cross bars, but darned thing ended up being too heavy (90lbs for the rack plus another 60lbs for 1/8" aluminum diamond plate=150lbs). I remade the rack using 3/4" square aluminum tube. I made it in three sections: short front and rear caps and a long middle section. My thinking was that if I wanted to carry a long item, like a canoe, I would take the front and rear caps off and I could lay the canoe along the floor of the rack. I used the four inch rack mounts from SOR. I made the deck from 1/8" aluminum diamond plate. The deck is screwed down with truss head screws that thread into aluminum rivet nuts riveted to the rack frame. The overall dimensions are 93 inches by 54 inches by 4 inches high. Here are some pictures of the finished product.

I welded it together using a Lincoln 135 Plus 110V mig welder. This is probably not the best way to go. I had real problems with uneven feeding of the soft aluminum mig wire and I couldn't control the heat very well. Most of the weld are gobby and probably don't have good heat penetration. But I did sleep on top of it once this summer and it didn't break...
roof rack 04 small.JPG
 
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How 'bout a pic of the tent up there?

Chris
 
TheGr8Doughboy said:
How 'bout a pic of the tent up there?

Chris

I don't have any photos with the tent on. I acutually don't have the tent I designed it for, yet. I have another tent that I used the time I slept up there, but the foot print is a little too big.
 
I made one out of steel, kinda heavy but I've put about 400 lbs. up there an drove 6000 miles with no troubles!!! Sorry no blueprints, just winged it.
test.JPG
 
great idea on the clamps that sit in the rain gutters....mines comming off for a few modifications!!!!
With a pile of weight on mine and pounding through the desert, my rack slipped a little bit forward last trip.
 
Made this rack over the weekend and put it on today just before dark. used 1" angle iron for the front, back and sides I used 1/8" x 1" flat steel for the rounded corners and ran two pieces the length of the rack then spaced 1/4" round steel at 5" running across the rack, finished with a coat of rubberized undercoating and then mounted it to my Thule rack with 3 load bars. I wanted a medium duty low-profile roof rack and this turned out perfect for what I needed. cost-less than $50 excluding the Thule rack of course.
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El Guapo said:
Made this rack over the weekend and put it on today just before dark. used 1" angle iron for the front, back and sides I used 1/8" x 1" flat steel for the rounded corners and ran two pieces the length of the rack then spaced 1/4" round steel at 5" running across the rack, finished with a coat of rubberized undercoating and then mounted it to my Thule rack with 3 load bars. I wanted a medium duty low-profile roof rack and this turned out perfect for what I needed. cost-less than $50 excluding the Thule rack of course.



Looks great, nice job
 
Made this one in an afternoon- then a couple coats of primer and then Hammerite from Home Depot.

Also made the bumper, but that took a few days. :)

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