Surco roof rack question?

[stuck in GA]

I am looking at buying a surco safari roof rack for my cruiser and I was curious as to what would be the right size measurements for a 3/4 rack? On the site they recomended a 50x60 but I think that would run the whole length of the truck. Sugestions?

 

[firetruck41]

You know 60 inches is the same as 5 feet right? As a point of reference, 5 feet is just a few inches shorter than the length of the cargo area with the second row seats rolled forward.

 

[Tools R Us]

They make these trick little boxes that have a spring loaded tape in them, if you pull the tape out it has little marks on it about every inch, most of the time numbered, find the number 50 and 60, if you cant figure it out get mom to put post-it notes or something at the marks. Then using a ladder climb up to roof level of the truck, using the tape and marks try to visualize how the rack would fit. Most put the 60 mark lengthwise and the 50 mark crosswise but your mileage may very.

 

[photogod]

My home madr rack is 4ft. wide and 5ft. long outside measurements. You can lift the rear door and it stops 1 or 2in. from the back side of the sunroof.

 

[stayalert]

They make these trick little boxes that have a spring loaded tape in them, if you pull the tape out it has little marks on it about every inch, most of the time numbered, find the number 50 and 60, if you cant figure it out get mom to put post-it notes or something at the marks. Then using a ladder climb up to roof level of the truck, using the tape and marks try to visualize how the rack would fit. Most put the 60 mark lengthwise and the 50 mark crosswise but your mileage may very.

Those things are awesome. I used one just last night to measure a soccer goal at one of my kids games. I'm going to make a mock up for practice....Oh yeah Often times those tools are called "Tape Measures" people often refer to them as "tapes" though....its easy to get perplexed...sometimes they have a button on them that lets you keep the tape from snapping back in. That can be a useful feature if you're shopping for one. For your purpose I'd get at least a 10 footer....Here's a little bonus hint. You can (I guess I should say I can) always measure something smaller with a bigger tape. For example, if you buy a 25' tape you can use it to measure things that are less than 25' but not more....Good luck. PS be careful measuring things on the roof, you should do it with the truck stopped on level ground and perhaps use a ladder.

 

[Grizzley]

No information on the exact dimenstions, but I had a Surco rack for a while on a 4runner and the quality seemed to be mediocre at best. The paint on the rack began chipping away after only a few months. Although the rack is really light, I would not recommend it if you plan on anything other than a light load (ie, no tent, jerry cans, etc). Just my opinion... I've been very happy with my Garvin Wilderness rack but would love an ARB when the time is right.

 

[DaktariEd]

FWIW, I agree about the quality of the Surco. My rack also chipped off paint very quicky, and looked pretty tacky in a short time. I sold that rack along with my last 4x4.
You may want to look for better quality.

Ed

 

[stuck in GA]

Ok thanks for the smartass answers I guess I deserved it. So the only reason why I was thinking surco was it is very cheap and it can come with a tire holder and hi jack lift holder. So wouldn't it be able to hold them if they sold it like that. I will look at others if yall give me some suggestions.

 

[thorvald]

who's going to be installing it?

 

[valkyrie610]

Ok thanks for the smartass questions I guess I deserved it. So the only reason why I was thinking surco was it is very cheap and it can come with a tire holder and hi jack lift holder. So wouldn't it be able to hold them if they sold it like that. I will look at others if yall give me some suggestions.

I wouldn't put a tire or ahigh lift on it.. it's barely adequate for tents/tarps & folding chairs. A cooler full of ice & beverages bends it so much it almosr touches the roof.

This thing is going either on top of the pop-up or on ebay...

 

[Heffenoche]

Stuck, have you given any thought to building your own Moose Rack from the current thread in the 80 forum? I know you don’t have a lot of mechanical experience but this doesn’t look very difficult. I think all you need is a drill and bits and a pop rivet tool & rivets. I bet one of your new friends at school that is a little more mechanically inclined can help out.

 

[Koffer]

Ok thanks for the smartass questions I guess I deserved it. So the only reason why I was thinking surco was it is very cheap and it can come with a tire holder and hi jack lift holder. So wouldn't it be able to hold them if they sold it like that. I will look at others if yall give me some suggestions.

I had one on my 70 and it was a poser rack . I had to buy better mounts as theirs sucked and wouldnt clear the roof .
I got a ARB rack yeah, not cheap at all ,but I will never need another one.
Save your cash as you'll most likely be disapointed with the Surco.

 

[stuck in GA]

Thanks koffer and Heffnoche I will definitly keep that in mind.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Had one of those on my rig when I bought it. It made a lot of noise going down the road, couldn't hold the weight of my spare, and eventually got tore off by a small tree branch. POS IMO

 

[Cruiserhead05]

Stuck,

I'll sell you my yakima basket. Yakima sells spare tire mounts, shovel mounts, and hi lift mounts for it...
I kinda want to build one of those moose racks.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

here

 

[stuck in GA]

Hey I keep hearing about this moose rack. Anyone have a link to it? I did a search for it and didn't come up with anything.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

Stuck.....
here it is, very simple...i love it. if i can get rid of my yakima its probably what i'll do.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=59928

 

[Heffenoche]

Stuck.....
here it is, very simple...i love it. if i can get rid of my yakima its probably what i'll do.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=59928

Brandon you may also want to look at the ramp from Northern Tool, same demensions as the Moose http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...?storeId=6970&productId=200318227&R=200318227 I haven't seen it in person but from the pictures it has some of the long strips of AL already in place so it may save some material costs and time.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

thanks Heffenoche,

I have looked around at a few online. i like the ones similar to the one you posted. has alot more places for bungees. i found a sweet 88" by 48".....probably little long but it would be a serious, "Full Length" rack.