Roof Rack Advice

[shaneb]

Update: Rebuid Pics Further Down.

I got this rack form a guy on craigslist for <200 measures 64"x120", I knew it would be too big, but could not pass up the deal....
If anyone recognizes the design, I can't seem to be able to figure out who it was originally made by....?
Decided to re-engineer it to fit the car, here are before pictures after hauling it home.

 

[herm]

i think that's the biggest rack i have ever seen! WOW! It would be a lot of work to modify it to the size you want. I am sure someone on here would love it though.

 

[Frankspinz]

It's a great rack. Sell it for what it's worth and use the cash to buy/fabricate the rack of your dreams !

 

[MatthewThompson]

Seems like a great opportunity to be truck-shopping!

 

[shaneb]

Well I decided I would rebuild it....so here it goes...
It ended up 98"x46"
I cut it in half, then removed part of the back, spliced it all back together with angle, it isn't SUPER aesthetic but who really sees those parts...me?
Great help from buddy Dan taping off where to cut..

Me Welding and Grinding on it..

 

[Sabre07]

rack

Dig it.

 

[shaneb]

Got it painted up today, went with Rustoleum Primer and Rustoleum Bed Liner, I have used it on a few other things and seems to hold up well...
Looks like I will be going with Surco TR100 mounts, as I understand, they only come with four mounts, so I will have to have a shop/me duplicate two so I can use all the factory locations...I kind of want to avoid any type of cross strut, to keep the rack lower to the roof...

 

[double moo]

The problem with the surco clips... and the reason they come 4 in a pack... is that they are all the same size. You will notice that your roof is curved - and that the rear mounts are narrower than the front. This is what brought me to having to make my own mounts. I did a write up about the build and posted it on Planetisuzoo.com

To make the height even from front to back I ended up with 3 different sizes - as shown in the above pic. The rear and center are bent to roughly 90 degrees, but the front has a skew bend to make it line up even with the other two (left in the picture). The center one is shorter to make up for the curve in the roof. (the clips are upsidedown in the pic - the holes you see bolt to the roof of the Trooper)

I used a piece of unistrut for the front to back rail so that I could slide the rack forward or back and still line up on an attachment point. It also allows me to add additional attachment points as needed... the unistrut boys make a lot of nifty attachment methods!

 

[shaneb]

Thanks for posting in more detail. I am active on the zoo and saw your build...very nice, and I was going to get started on them til someone goes, "dude your sis might have gotten those for your bday" which is in a week so I decided to hold off
It's interesting they don't even come with 4 of the right sizes...Maybe I can shim or add a spacer to some to make up for the difference, in between mount and rack. Considering they are coming, I imagine I will have to make them work. And will likely have a shop aid in another pair of the size I need. What do you think about only using 4 total, you think the roof would have enough structural support to hold it up on 4 points?
I love the way yours looks, to be honest, it was one of the "inspirational" troops....:smiley_drive:

 

[double moo]

ARB used to make a really sweet mount set up for the Trooper to carry their full length rack - not available anymore. I called ARB USA to find one and the guy noted that there were a few models of trucks that the roof mounts had cracked the sheet metal of the roof so they no longer made them - wasn't sure if the Trooper was one of them. In searching more I found a thread where a guy was complaining about roof damage from his rack mounts to the original points under the trim - (where you and I are mounting). When I finally got around to building mine I couldn't find the post or any other information on it so I just assumed that I should be careful with the roof mounting points.

That was a long way to point out the I don't think you should put the weight of that big of a rack on just 4 points. Take a look at some of the gutter mounts on Land Rovers - big racks get 5 mounts down each side. Always better to spread the weight over more points. Keep in mind that it is not just the load weight - it is also the wind lift adding stress to the points... especially when empty.

Hope this helps - though I know it's not what you wanted to hear (or read!)