Suburban roof baskets

[Ultralite]

Exactly, Ultralite. The second skin was mentioned in that white roof paint topic months ago, it was probably you? I'm also messing with ideas for roof mounted or roof-stored solar panels.

You'd probably want 4-5-6 braces of 3/4 tubing or 1" square if you intend to use it for a viewing platform.

I'm trying to sort of conceal all the stuff I'm adding to the vehicle. Or at least make it non-obvious to the casual or idle observer.

I'm also thinking to run m electrical up the interior C pillar and into one of the middle feet of the side rail and up into the rails. I want a all-weather power-port-style connector up there for solar panel connection and for some moveable / clamping area lights. And I'm thinking about the rear / backup floods inset in the rear rack fairings. I want it set up so all three 'systems' work together but also work without each other, so I can easily reconfigure things whenever and however I want. I have a bunch of other power related plans it is all tying into.

On the white roof comment that might've been me. Been thinking about it a long time.

But dang, in general we're traveling similar lanes so to speak. I'm currently sketching all these same ideas, a little ways into each, and trying to get some things finished so I could post a build thread.

I hesitate to do a build thread because it won't seem like much. I'm trying to keep everything low profile and easily removable for urban living.

I have a Cascadia awning and made 1 inch square tube cross bars to mount it as well as attach bikes to. This has me all over the roof looking at future plans. I really want to figure out how to utilize the space over the sunroof that I never open. It's where I'd like my solar panel to go. I would drill into the roof but apart for my normal misgivings about that, my Burb is still in great shape for a 15 yr old vehicle.

Oh, and my steel cross bars got me to thinking about how I could fab quick releases for the awning. I'd like to be able to quickly detach and just toss it in the Burb.

This rig has served me so well for 8 years. And the more I look at it compared to what's easily available in the US, I think it's an awesome platform to build from. Another idea I toss around is picking up an extra where I go no holds barred on my set up. But hell, I'm having a hard time just finishing off the new Bluetooth radio I just bought and new back up camera. ( I've never installed either before)

 

[rayra]

On the sunroof area, I'm looking into fabricating some mounting brackets that are secured by the two fine screws on the inside or the front fairings on the Z-71 rack. The new brackets would extend forward toward the top of the windshield, low to the roof but hovering above it, up both sides of the sunroof. My original intent was for mounting a 42" light bar. But reading other topics about glare, and old off road pickups with KC Daylighters mounted up high, I decided putting th ebar further back would be better. And as I mentioned earlier, make it less noticeable. Mine's a daily driver and I have some recurring business that takes me into parking structures. I don't have a lot of clearance to spare as it is, so staying within the profile of the already high rack works for me in multiple ways.


The side rails on the Z71 rack are 44-1/2" between them. The fairings at front and especially back bulge inward a good bit, in a sort of aerodynamic shape. At the biggest / most narrow part, the trailign screw on the front fairings, they're 43" apart. So a 42" light bar tucked between them would look just like a rack crossbar. Especially with a tip up / down glare shield. Up, it's black metal, unnoticeable. Down it's a glare shield to keep the light out of the sunroof. The light might be TOO far rearward, there. But I intend a shorter bar in the grill area as well, which will fill the immediate foreground. Have to experiment some, and I can always extend mounting brackets further forward if necessary.

I'm also considering something like a plate with longer replacement screws for the fairings, which would fit up against the inner face of those fairings. Which would provide various attachment points. Or even something more robust that is more fitted to the front rack mount, which might require a little bit of trimming on the interior bottom edge of the fairing. Something far sturdier which could serve as the upper attachment point for a 'limb riser' wire. As well as be an attachment for light bars or awnings. Those front fairings are well over a foot long and are otherwise useless. The 'useful' part of the rack rails only extends forward to the middle of the REAR doors. The ribs on the roof stop at the rear of the front doors, sunroof or no.

The roof's almost 10' long, from leading edge to roller bar at the back. That's a LOT of space to work with.