Best Roof rack Cross bars... !?!? TracRac is a Thule product but not even on the same ballpark..

[ricardo]

So I got my Van not that long ago and after years of dealing with Rusted out yakima and thule tubes I was ready for something else..

Two/three days after I got my van I saw this rack on craigslist "Aluminum extrusion"..... I want them...!!!

Got them, install them, but I have no idea who made them, took me a few days to find out, New, NEW they are crazy expensive (like $300 per cross bar) but you find them used from time to time specially as "Ladder racks" for pickups..

So far I have purchase six cross bars, but people only want to sell them as a whole sistem with the towers and the rails for the pick up beds (I keep a set for a later surprise, sold the other one actually for good money and the guy build some beams out of hardwood (finishing carpenter after all)

Since I did not have any more short towers (I have never seeing another one for sale used), I test a old set of plastic yakima rain gutter type and bolt them together..

I'm kind of a Freak then it comes to height clearances "hey the taller the less spaces I can get into it and with a van so long, even the angle of the road can take some good 6 inches if not more of clearance.

But Even More I hate RUST and if you ever purchase a roof basket (and did not treat it for rust, oh man you are going to be Piss)

in any case this basket is done if you want to mount it from the base tubes, but the upper tubes are just fine, some $4 bicycle stems from china and some aluminum and now the basket seats as close to the roof of the van as I want...

A Homage to my mountain bike rutts and maybe the biggest design mistake of the CNC Fever of the 90's to mount my back up camera.

If you need to carry really heavy loads on the roof (Warning: only as permitted by your warranty card) give them a look..

This tubes make the 80-20 look like match stick, trust me I build a rack out of it already..

 

[richardeast84]

My van won’t have tracks so I’m considering bolting some T track into the oem holes on top of some mastic tape then using 30mm T slot for crossbars like your last pic.


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[ricardo]

My van won’t have tracks so I’m considering bolting some T track into the oem holes on top of some mastic tape then using 30mm T slot for crossbars like your last pic.

I hope you don't suffer from the same, Be careful/aware of this..

Even measuring with a tape the distances in between the channels on my land cruiser look the same..*the change in 3 axis"

Well not even Close and here is the proof, Trust me i wish they were two straight lines..


Land cruiser L100 roof measurements..

 

[richardeast84]

I hope you don't suffer from the same, Be careful/aware of this..

Even measuring with a tape the distances in between the channels on my land cruiser look the same..*the change in 3 axis"

Well not even Close and here is the proof, Trust me i wish they were two straight lines..


Land cruiser L100 roof measurements..

Thanks for the reply. I’m not sure if I understand what you mean. Do you mean they aren’t perfectly parallel?


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[ricardo]

Thanks for the reply. I’m not sure if I understand what you mean. Do you mean they aren’t perfectly parallel?

Check at the pictures, is very clear if you pay attention...

Basically the roof is a "Balloon/boat" shape but not by much, 1 1/2" difference if I remember correctly, plus the "Rail bases" are angled and the roof clearance can be very different (It need to if not the water will puddle in the middle)

 

[damarshall7]

Reading that made my brain hurt. Look at 80/20 and NRS gutter mounts. I made my roof rack out of those and aluminum atv ramps. 12'long, i can walk on it, sits 1/2" above the roof, light enough i can put it on and off my roof by myself.

 

[ricardo]

Reading that made my brain hurt.

Reason why I don't post much

Sorry, extremly dyslexic and with sintaxis problems too, in any language..

Look at 80/20 and NRS gutter mounts. I made my roof rack out of those and aluminum atv ramps. 12'long, i can walk on it, sits 1/2" above the roof, light enough i can put it on and off my roof by myself.

This beams are made to slide Lumber, ladders, etc, they have round edges so the contact points is minimal (but more than just a slim corner) and has a angle of approach that is more forgiving,

In any case, I have about 1100 feet of 80-20 in most of the shapes they produce and still prefer this rounder tubes (and I don't work for them obviously), also because I don't plan to build a complete flat roof.

 

[ricardo]

I got lucky and found three more beams

This is the reason I don't mount my racks with the bottom tubes, they are usually compromise.

 

[Mountainman75]

Go Ricky Go.

 

[ricardo]

Go Ricky Go.

Buying cars is so much easier and cheaper than buying bikes..

Sincerely I got tired of chasing diesel leaks and inconsistent engine performance so i end up with a Triton V10

Not that many people know but after a stupid silly accident falling walking on Black ice, my back is Totally FUBAR, happen in 2015 and never really recuperate after all the fusions and now is even tapering down again possibly losing the use of my left leg, so I'm trying to implement methodologies that will let me keep been useful..

long gone are the days of dropping my GS on the dirt just for fun, now my maximum weight allowance is 30 pounds and still hurts like a ********..

I have not work on this to much, but it shows great potential, so far i only use my own body weight to test it (245) and it lift me with zero effort..

This is a Fun Experiment, since I was a kiddo I have build tons of tensegrities and many other ultra lightweight structures over the years (kind of a hobby of mine among many others) and this windsurf mast are more than plenty strong, specially since they are loaded under compression..

hey if it works for the Egyptians, is okay for me..

I'm using a warn 3000 pound winch mounted on e very rigid structure as far forward as possible, then connect to the A frame cruciform, so far zero issues, obviously is a quick release and it will only be on when the crane is in use..

This is only part that worries me, I'm using the standard mast/board flexible rubber join but i don't really trust them lifting something as heavy as a big motorcycle.