Built a roof rack for the Zoo.
- Thread starter ZooJunkie
- Start date
Incusus
Adventurer
very creative! I bet that wood is going to look great stained!
I'm looking at economical, functional, and attractive alternatives to my clip-on yakima setup, and would be interested to hear what/how much your planning to put on that, how its fastened to the roof (I assume bolted thru the factory holes?), and if you think the design could be modified to allow space for fittings to carry bikes & kayaks.
creative fairing! whats it made of?
I'm looking at economical, functional, and attractive alternatives to my clip-on yakima setup, and would be interested to hear what/how much your planning to put on that, how its fastened to the roof (I assume bolted thru the factory holes?), and if you think the design could be modified to allow space for fittings to carry bikes & kayaks.
creative fairing! whats it made of?
ZooJunkie
Explorer
Planning? Hmm, it was originally going to be an all steel welded rack, but seeing that I did not have a welder or find someone to do the project withing 2 weeks, I decided to line the top of the rack w/ wood. The east part was getting the mounting hardware to anchor to the roof. I had to purchase two sets, as one set only contained two pairs of supports. I still have a pair of supports if you are interested in them. Brand new. They're $42-50 online, link: http://www.everythingsuv.com/surco_safari_roof_racks-esuv.asp, Surco TR-100.
These supports fastens to the factory mounting holes, you have 3 on each side. As for space, wow, you got plenty of space for a kayak and a bike. The steel tubing measures 54" long, and those spruce timber where originally 8' long, I had to cut it down by 7", so it wouldn't look so funny (well funny to me). I didn't want the wood to be vibrating at freeway speeds so, they went and saw Mr. MiterSaw. If you are creative enough, you could easily cut and build a kayak mounting system on one side, and bolt a piece of wood across the top section and mount a bike quick release to it for your bike, then just strap the rear wheel to one of the wood supports.
There's plenty of room up for both!
Faring is made of lexan, pricey but worth it. They typically last longer than plexiglass and does not crack as easily. It measures 48"x12".093".
These supports fastens to the factory mounting holes, you have 3 on each side. As for space, wow, you got plenty of space for a kayak and a bike. The steel tubing measures 54" long, and those spruce timber where originally 8' long, I had to cut it down by 7", so it wouldn't look so funny (well funny to me). I didn't want the wood to be vibrating at freeway speeds so, they went and saw Mr. MiterSaw. If you are creative enough, you could easily cut and build a kayak mounting system on one side, and bolt a piece of wood across the top section and mount a bike quick release to it for your bike, then just strap the rear wheel to one of the wood supports.
There's plenty of room up for both!
Faring is made of lexan, pricey but worth it. They typically last longer than plexiglass and does not crack as easily. It measures 48"x12".093".
Andrew Walcker
Mod Emeritus
ZooJunkie said:
And here I thought you did that on purpose to stiffen it up, think truss! I'm building a rack out of steel for the Defender right now and actually toyed with the idea of putting a slight radius in the rack to increase the weight capacity. Looks nice, the wood really looks great!
As in terms of the noise from the round cross bars, have you tried to plug the ends? I remember a set of Yakima racks that someone stole the end plugs, the drive home was horrible as my stereo was not loud enough to drown out the hum!
vengeful
Explorer
Yeah, definitely plug the ends of those tubes. That'll quiet it down considerably. You're getting a similar effect to when you blow across the top of a soda bottle. The humming is the wind circulating through the tube and causing audible resonance within. Cap it up and it'll shut it up! :arabia:
stevenmd
Expedition Leader
Not sure the wood would hold up for my needs but I LOVE the design! I wouldn't mind having one like that in aluminum.... hmmmmm.... Personally, I love flat racks... ahem, flat roof racks...:shakin: I have had BrownChurch racks (which are pretty cool IMHO) and Yakima (which I have right now) and they both have sides to them. I have found that since you have to tie stuff down anyways, sometimes the sides get in the way. A RTT would look and function great on top of your style of rack...
Anyone know someone in Central/Northern California that can fab up an aluminum version of this rack?
Anyone know someone in Central/Northern California that can fab up an aluminum version of this rack?
Andrew Walcker
Mod Emeritus
stevenmd said:
:jump: ********!!! Leave it to a LR guy to bring a thread about racks straight into the gutter
Andrew Walcker
Mod Emeritus
stevenmd said:
Now that we are back on (t)rack, I agree that a flat design is more usable than a basket or a platform with sides for my applications. In addition, it should be lighter and a tad bit more aerodynamic! I have been running the stock SD basket on mine that weighs in at appr. 130 lbs and am trying out a lighter solution to lower the CG. Part of the putting the rack on a diet includes leaving off the sides. With the same footprint (length and width) the new roof rack will weigh in at appr. 43 lbs (according to Solid Works). 1/3 of the rack will be skinned with aluminum. I know a great fabricator in SoCal if you can't find anyone near you.
Andrew Walcker
Mod Emeritus
ZooJunkie said:
Good point!
Incusus
Adventurer
vengeful said:
With the stained wood, you should grab some wine bottle corks, pop them in the ends, and stain them to match!
You really have me thinking here. I wont need a full-roof version on my trooper, I may see what I can come up with to incorporate with the Yakima parts I have to make a multipurpose wood rack for the rear 2/3, and leave the bar on the front over the windshield to fork-mount the bikes in the front 1/3.... hmmm...
*scrambles out to the garage with his measuring tape and clipboard*
Incusus
Adventurer
I have a favor to ask. when your back from camping. Could you post a pic of a top-down view of the rack, and let me know what the measurements between the "slats" are? Your design is going to be *perfect* for what I'm doing, with a few minor modifications!
The back would be very similar to your rack, with the exception of:
a.) adding a little space between the two outer slats to mount my wheel trays up front (to extend to the fork mounts on the front bar) and wheel holders in the back
b.) shortening the front crossmember to only "cap" the center slats, leaving the 2 outer slats open for the wheel trays to protrude
c.) adding smaller crossmembers for the end slats about 6" behind the bar to maintain stiffness and make up for shortened crossmember up front
d.) possibly rounding the front for aerodynamics. maybe.
I wonder how the wood would hold up in wet Ohio winters. Perhaps a good deal of Thompsons water seal is in order as well...
The back would be very similar to your rack, with the exception of:
a.) adding a little space between the two outer slats to mount my wheel trays up front (to extend to the fork mounts on the front bar) and wheel holders in the back
b.) shortening the front crossmember to only "cap" the center slats, leaving the 2 outer slats open for the wheel trays to protrude
c.) adding smaller crossmembers for the end slats about 6" behind the bar to maintain stiffness and make up for shortened crossmember up front
d.) possibly rounding the front for aerodynamics. maybe.
I wonder how the wood would hold up in wet Ohio winters. Perhaps a good deal of Thompsons water seal is in order as well...