Cost Effective Disco 2 Roof Rack Options?

[Ricks_Adventures]

Skkeel01, holy cow you read my mind. I literally spent an hour today trying to make some brackets. To no avail.

Everyone else, thanks for the input as it has been helpful for exploring my options.

I may have undersold my capability to make things, as well as how tough I'd like for it to be. I'm handy with a torch and welder. I got to poking around my parents house and found some 2 inch angle iron, so I framed up the rack today. (Picture below)

I need it to be rugged because I do some photography(entirely as a hobby), and I want to be able to stand on top of it. But I'm a large fellow (6'1", 250#), so I'd much prefer it be made of steel. Also, I want to fabricate something to mount my ENO. That's a secondary concern though. My biggest issue is the brackets.

It'll be 7'x4'. A little narrow but I think it will serve my purposes just fine. More to come.

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[krick3tt]

Really good start. Exploring options is the way to generate an idea.

 

[TyScot]

I made a rack for my D2 a bit ago, used 5/8th's thick wall tubing for it and a conduit bender. I think I'm in it for about $30! I didn't want a full length one so built a half and styled it similar to the old VW bus rack's (I'm a vw guy). Work's great, I can stand on it no problem (I'm about 155 pounds), myself and a buddy both stood on it at the same time and had little flex. If you have a welder and a few other tools and an idea you can make it happen!

(sorry these are the only pics I have of it before it was fully finished)

 

[TyScot]

Actually just found this pic of it done

 

[Ricks_Adventures]

Thanks krick3tt! I'm considering starting over and doing it with conduit. Galvanized metal is real nasty to weld though.
Tyscot, that looks really nice. I could easily beef that up to support me. Where'd you get the conduit? Also where'd you get your gutter brackets?



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[TyScot]

Thanks krick3tt! I'm considering starting over and doing it with conduit. Galvanized metal is real nasty to weld though.
Tyscot, that looks really nice. I could easily beef that up to support me. Where'd you get the conduit? Also where'd you get your gutter brackets?



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Hey thanks! It's not conduit, it's steel tubing. I got it from the local metal supplier. Conduit will work but that's going limit your weight capacity and it's so thin it's hard to weld on. I have built another rack for my bus out of conduit as I didn't need a high weight limit, it was a lot harder to do it with though and conduit is galvanized so you have to take the time to really clean that off before you weld on it, as you said, not so nice to weld on. You can use conduit to practice your bends on first though as it is a lot cheaper, about $2 for a 10 or 12 foot piece if I remember right. As far as the gutter brackets/clamps, I made those as well. I used 1/2" for the "feet" welded to the bottom of the legs that I flattened just a bit to fit better in the rain gutter and then used some 16gauge that I bent up for the clamps which bolt through the legs into the clamps. It's sturdy and won't go anywhere once it's on. If you wanted a square stock rack 3/4" or 1" square would work great I'd think and you could use some 1/8" or even 1/4" for the legs/brackets and should have no problem supporting a RRT if thats what your after.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ricks_Adventures]

So I decided to go to Lowe's and see what they had that could be used as a clamp. I wound up in the hardware section and some bolts shaped like a 'J'. I think I can maybe do a little heating and bending and fashion them into a great clamp. I drew up my idea, so tell me if you guys think it'll work. I know it's a really tight tolerance between the gutter and the door, so I'll account for it with a torch and hammer.

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[TyScot]

I would think something like that would work for you with a little reworking for the fit

 

[Ricks_Adventures]

How expensive was the steel where you're at? I wouldn't mind starting over if I can get the steel cheap.

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[TyScot]

The tubing wasn't that pricey at all, like I said it only cost me about $30 bucks or so where I got it from. If you wanted a full length rack I would think it wouldn't be more then $100 or so. Call around to your local suppliers and get some prices on what they have, even ask if that have some smaller remnants laying around that you might be able to use which they'd probably cut ya a little deal on.

 

[Ricks_Adventures]

The tubing wasn't that pricey at all, like I said it only cost me about $30 bucks or so where I got it from. If you wanted a full length rack I would think it wouldn't be more then $100 or so. Call around to your local suppliers and get some prices on what they have, even ask if that have some smaller remnants laying around that you might be able to use which they'd probably cut ya a little deal on.

Yeah I didn't realize at first that yours was a half rack, but still. The quality looks great.

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[Ricks_Adventures]

So since I had a day available, I decided to work on my rack again. I have it fitted on my Disco, but there's still a long way to go. Also, here's a fun pic of my Disco on what is probably the only cliff in Mississippi...

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[KyleT]

Make the gutter feet much wider to spread the load. Like 6" otherwise you will crack the gutter sill (metal)and water leaks inside the truck.

 

[Ricks_Adventures]

It's been two months almost to the day, but I did a little work on her.

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[Paul K]

FWIW...

http://boise.craigslist.org/pts/5580052304.html