Homemade Roofracks.

[wreckdiver1321]

Damn. Is that 35 gallons I see there? (7x5=35) - I need to get more cans. All Mine but 2 are plastic.

More crucially, that is 280 lbs in just the fuel! :Wow1:

Add in the weight of the cans, and you're at nearly 350 pounds!!!!!

 

[96Delica]

Advice!

Hey everyone! So, I'm looking to modify my existing roof basket and was looking for some input.

What I'm looking for is something lower profile, tighter to the roof. Options to attach an awning, and somewhere to carry a canoe. Easy, right??

Here's what I'm starting with



The rack is fully aluminum, the legs are plastic. The legs bolt to the racks with bolts that can slide in some channels. But, the feet and clamp parts are removable, so I could re use those if I need too.




Here is a sketch of what I'm thinking of. It's a sort of cradle, the aluminum basket will sit in between the upper parts. The holes are for removable poles that I can use to carry a canoe if I need too.
IMG_7326 by TheMacrobius, on Flickr

I'm thinking of using some 5mm aluminum for the legs and some rectangular tubing for the cross braces. Or should I go with stainless? Does anyone think that I should put some gussets from the legs to the tubing? I haven't thought of what to use for the clamps yet.

Any insight is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Xodius]

In the sketch, just to be clear, the hole are on the top and the lines that just fade away are what would be on your van? How were you thinking of mounting it to the van? Reuse the old brackets?

 

[Xodius]

Just food for thought...
If you can weld aluminum I would shorten the vertical supports on the basket itself to drop the top tube closer to the bottom. Then fabricate some new lower feet. If you are ok with drilling into your van I would put some jeep Cherokee roof rails on and mount to them. Might be able to drop the height about 2-3" then.

The rails would also depend on the roof also. Some vehicles are reinforced some are not. I am planning on putting rails on my jk. Just need to pick some up and have been too busy. Lol

 

[96Delica]

Correct! Holes on top, the top of the basket will sit just below the bottom of the holes. The bottom of the mounts will either be the old feet re purposed for the new ones, or something fabled up. But I'll tackle that when I get to it. Do you think 5mm is too thick for the legs? I would like to avoid gussets if I can, the less welding the better. Since I don't have a welder.

 

[96Delica]

Just food for thought...
If you can weld aluminum I would shorten the vertical supports on the basket itself to drop the top tube closer to the bottom. Then fabricate some new lower feet. If you are ok with drilling into your van I would put some jeep Cherokee roof rails on and mount to them. Might be able to drop the height about 2-3" then.

The rails would also depend on the roof also. Some vehicles are reinforced some are not. I am planning on putting rails on my jk. Just need to pick some up and have been too busy. Lol

Unfortunately I cannot weld aluminum, I would rather leave the rack as is if possible. The roof is a no go for solid mounting, too much rust in Ontario.

 

[Xodius]

Good question...I personally always over do my builds. Lol. I don't think 5mm would be too bad. I would think if you went with a high strength aluminum you could drop it down a but more but am not positive. I hardly ever work with it so honestly do not know.

 

[Xodius]

What if you just make some new supports for the basket itself. Then you could make it super low. Then fabricate some basic hoops with rollers for the canoe?

 

[96Delica]

I think you're right, even if I make just the outer support leg with the holes and forgo the rectangular tubing. The rack is kind of flimsy, so I want to keep weight off it. Hmmmmm.......

 

[Xodius]

How about just making stronger legs and instead of a whole assembly, two square tube or actually round bars that go left to right. You can put two large rollers on the bars for easy up and down of the canoe and have small brackets that you can add to attach basket on the bars.

 

[Xodius]

You could make the legs out of C-channel aluminum and grind the channel off to attach the clamp from old mount.

 

[seanz0rz]

Forgot to post this over here when I finished.

Whole build thread is here: http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthr...anz0rz-s-Low-Profile-Rack&highlight=roof+rack

Pictures:
Untitled
Untitled
IMG_0389

In that thread, last few pages discuss eliminating the growl from the roof rack. It is actually pretty quiet.

 

[R Thomas]

Seanz0rz - Great thread on your rack build. Do you have a build thread for your rig? What bumper is that?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[seanz0rz]

Front bumper is a Shrockworks. Rear is one I built a number of years ago. I don't have one build thread, but here are a few links to my major projects:

http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?8020-Seanz0rz-s-rear-bumper-buildup
http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?5407-3rd-Gen-IFS-skidplate-buildup&highlight=skidplates
http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?9967-Overhead-Switch-Console
http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?9863-LED-Turn-Emergency-Strobe-Lights
http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?7729-Seanz0rz-s-M-762-Trailer-Buildup

To not derail this thread too much, any other questions, PM me.

/thread_hijack

So who else has a custom roof rack?!

 

[Poison]

recent test fit...

Work in progress.
I used a roll on bed liner as the finish.
I'm thinking of doing a HID conversion on the Hella 500's and 550 fogs.
I'm also going to mount mini fogs on the sides and a couple pointed to the rear.

The tray is level with the roof rack on the topper. I want to keep it low profile to accommodate our kayaks, transport 4x8' plywood sheets (home reno).
it's a good place to strap down my dry bag I use to remove camp garbage.

Amazing project!!
This design is inspiring me!
Gonna make something really close to this!

Just need to figure out the mounts.

Did this a while back, mind as well post it here!

Picked up a homebrewed safari rack that was originally on a XJ jeep. Rack was not in the best shape, so I decided to freshen it up with new paint and hardware. Rack came with a new set of KC Daylighters and some cheapo' lights in the back. Maybe will use them later.

The rack was about 60 miles away from me, so I took the family wagon to pick it up. Figure I could just strap it on and go.

...

Sprayed some paint remover. Never tried using that stuff before. Paint comes off almost instantly.

Cleaned up the mounts. Old, polished, painted.

After some metal brushing was ready to paint.

Couple of cans of Rostolium later..

Had to modify the mounts to make it fit the Mitsubishi.

Action poser shot!

Great Euro, I own a Pajero 99 and was looking for some ideas!
nice mounts!

Alright...so this is by no means a legit J-Moose rack, but it's my easier build version. So all I really did was buy 3 sets of Yakima gutter mounts. The 3 crossbars allowed me to not have to bolt the ramp together through the middle since all the weight is distributed evenly. I jumped up there and walked all over it with zero flex.

Ramp I used:
http://www.titanramps.com/tr/atv-ramps/7-5-bi-fold-aluminum-atv-loading-ramp.html#.Uzbp1ye9KSM

Thrown on top of the rig.

Aluminum is super easy to drill through so I just bolted the ramp to the crossbars with U-Bolts and it is rock solid.

That is pretty much all I did and it's perfect. I will eventually clean it up by throwing a rounded aluminum pieces to make it look more rack-esk. But I'm all about function.
I could not wait to throw the roof top tent on so that came right after.

1995 Montero SR

Great Idea aswell!

Good to see that we have some pajeros/monteros owners here