Homemade Roofracks.
- Thread starter Box Rocket
- Start date
i have two. here is a pic of me freshing up the paint. dosent have the rear lights on it. i have pictures of both racks on the cars in my intro thread for mitsh
trooper8807
New member
Just to put this out there for everyone since I was getting questions on how I did the mounting:
The sub-structure has holes in it already. The feet on the factory rack have studs hanging down the bottom. Those studs go through the holes in the substructure, then there is a nut that clamps them down. That's it. Pretty simple.
In my case, I turned some aluminum rounds on the lathe to the right diameter, and then drilled and tapped the center. So they are aluminum "pucks" just over 1" diameter and maybe 1.5" tall. An 8mm bolt will go up through the sub-structure and into the pucks. That's how it's clamped. Those pucks are welded into the rack.
It's a bit tricky, because the substructure is dead flat. When they designed the truck, they made the pads where the rack sits dead flat. But the roof panel is not flat. The angle is different in every place. That's the trick. You need a way to seal the roof holes.
So what I did... this is confusing... I took the pucks, and bolted them down. Then I took a 2x2" piece of aluminum, and bored out the center so it slipped over the pucks. The plates sit flat on the roof so they can seal. The plates are at an angle to the pucks, since the pucks are level. With some fiberglass cloth under the plates as heat shielding, I tacked the plates to the pucks at the angle they rest at naturally when sitting on the roof.
Took that all off, and fully welded them. Finally, the tubing legs on the rack, are hand filed to sit flush on the plates which are sitting at weird angles because of the roof profile. Then, tack, and weld.
Difficult to describe in words. Impossible to manufacture at a profit and price-point that anybody would pay.
The sub-structure has holes in it already. The feet on the factory rack have studs hanging down the bottom. Those studs go through the holes in the substructure, then there is a nut that clamps them down. That's it. Pretty simple.
In my case, I turned some aluminum rounds on the lathe to the right diameter, and then drilled and tapped the center. So they are aluminum "pucks" just over 1" diameter and maybe 1.5" tall. An 8mm bolt will go up through the sub-structure and into the pucks. That's how it's clamped. Those pucks are welded into the rack.
It's a bit tricky, because the substructure is dead flat. When they designed the truck, they made the pads where the rack sits dead flat. But the roof panel is not flat. The angle is different in every place. That's the trick. You need a way to seal the roof holes.
So what I did... this is confusing... I took the pucks, and bolted them down. Then I took a 2x2" piece of aluminum, and bored out the center so it slipped over the pucks. The plates sit flat on the roof so they can seal. The plates are at an angle to the pucks, since the pucks are level. With some fiberglass cloth under the plates as heat shielding, I tacked the plates to the pucks at the angle they rest at naturally when sitting on the roof.
Took that all off, and fully welded them. Finally, the tubing legs on the rack, are hand filed to sit flush on the plates which are sitting at weird angles because of the roof profile. Then, tack, and weld.
Difficult to describe in words. Impossible to manufacture at a profit and price-point that anybody would pay.
Youngunner
Adventurer
I made the support rack that wnt over the shell and designed it to allow a Bajarack FJ Cruiser RTT rack to bolt on top. Worked great for a couple years.
hikingff77
Adventurer
Heres one, people tend to overbuild, I wanted to go as simple as possible
That has got to be the nicest F-150 of that year I have ever seen.
Howski
Well-known member
Let's see some pics!
08Silverado
Adventurer
Heres a bed rack I built for my truck a few years ago. It's served me well. Now I'm looking for a camper shell for my truck and will probably mount my basket on top of it when I get it.
08Silverado
Adventurer
Sorry just realized I already posted this!
custom rack
Alright i need some guesstements, im building a custom roof rack that either attaches to the top of the bed rails(offset for a topper), or i am going to go thru the bedside fender and attach directly to the inside of the bedside on the bed wall bed rail type configuration. What kind of weight can the bedsides support. The rack mounts and the mounting bracketry itself will be of course over engineered a bit. but basically i am looking for some ideas. I have been building a custom F550 with a 10' box. My idea would be to support the weight of a single canoe and gear, or a couple of kayaks w/gear and then on the back portion of the rack a pair of enduros up top. Now keep in mind that there is a topper as well on the bedsides so i am not going to be mounting the rack supprt directly over the bedside. The other option i have seen but am not fond of is using the recevier hitch to mount the enduros, but that kind of scares me a bit and prevents access to the box. Oh yeah and there is a Honda 50 for the little girl too, but those are so lite that it itself doesnt dictate any engineering thought, at least not as much thought.
Alright i need some guesstements, im building a custom roof rack that either attaches to the top of the bed rails(offset for a topper), or i am going to go thru the bedside fender and attach directly to the inside of the bedside on the bed wall bed rail type configuration. What kind of weight can the bedsides support. The rack mounts and the mounting bracketry itself will be of course over engineered a bit. but basically i am looking for some ideas. I have been building a custom F550 with a 10' box. My idea would be to support the weight of a single canoe and gear, or a couple of kayaks w/gear and then on the back portion of the rack a pair of enduros up top. Now keep in mind that there is a topper as well on the bedsides so i am not going to be mounting the rack supprt directly over the bedside. The other option i have seen but am not fond of is using the recevier hitch to mount the enduros, but that kind of scares me a bit and prevents access to the box. Oh yeah and there is a Honda 50 for the little girl too, but those are so lite that it itself doesnt dictate any engineering thought, at least not as much thought.
I'll get some shortly. I was waiting for the bedliner to cure properly before bolting the lights down. I was a little nervous about it because it was a DIY kit. But I think it worked. I used Shake & Shoot from Dominion Sure Seal, available from Eastwood.
I'm also preoccupied making a cargo barrier system. But, weather permitting, I'll pull it out tonight for some pics.
karo
Observer
Seeing so many good ideas here, very exciting!
Here is mine (all parts are srewed, nothing is welded):
Made with profile rails:
Side view:
Built thread here:
http://forums.offroadtb.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1221
Here is mine (all parts are srewed, nothing is welded):
Made with profile rails:
Side view:
Built thread here:
http://forums.offroadtb.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1221
theicecreampeople
Adventurer
here is a quick rack i did for my fj ..
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