Homemade Roofracks.

4307

Adventurer
I guess it really depends on how big you want the rack to be.

My light protection bar is made from 1/2" I.D. standard conduit. I was surprised at how strong it actually is. I welded bolts in the tube end for mounting. It was tricky because of the wall thickness but the result was worth the effort.
If I decide to run the Kragen style HID's I'll make a new light bar to accommodate the outer 7" lights.

If anyone decides to take the conduit route for building a rack, wear a good respirator when welding. The zinc coating is very toxic. Even if you sand the conduit for weld prep wear that respirator.
 

FlatlinesUp

Adventurer
while mine's not full home-made, it's modified quite a bit with more to come soon as the snow dries up.

It's a KargoMaster commercial rack that I added 1" square tube bracing to and expanded steel over the rear that works for a work platform, and I cut/sectioned/sleeved all the horizontals to narrow it 3" and I cut/rewelded the legs to lower it 2" (it was ment for a over the cab high roof shell)

I plan on making a halo type light bar that will lay down/up via linear actuation in the front and add 2 solar panels in the framed area over the cab as well as fabbing up some antenna mounts.

I'm also going to put a full diameter angle in the bed to tie the rack too and eventually tie the rack to the yet to be built(replaced) slider/steps and the yet to be built rear bumper

Lots still left to do, but that's the story of my life lol

(sorry don't have a better pic of it at this time)
P1010071.jpg
 

TangoBlue

American Adventurist
Very nice. I like your plans for its future modifications - keep us posted. It sounds like you have some neat ideas ahead for it.
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
Previous one for my Veno exploder

Aluminum wind scoop
roof tent
rear storage box for "stuff"

fitted into original roof rails

DSC_0155.jpg
 

warrior1

New member
s-10 roof rack

here is the rack i made for my blazer. i made it from 1" HREW tubing. the floor is a combo of 1/2" square tubing and expanded metal.
i machined the mounting feet to sit flush over the factory roof rack mounting points.

i also made a front and rear bunper for this truck but dont have pics. its been sold many years ago.

this rack served me well for many years. hauled anything and everything imagineable. for camping, mtb-ing, canoeing and any cargo.

i will build another for the van i bought.

im sorry. i thought these would be clickable thumbnails.

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Rbertalotto

Explorer
I've made a few racks for various vehicles out of simple electrical conduit. Usually just 1/2" diameter and a few with 1". It's easy to bend with a cheap conduit bender, it's galvanized, inexpensive and plenty strong enough for what we are going to use it for. I cut the radiused up right pieces with a drillpress and a hole saw and I braze everything together with 10,000psi brazing rod. Brazing makes nice smooth joints and they won't rust.

We've had (2) 200+ pound deer on these racks with no issues.

PDC1-vi.jpg
 

Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
Previous one for my Veno exploder

Aluminum wind scoop
roof tent
rear storage box for "stuff"

fitted into original roof rails

DSC_0155.jpg

Could I ask how your windscoop helped with the beffeting of noise?

I'm thinking of doing the same thing (building a little scoop/wind deflector) to go in front of our Camping Lab RTT and was hoping it would be more aerodynamic
 
I wasn't sure how to complete the floor for my roof rack project. A big thanks, this is just the motivation I need to wrap-up that year old project with style & function. :victory:


I'll be sure to post up pics when mine is done...maybe I'll inspire others also.
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
"Could I ask how your windscoop helped with the buffeting of noise?"

Much better, underway I used to straps over the tent diagonaly as well to stop the material moving around.

I've also added a wind deflector to the nissan patrol- zero rack noise now !

I'll post a pic when I have a camera with me
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
When I built the rack for my old '79 Suburban I had a couple of goals for it.
Minimal wind resistance - flat top w/ no sides
"Safari Top" function - tight fit to the roof at the nearest point
mount for a rear dust amber
Deflect air down rear window
Mounts for 4 bicycles
Able to walk and sit on it
light weight - can move it around by myself, maybe 75-80 lbs?

79Subindriveway.jpg


RoofRack2.jpg


RoofRack1.jpg


The mitered corners expose the frame for tie-down use without undue wind resistance. I used hinges with bolts replacing the pins for the actual mounts to allow for some body flexing, and for possible temporary removal. I plan to eventually cut it down to fit the FJ60. When I do I will finish some of the details that got left behind due to time constraints. It was supposed to have some 1/4" ply attached to the bottom to make the whole thing a smooth 1-1/8" thick. The rear air deflector never got made and the rear window did tend to silt up as expected.
 

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