What's on your roof?

[Photobug]

My truck has a really big lumber rack. I have put a piece of wood up there and a kayak on occasion but it is greatly underutilized, mostly because we don't need the space just yet. I would like to take advantage of this rack and space. One to possibly put a series of sheets of plywood to make a location to take photos from and to act as a sun shade for the whole truck.

I am looking for ideas on what you keep on your roof and how you mount it there?

How should I go about adding a plywood platform to my roof rack to be able to still use it for storage and a place to tie things onto. Photo of my truck for some perspective. The ideas do not have to be large lumber rack specific but just ideas on what I can do to make this rig better.

 

[dreadlocks]

mebe a little plywood towards the rear if you wanted a standing platform.. but if you did the whole thing it'd be rather heavy and create alot of drag for little gain.. you could take a tarp/canvas and make a vehicle shade you can deploy at your discretion.. maybe an awning, especially if you do any desert camping w/little shade.

that overhang would make me a bit nervous on some trails.. I think I'd have limb risers on that to keep branches from getting wedged between it and the roof.

oh its a good place to mount a radio antenna if yer into that sorta thing.. no drilling holes in your roof.

But to answer your question, right now on my roof is a full sized spare tire, a dual band antenna, and a hiking pole my son wanted to keep on our last outing, that Ive been too lazy to remove cuz it looks cool.. I could stand on mine if I wanted, but it'd be kinda difficult to get up there w/no ladder.

 

[AbleGuy]

I’d consider going with a good piece of 4x8 pressure treated 3/4” plywood (green board) on top, but only over the bed of the truck portion of the rack. I don’t think that would be too heavy for a full sized truck and it would be strong enough to stand on, big enough to put two chairs on top.

You could make your own air dam under the front bottom edge to make it more aerodynamic. I did this once and used a piece of that 4” rubber cover molding for that...it worked great. This is the floor molding that they sell at places like Home Depot and is used for the edges of commercial floors.

You could put some tie down anchors on it, or cutouts in it, if needed, but you’d still also have your upper fame members of the rack to use for that.

Also, maybe add some hooks along the sides to fit a shade tarp, so you can make your own awning, one that would fit on either side.

 

[Photobug]

I’d consider going with a good piece of 4x8 pressure treated 3/4” plywood on top. You could put some tie down anchors on it, or cutouts in it, if needed, but you’d still also have your upper fame members of the rack to use for that.

Also, maybe add some hooks along the sides to fit a shade tarp, so you can make your own awning, one that would fit on either side.

My plan was to mount a 2x2 frame underneath the plywood for structure so it could be stand-on-able. I will go the cutouts route. Paint the top of the platform white for cooling use the edge mounted 2x2 to add a drop down white tarp to shade the sides of the truck as well. I have improvised a tarp in the past but will buy a commercial one when I find the one i like in stock.

How could I attach the plywood without drilling into the rack?

 

[dreadlocks]

How could I attach the plywood without drilling into the rack?

Conduit Straps, tho I'd be willing to drill into the rack just for safety reasons.

 

[AbleGuy]

Great idea about the white painted top.

Re: ”plan was to mount a 2x2 frame underneath the plywood for structure”
You could also use these to sandwich parts the rack, bridge the 2x2’s then with metal strapping.
Dreadlocks conduit straps could also work.
The heaviest zip ties might work.

I used thru bolts on mine years ago.

Basically, you’re probably gonna either have to choose to put the mounting holes either in the rack pipes (for thru bolts) or in the plywood (for your zip ties or metal straps).

Maybe you’ll get some better mounting ideas strolling around the aisles of your local hardware store ?

Pls share your final decision with us.

 

[rayra]

Building a roof rack deck on a GMT800 Suburban Z-71

I've related a few ideas over the months, regarding trying to shade the vehicle in the brutal desert sun. Vehicle just gets too damned hot. Thought about trying to do a fabric deck like those on Hobie Catamarans. There were discussions here about painting the roof white and various other paint...

forum.expeditionportal.com

The first version was a blending of tie-down locations and handholds. But it was a bit like blowing across an open bottle.


And a later iteration, deleting the handholds and extending the nose of the deck to tuck it up behind the raised sunroof glass, for airflow. I'd recommend some sort of air dam solution.

Expedition Portal

Largest and Oldest Overland Forum

www.expeditionportal.com

 

[Photobug]

mebe a little plywood towards the rear if you wanted a standing platform.. but if you did the whole thing it'd be rather heavy and create alot of drag for little gain.

The truck weighs 8800 lbs. nothing affects it's performance or gas mileage I get 16 mpg until I add a large trailer. I get 13.5 mpg with a trailer up to 8000 lbs.

 

[Photobug]

Building a roof rack deck on a GMT800 Suburban Z-71

I've related a few ideas over the months, regarding trying to shade the vehicle in the brutal desert sun. Vehicle just gets too damned hot. Thought about trying to do a fabric deck like those on Hobie Catamarans. There were discussions here about painting the roof white and various other paint...

forum.expeditionportal.com

The first version was a blending of tie-down locations and handholds. But it was a bit like blowing across an open bottle.


And a later iteration, deleting the handholds and extending the nose of the deck to tuck it up behind the raised sunroof glass, for airflow. I'd recommend some sort of air dam solution.

Expedition Portal

Largest and Oldest Overland Forum

www.expeditionportal.com

It looks like your second version removes the utility of the roof rack, so it is just a sun shade now. I still want a roof rack.

One thing is with the two roof racks I got now and the diesel engine I think my truck is already so loud I don't know if I would hear a whistle from a roof rack but don't want to put too much effort to make a rack I don't like.

I am thinking of two options. One adding a 2x2 frame under a piece of the plywood to give it a structure to support my weight and give a structure to mount the conduit straps into. I really feel I need to have the holes, handhelds throughout so i can still use the rack to attach stuff to. Anything in wood I can create on my own. I an work with metal also just can't weld.

I was thinking of having a welder add metal tabs along the legs of the rack and along the sides of the roof. I could use these tabs to attach either wood or metal cross bars to attach the ply and other items to the roof.

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[dreadlocks]

Yeah I'm not talking about overall weight, but its up high.. I could feel my CG change w/spare tire on my roof.. especially on trails, and I think a couple sheets of plywood would be quite a bit more than that.. if you're just getting shade out of it primarily dont seem like an equivalent exchange.. If heat's what your trying to tackle, roll up some reflectix mylar, would be super light and super effective.. or mebe just rivet down corrugated metal/plastic sheet.

E-Track would work for your tie downs, maybe u-bolt those to the cross-supports.

wood roof does sound nice in the rain tho..

 

[Photobug]

If heat's what your trying to tackle, roll up some reflectix mylar, would be super light and super effective.. or mebe just rivet down corrugated metal/plastic sheet.

It is a heat and a platform i am looking to tackle. So i could make a platform in one section and just a covering in another. i am 4+ hours drive from a good plastic source so could you make suggestions on the types of plastic or metal sheeting you are suggesting?

I see this but would need to get it in larger sheets to work on my truck.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/PLASKOLITE-White-Corrugated-Plastic-Sheet/3381288

Yeah I'm not talking about overall weight, but its up high.. I could feel my CG change w/spare tire on my roof.. especially on trails, and I think a couple sheets of plywood would be quite a bit more than that.

E-Track would work for your tie downs, maybe u-bolt those to the cross-supports.

wood roof does sound nice in the rain tho..

My truck is so heavy and big, I don't know weight up top would have a big effect. I don't do much hardcore offroading in this truck or any truck I have owned. It is mostly forest service roads and a small feeder to get to a campsite. Based on reputation of my truck my Cummins motor is supposed to last another 800,000 miles while the rest of my truck falls apart. Once I upgrade my suspension I will be more confident in offroading but at 4.5 tons it is never going to be nimble and for now, I am conservative in how I drive it. I am considering "buying my wife" a Taco or Tundra for offroading.

This discussion made me realize how losing access to my crossbars in any way would drastically change how I use my roof rack. I generally throw a rope under one side of a cross bar and throw the buckle over the object to the other side of the truck and then lash things down. I want to be able to stand on my roof, I don't want to be forced to do so.

I am now considering the tabs welded onto the bottom of the rack bars that run north-south on the truck. It could allow me to put a cross bar (thinking metal angle bracket or whatever thickness of metal will hold my weight) and place a piece of plywood in the open spaces between the cross bars with a 3/4" gap all the way around so all my rack bars are useable.

My roof rack is 14 feet long. The back part is about 8 feet with two cross bars inbetween. While I would really like to have the entire roof a useable platform and a sunshade, I could place wood on the front section. Because rack bars are 2" thick a tab anything mounted on the bottom gives me a 2" deep tray minus the thickness of the surface i mount up there. I would consider mounting my current 50 watt solar panel in the front of the rack where it would be protected by the front bar. That way I could charge my ship battery while driving then put out a larger folding panel when in camp. The back part of the rack could be for storage and the front part as a lounging/photography platform.

 

[vintageracer]

Bird Poop!

 

[AbleGuy]

How are you going to access stuff on your roof?

I’ve been thinking about getting one of these:


Anybody here have any experience with using one of them?
Are they stable enough to stand on to unload gear from the roof or use to climb up onto it?

 

[Photobug]

Bird Poop!

That's right just poop on my idea.

 

[Photobug]

How are you going to access stuff on your roof?

Anybody here have any experience with using one of them?
Are they stable enough to stand on to unload gear from the roof or use to climb up onto it?

What are you driving?

By stepping on the tires or the back seat of the truck i can reach most everything. I often carry a 3 step ladder and just added a two step ladder that will stay in the truck permanently. When I add tabs to the roof I might add tabs to the legs of the rack to make a cross bar on the legs going up to put a four step ladder premanently on the truck.

I have a few other ways to get to the roof but not onto the roof. If I had a platform to land on I could easily get to the roof to tie stuff on, and to hang out on the upstairs balcony. I have other ways to access the upper floor. I will take photos tomorrow to show them.