I've received a few comments on my rack I built out of the Curt Rack that you purchase on Amazon for fairly cheap. I figured that maybe a few more people might be interested in this set up, and for about $250, it's a great way to get a full length roof rack on top. You will need to purchase the Curt rack(
https://amzn.com/B004O844DS ) and 2 extensions(
https://amzn.com/B004O844EM).
The rack measures about 88" x 39"x 6" in total. I went down to the local metal yard and purchased 1"x1" aluminum square tubing that I cut to about 81". I wanted to save on weight so I went with aluminum, steel works fine. It is possible to exclude the tubing and directly mount the rack to the stock rails. The tube allowed the rack to sit high enough so that it wasn't laying on top of the roof, and added some additional strength.
I used the stock slider nuts that were in the rail to bolt the rack and tubing to the roof. Since it has been a long time since I did this I couldn't recall what I used, another member confirmed
@
NYSLC93
did use the following hardware and worked fine. 10 M6 bolts either 60-65mm(2.5'") in length should work.
For the front legs I used a couple chair foot pads and coupling nut that you can purchase at Home depot, and screwed them onto a bolt with a couple nuts as stoppers(check photo). I used double sided tape directly on the roof and then twisted the pads until they were at the correct length and actually works great.
Drilling the holes and lining the bolts up was the most difficult part when installing the rack. I first measured the distance from where the tubing will sit on the rails to where the slider nut in the rail is located. I evenly spaced the 5 slider nuts from each other and marked these positions on the tubing. With the curt rack and tubing off the runner, I clamped it together, flipped it upside down and drilled the 10 marked holes which will be bolted to the slider nuts in the stock rails. I drilled 2 additional holes in the front for the legs. It might be wise to drill out the holes a little bit bigger so the 10 m6 bolts will line up easier. Because the stock rails do bow a little bit, I used some washers in the front and back to get the rack to level out.
In the front I did weld the aluminum to close it up, but you do not need to do this. I wanted to play around with the welder. I found some end caps off ebay or amazon that close up the rack nicely. You can use 4 of these to close it up if you would like. Something similar to this:
https://amzn.com/B005QNBN0W
I've had this rack for a couple years and it has held up well. Sunroof opens with no problems. The only thing I would watch out for on this type of rack is rust. Metal items tend to rub off the paint easily and this rack will rust quickly if you're not on top of it. I touch up any exposed metal with touch up paint, and its held up well. Also there are some good mount points to add various items; shovel, lights, hi lift or any small things you an think of.
Obliviously there's a difference between a $250 and a $1000 rack, but for what I need, this fits the bill perfectly. I have had quite a bit of weight up and it's held up well. If money is stopping you from getting a full length, or you don't have a welder to make your own, this may work out better for you.
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