ok so I was thinking a while back about building my own rack and how much cheaper it would be to build my own the way I want it instead of spending 500 bones plus on the big rola rack I wanted.. So i built it.. hope yall like it. let me know what you think..

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sorry the pics suck I took em with my phone.. Ill get some better ones soon

Looks pretty nice.

You don't mean the Rola Vortex do you?

Looks very clean and functional, nice work!

thanks man.. only took me like 3 days or so to put together..

and its the large vortex rack.. this one..ROLA Roof Racks

haha i like how its called a "luggage tray".... I will now start calling roof racks luggage trays. Thanks ROLA for the clarification of what these "luggage trays" are really meant for! lol
BTW i think your home built looks better than the ROLA!

haha I know right? Cracks me up.. and thanks man.. Im pretty excited about how it turned out.. It gave me some trouble at the end but I got it mounted finally..

Looks great man! I like the design alot

Looks real nice, good work.

What are the dimensions? What size square tubing did you use? I'm going to build one also but I think I'm going to weld it instead of using bolts and screws..

I like it a lot. Looks nice...

How did you attach it?..Can't really tell from the pic's...

for the square tubing I used 1 inch aluminum tubing for the side rails and for the bottom bars that run width way on the roof i used 3/4 inch aluminum. The thickness of the tubing walls will depend on how much stuff you are actually goin to carry up there. I went with a thicker tube for the bottom and a thinner tube for the 1 inch stuff. the sheet metal that i used was just some flat steel the shop had laying around just has to be thick enough to not bend. Ill get some dimensions and pics of the rack today with a real camera so you can see it.

Just too give you a heads up aluminum is stupid to weld. You have to have specific stuff to weld aluminum if Im not mistaken.. but im not sure.. I didnt have access to a welder or thats what i would have done..


and thanks guys..

That actually looks really good, homemade or not.

The only thing I might have done differently would be shorter screws for the crossbars so they're not sticking up so much. I have a knack for finding stuff like screw-ends with my flesh.

looks awesome! wanna build me one! haha

alright here are the dimensions I promised. Just to let you know these arent exact!! And you should definately measure your own truck and get the exact measurements before you start building. I dont need anyone angry at me for giving wrong measurements. lol..

Length for top bar: 6 ft 2 1/2 inches
length for bottom bar: 6 ft 8 1/2 inches
width for cross bars: 3 ft 3 inches
height: 6 1/2 inches

I used the same 1 inch square tubing that i used for the long side bars to attach the rack to the truck. I just cut them in 2 inch lengths and drilled a hole through each side. i first attached the 2 inch piece to the truck with the factory screws and then bolted the rack to the 2 inch peice. I may change it later and bolt it on with some 2 x 4 rectangular tubing just cut in half.. not sure yet.

the aluminum I used is 1 inch square tubing for the long side bars.
3/4 inch square tubing for the cross bars.
the flat metal I used is 1/8 inch thick aluminum.
the 1 inch square tubing is thinner than the crossbar tubing just to save on weight and cuz the crossbars are going to be the weight bearing bars.

The paint I used is a rustoleom truck bed coating got it at lowes.
1/4 inch bolts all the way around different lengths.

Thanks everybody!! really happy with how it turned out and can't believe this many people like it lol..
If your around the seattle area I definately wouldnt mind helping anyone build one.
Hope this helps. any more questions feel free to ask.. add this to the DIY mods now haha!!

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I'm not understanding how you attached it to the truck? I'm seriously thinking about doing this though now, it looks great!