I had a couple of PM's asking about materials I used for the roof rack I built for my 94 so figured I would post some info in a separate thread
Aluminum used was a combination of 8020 series 10 1" wide, 1"x1" and 1"x2"
Some was purchased from Tnutz.com
https://www.tnutz.com/product-category/extrusions/
I purchased a couple of 145" length pieces from Fastenal.com
If you have a fastenal store near you, you can have it shipped to the store dirt cheap
https://www.fastenal.com/products/de...%20Bars%22%7C~
Some of the material I scored cheap on craigslist.
Brackets and inserts were purchased from tnutz.com
the double inserts are nice $0.30
https://www.tnutz.com/product/double-economy-t-nut-2/
single inserts $ 0.12
https://www.tnutz.com/product/econom...-6mm-10-serie/
corner brackets:
https://www.tnutz.com/product/2-hole...orner-bracket/
https://www.tnutz.com/product-catego...erie-brackets/
For the 1/4-20 bolts I used stainless allen panheads from my local Ace hardware.
I had previously extended my factory mounts about 26" to add a 3rd factory crossmember
2017-08-31_04-54-58 by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
Heightwise it ended up being about 3" high
I used some S-track tie down rails for tie down points I had left over from my 81 Trekker project. You can find it on ebay, amazon or discount ramps
my rack ended up 72" by 35". You can go wider but I wanted mine to be the same width as the factory inner rail mounts.
You can cut this stuff with a hack saw, angle grinder with cut off wheel or a miter saw with a multiple use blade, make sure it is rated for aluminum or plastic. If you use a power tool make sure to wear proper PPE (safety disclaimer
)
my first step was to make 5 cross bars out of 1"x2" 8020
I threaded the two 1/4" holes on each end with a 1/4-20 tap. using my drill was an experiment, it worked just go really slow.
20180321_155831 by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
Mounted them using 2 of these on each bar
https://www.tnutz.com/product/cbs-01...orner-bracket/
to the factory rail inserts
20180322_124347 by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
20180322_124327 by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
next step was to add the bars lengthwise.
I painted them using some flat spray paint, way cheaper than ordering black anodized strut, which is a bit more per foot but available here
https://www.tnutz.com/product/ex-101...lack-anodized/
8020 painted by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
8020 is great since it goes together like an erector set
I did had some additional cross bars that are mounted to the 2 main side rails, mainly because I had some additional material available
4runner rack by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
4runner rack side by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
front view:
4runner rack front by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
rear view:
4runner rack back by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
20180506_152048 by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
I do have a slight whistle from the rack. My plan is to get some 1/4 round 8020 like this
https://www.tnutz.com/product/ex-101...num-extrusion/
to mount on the leader edge of the rack
8020 qtr rnd by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
I think I am into this rack for about $200
I was orginally going to cut this rack down heightwise to about 2.5" high because I can't stand how high some racks come out. This thing was probably 9" high when mounted on factory cross bars
20180323_115616 by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
4runner rack by
ocdropzone, on Flickr
this was a fun project for a few reason
it was budget friendly
I made it myself in a couple of afternoons
it goes together just like an erector set
It isn't as nice as some of the high $$ racks available but I am happy with it, it serves my goal of being cheap and sturdy as heck