Bandit Runner
Senior Member
So I figured it was about time I made a build thread for my latest project – a custom roof rack. First, this won’t be a basket type rack (even though some of those look really cool). I really have no use for a basket, plus I am really constrained on height. I only have about 5” between the top of my roof and my garage door, so that’s what I have to work within. I’ve always liked the Nissan Xterra style racks, so that’s the style I am going for.
Design constraints:
1. Keep it low, so I can still fit the truck into the garage.
2. Make it so that I can still use my car-top-carrier.
3. Need a place to mount some roof lights (also all wiring must be completely hidden).
4. Must be able to mount our new kayaks to it securely. (Or other long items, – boards, ladders, etc)
5. Give it a custom look, that still fits in with the design of the rest of the truck.
6. Must mount using existing holes in roof.
7. Keep it as light as possible, yet strong enough.
The first thing I decided was to eliminate the OEM roof rack rails that mount to the roof. They stand up a little high, and by using flat stock instead, I can gain about a half inch of height. Every little bit helps, right? So I started designing the rack in CAD. I originally designed it so that it stopped just behind the sun roof, and did not extend the full length of the roof. I have kind of a 45 degree angle theme going on with my truck, as many of the angles on my bumpers, sliders, and even skid plates are at 45 degrees. So I wanted the vertical supports to be at a 45 degree angle to match everything else. (Sorry, I didn’t save any images of the original CAD design.)
As for lights, I didn’t want anything sticking up higher than the top rail of the roof rack. So that meant I needed some VERY low profile lights that would fit between the rack and the roof. The only viable option I could find was the single row LED light bars from Rigid Industries. I chose to run a pair of the 6” spot lights. A little expensive, but worth it (plus they will look bada$$ up there).
Pic of the lights:
Then I built a quick prototype to see how I liked it. I used some 3/16” thick wood for the mounting rails, and the rest was PVC pipe and electrical conduit tubing. Here are some pics of the prototype in process:
Fitting the flat rails:
A pile of plastic tubing:
Putting the tubing together:
Setting the tubing to the correct height:
Added the 45 degree supports:
Test fitting it on the truck:
Test fitting the car-top-carrier:
But of course you can’t get a good feel for how its going to look until you paint it black:
Overall, I was happy with the design, but not entirely satisfied.
Design constraints:
1. Keep it low, so I can still fit the truck into the garage.
2. Make it so that I can still use my car-top-carrier.
3. Need a place to mount some roof lights (also all wiring must be completely hidden).
4. Must be able to mount our new kayaks to it securely. (Or other long items, – boards, ladders, etc)
5. Give it a custom look, that still fits in with the design of the rest of the truck.
6. Must mount using existing holes in roof.
7. Keep it as light as possible, yet strong enough.
The first thing I decided was to eliminate the OEM roof rack rails that mount to the roof. They stand up a little high, and by using flat stock instead, I can gain about a half inch of height. Every little bit helps, right? So I started designing the rack in CAD. I originally designed it so that it stopped just behind the sun roof, and did not extend the full length of the roof. I have kind of a 45 degree angle theme going on with my truck, as many of the angles on my bumpers, sliders, and even skid plates are at 45 degrees. So I wanted the vertical supports to be at a 45 degree angle to match everything else. (Sorry, I didn’t save any images of the original CAD design.)
As for lights, I didn’t want anything sticking up higher than the top rail of the roof rack. So that meant I needed some VERY low profile lights that would fit between the rack and the roof. The only viable option I could find was the single row LED light bars from Rigid Industries. I chose to run a pair of the 6” spot lights. A little expensive, but worth it (plus they will look bada$$ up there).
Pic of the lights:
Then I built a quick prototype to see how I liked it. I used some 3/16” thick wood for the mounting rails, and the rest was PVC pipe and electrical conduit tubing. Here are some pics of the prototype in process:
Fitting the flat rails:
A pile of plastic tubing:
Putting the tubing together:
Setting the tubing to the correct height:
Added the 45 degree supports:
Test fitting it on the truck:
Test fitting the car-top-carrier:
But of course you can’t get a good feel for how its going to look until you paint it black:
Overall, I was happy with the design, but not entirely satisfied.
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