genmarks
New member
I have been searching/researching roof racks for the past couple months now, for my 99' 4runner with only the 2 black tracks that run along the top.
I didnt indend on getting anything large, or a basket cause I just want a rack for my surfboards. I wasnt willing to drop $100-$300 for some racks,
so my dad and i just decided to build some with all materials from home.
I also did not want to drill any holes into the roof so we intended to use the track holes already there.
Here was the 4runner before the rack
I lost all the pictures of the welding of the two bars we created that go parallel with the black tracks and screw into the track holes. But we rolled two
crossbars so they have a similar curve to the roof then tack welded them to the main bars that were over the tracks:
the bars the screw into the black strips are 3/4" aluminum while the crossbars are 1" aluminum, all found, cut, and welded in our garage.
then we completed all the tac welds all the way around
At this point you can see the black track/strip is gonna act as a gasket in between the rack and roof. We took off the track and rack to grind down the
bottom of the rack so it fits flush onto the track.
Then we fit it back on to see how it looked.
Her is a view of the area to screw in, wherever there is a screw, there is already an existing hole for the track screw. the 3 in screws we used fit perfect
with a length that was long enough to be stable but not long enough to have to go any deeper than was originally intended.
I didnt indend on getting anything large, or a basket cause I just want a rack for my surfboards. I wasnt willing to drop $100-$300 for some racks,
so my dad and i just decided to build some with all materials from home.
I also did not want to drill any holes into the roof so we intended to use the track holes already there.
Here was the 4runner before the rack
I lost all the pictures of the welding of the two bars we created that go parallel with the black tracks and screw into the track holes. But we rolled two
crossbars so they have a similar curve to the roof then tack welded them to the main bars that were over the tracks:
the bars the screw into the black strips are 3/4" aluminum while the crossbars are 1" aluminum, all found, cut, and welded in our garage.
then we completed all the tac welds all the way around
At this point you can see the black track/strip is gonna act as a gasket in between the rack and roof. We took off the track and rack to grind down the
bottom of the rack so it fits flush onto the track.
Then we fit it back on to see how it looked.
Her is a view of the area to screw in, wherever there is a screw, there is already an existing hole for the track screw. the 3 in screws we used fit perfect
with a length that was long enough to be stable but not long enough to have to go any deeper than was originally intended.
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