Inexpensive Full Length Roof Rack (Curt Rack)

[gamefreakgc]

Its a cheap no name from Amazon. In reality i dont use it a lot. The glare from the hood is kind of annoying for me so I use two hella 500's converted to HID and two flood lights that are near the front bumper for my offroad night excursions. I dont find myself on the trails at night much though.

Roof LED bars are kinda just for the looks... I have never seen one actually used. Bumper mounted ones are much more versatile & without the blinding affect.

 

[3bears]

So a few years ago I did the 3/4 rack using the Curt system. Mine just sit on top of the stock cross rails.I might have to move up to one more extension for a moving trip I have coming up. Wonder how much weight it can take, because I need to throw 4 wheels with KO2's up there, plus whatever I can cram up there.. today with the rack off I tried, and 4 wheels wont fit up there and lay flat. I could do one more extension but keep the main weight over the stock cross bars and still figure a way to do the front "feet". Or I could look into doing the mounting like the OP and others have stated. My move requires a ferry and they charge for length , width and height. The wheels not laying flat, puts me into another price range

 

[Toy2play]

So a few years ago I did the 3/4 rack using the Curt system. Mine just sit on top of the stock cross rails.I might have to move up to one more extension for a moving trip I have coming up. Wonder how much weight it can take, because I need to throw 4 wheels with KO2's up there, plus whatever I can cram up there.. today with the rack off I tried, and 4 wheels wont fit up there and lay flat. I could do one more extension but keep the main weight over the stock cross bars and still figure a way to do the front "feet". Or I could look into doing the mounting like the OP and others have stated. My move requires a ferry and they charge for length , width and height. The wheels not laying flat, puts me into another price range

In all honesty, I'd be more concerned how much the roof can handle. The rack could hold the weight fine, but I'm not sure how much support the roof can handle on the channels where the cross members mount. I've never opened up head liner, but I thought I saw on here someone reinforcing the channels from the inside to hold more weight.

I did put three 5-gallon gas cans and a 5-gallon water jug on the most rear part of the rack over 600 mile dirt road overland trip with no problems. Normally I toss the lighter camping stuff up top since it's not wise to put a lot of weight up so high when off-roading. How close are you to getting all 4 tires to lay flat? Will another extension give you enough room?

 

[Wedgy]

I extended my stock rack ~27" by adding cut down sections of a junk yard rack, that's as far as I could go before the front of the roof starts to curve down. It just barely fits around the sunroof. I used rivnuts/nutserts(M6 stock size) to attach it and butted it up against the stock rack. Looks like a stock rack if you didn't know any better. I wanted the extra length to support my kayak.

 

[Bucket81]

I extended my stock rack ~27" by adding cut down sections of a junk yard rack, that's as far as I could go before the front of the roof starts to curve down. It just barely fits around the sunroof. I used rivnuts/nutserts(M6 stock size) to attach it and butted it up against the stock rack. Looks like a stock rack if you didn't know any better. I wanted the extra length to support my kayak.

What does it look like where they meet?

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[Wedgy]

I just butted the two rails together and it looks pretty clean, at least it hasn't bothered me yet. I will try to get a picture when I get home tonight.

 

[Philly4runner18]

Nice setup!

 

[AZBub]

Been holding up really well. Next addition is an awning.


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[3bears]

I extended my stock rack ~27" by adding cut down sections of a junk yard rack, that's as far as I could go before the front of the roof starts to curve down. It just barely fits around the sunroof. I used rivnuts/nutserts(M6 stock size) to attach it and butted it up against the stock rack. Looks like a stock rack if you didn't know any better. I wanted the extra length to support my kayak.

ok, I got another extension today, to make a "full" rack. I like your idea as when I take the rack off, I will put on a Yakima storage for skis in the winter and with a 3rd cross bar, be good

so... what my questions are, does this interfere with the sunroof function at all. how did you seal the new holes in the roof

other than that, my son has the wielding tools to make the other support system listed in this forum, but without the factory cross bars then the Yakima rack will be a bit lower to the roof
I just like your "original looking" rack rail system

 

[Run4Evr]

Been holding up really well. Next addition is an awning.


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how did you get the wind deflector mounted like that ?

 

[AZBub]

how did you get the wind deflector mounted like that ?

used 4 brackets that came with the rack. flipped them around. 2 brackets have a spacer, those are the inner ones. Used some weatherstripping along bottom edge so it doesn’t scrape the paint. Bolted up and adjusted.


Initially I had it the way everyone seems to put it but the noise was awful going down the highway cause of the wind. I was getting whistling and a terrible resonating noise. Once I flipped it all the noises went away.

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[MrSeth]

So i’ve had mine operational for almost 2 years now. It’s been on several extended trips loaded to the gills.

1.) weld it together instead of using the screws.
2.) paint the whole rack in rustoleum or similar. I sprayed on a layer of rust reformer followed by Rustoleum semigloss black.

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How is the wind noise? I just ordered the exact same setup, but for my 4th gen.

 

[Wedgy]

ok,

so... what my questions are, does this interfere with the sunroof function at all. how did you seal the new holes in the roof

I kept the front section of the junk yard rack so the stock plastic caps fit in the front and the holes in the new extension piece lines up to where they didn't hit anything in the sunroof. I added a hole to the new rail where it butts up against the front end of the existing rail. There are three M6-1.0 nutserts/rivnuts in each new rail section, two use the stock holes and I drilled one at the rear of the added rail. I sealed around the rivnut/nutsert and the threads with RTV.
You can see that the full length of the roof is not flat so I have added a 1"x1"x 6' bar to each side of the rail and "contoured" them to match the roof line. The rack will sit on top of the bar then bolt to the roof rails using M6-1.0 ~3" long bolts to the existing sliding nuts that are in the stock roof rails, as the OP did in his design. I will try to get it together & some pictures later tonight.

Added some pictures, bad ones as it's almost dark, one is of the rails butted together. The rack is just resting on top of the 1"x1" right now but it conforms to the roof curve pretty well, it will fit perfect when I bolt it down. There are 2 extensions and in its position it just clears the tailgate spoiler and that's where the front ends up, about the same pitch as the windshield.

 

[AZBub]

How is the wind noise? I just ordered the exact same setup, but for my 4th gen.

It was terrible when it was mounted where the light pods are now.


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[3bears]

I kept the front section of the junk yard rack so the stock plastic caps fit in the front and the holes in the new extension piece lines up to where they didn't hit anything in the sunroof. I added a hole to the new rail where it butts up against the front end of the existing rail. There are three M6-1.0 nutserts/rivnuts in each new rail section, two use the stock holes and I drilled one at the rear of the added rail. I sealed around the rivnut/nutsert and the threads with RTV.
You can see that the full length of the roof is not flat so I have added a 1"x1"x 6' bar to each side of the rail and "contoured" them to match the roof line. The rack will sit on top of the bar then bolt to the roof rails using M6-1.0 ~3" long bolts to the existing sliding nuts that are in the stock roof rails, as the OP did in his design. I will try to get it together & some pictures later tonight.

thank you for your reply and explanation, with your mention of having to add a 1x1x6 bar bent to match....im not sure if this system is much of an advantage over doing ladder racks systems that dont need the extension you have done.
however...that said....I like your idea/design and I might still go that route for my Yakima cargo box and ski's..its clean looking...stock looking

 

[3bears]

I kept the front section of the junk yard rack so the stock plastic caps fit in the front and the holes in the new extension piece lines up to where they didn't hit anything in the sunroof. I added a hole to the new rail where it butts up against the front end of the existing rail. There are three M6-1.0 nutserts/rivnuts in each new rail section, two use the stock holes and I drilled one at the rear of the added rail. I sealed around the rivnut/nutsert and the threads with RTV.
You can see that the full length of the roof is not flat so I have added a 1"x1"x 6' bar to each side of the rail and "contoured" them to match the roof line. The rack will sit on top of the bar then bolt to the roof rails using M6-1.0 ~3" long bolts to the existing sliding nuts that are in the stock roof rails, as the OP did in his design. I will try to get it together & some pictures later tonight.

Added some pictures, bad ones as it's almost dark, one is of the rails butted together. The rack is just resting on top of the 1"x1" right now but it conforms to the roof curve pretty well, it will fit perfect when I bolt it down. There are 2 extensions and in its position it just clears the tailgate spoiler and that's where the front ends up, about the same pitch as the windshield.

people should read everything in a post THAT INCLUDES ME...DUHHH
I have been wondering if this set up would interfere with the sunroof and asked... felt I did not get a reply.....did I read all the answers or posts fully....NOPE...no excuse
today I picked up the roof rails and one cross bar to do this set up...when at the wrecking yard looked hard to see if it would interfere...did not look like it...but might be near....then re-read this thread and your posts....duhh...you answered it many days ago....my bad

thanks for your suggestions, I like this idea, and one I will go with

 

[Wedgy]

people should read everything in a post THAT INCLUDES ME...DUHHH
I have been wondering if this set up would interfere with the sunroof and asked... felt I did not get a reply.....did I read all the answers or posts fully....NOPE...no excuse
today I picked up the roof rails and one cross bar to do this set up...when at the wrecking yard looked hard to see if it would interfere...did not look like it...but might be near....then re-read this thread and your posts....duhh...you answered it many days ago....my bad

thanks for your suggestions, I like this idea, and one I will go with

There are actually 4 rivnuts on each side, 3 use the stock holes in the added rail section and I drilled one in the rear of the rail where it butts against the front of existing one. One of the photos shows a washer that I ground the sides off to fit in the rail channel on the added hole.

 

[Stepsinshadows]

Pics? Can we get more pics of the whole truck from different angles?

I really like what you’ve done and would love to see more pics of the entire truck from different angles.

I kept the front section of the junk yard rack so the stock plastic caps fit in the front and the holes in the new extension piece lines up to where they didn't hit anything in the sunroof. I added a hole to the new rail where it butts up against the front end of the existing rail. There are three M6-1.0 nutserts/rivnuts in each new rail section, two use the stock holes and I drilled one at the rear of the added rail. I sealed around the rivnut/nutsert and the threads with RTV.
You can see that the full length of the roof is not flat so I have added a 1"x1"x 6' bar to each side of the rail and "contoured" them to match the roof line. The rack will sit on top of the bar then bolt to the roof rails using M6-1.0 ~3" long bolts to the existing sliding nuts that are in the stock roof rails, as the OP did in his design. I will try to get it together & some pictures later tonight.

Added some pictures, bad ones as it's almost dark, one is of the rails butted together. The rack is just resting on top of the 1"x1" right now but it conforms to the roof curve pretty well, it will fit perfect when I bolt it down. There are 2 extensions and in its position it just clears the tailgate spoiler and that's where the front ends up, about the same pitch as the windshield.

 

[Mikiosmart]

Here is what I used

I got it from Home Depot.

I was just wondering what gauge you used for the L bracket. I see you got 1/20 for the square tube. I felt the 1/16 for the L bracket but it flexed a lot, so I grabbed the 1/8, but it was almost $40 per bracket. Of you can remember, let me know, because 1/16 will hold, I would much rather return this and save some money.

Thanks!

 

[tpotnoc]

Very nice OP! What do you use to prevent the awning from “hanging” off the bars? Seems like it wouldn’t be solid using ubolts on a round bar!