MY homemade roof rack - ideas for your use, criticism, & improvement

[High_Country]

Well, I'm 95% done with my homemade roof rack and thought I'd post some pics. I appreciate the input I got from guys on this forum.

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I did start another brainstorming thread and got some good info here:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...-roof-rack-constructive-criticism-please.html
(Note I abandoned the design that used angle and instead went with strap for the sides)

In that thread I noted the following premises of my design:
1) This is in no way intended to be as attractive or as functional as a Gobi, Baja, whatever...I recognize this.
2) My time is precious so something simple and straightforward to fabricate was sought after. Again, back to not spending the time making it as attractive as a Gobi or other home-builds I've seen
3) I am going to be using the factory roof rails (similar in concept to the Rocky Road Outfitters rack)
4) I wanted it to be low profile and subtle.
5) The rack will be used mainly for lighter duty items (tents, bags, antique coleman stove, maxx traxx, etc) but I'm hoping it is substantial enough for a potential RTT setup in the future. We'll see...

I used 3/16" x 3" steel for the side, 1-1/4" 11gauge square tubing for the crossbars, and 3/4" 9gauge expanded metal for the deck. I used the 'super strut' or unistrut channel nuts inside the factory roof rails. They fit snugly and were just the ticket.

I attached to the factory rails near each end to keep the load as close to the roof attachment point as possible and rely as little as possible on the rigidity and strength of the factory roof rails (an exercise in maximizing available moment capacity for all you structural engineers out there).

I have about 1-1/2" of clearance between the roof and the bottom of the crossbars in the center of the roof (tightest spot to the flat roof). If you measure down to the raised ribs, I have about 1" of clearance. I felt this was sufficient for ties, bolts, etc. Oh, and it clears the shark fin!

I'll let the pics speak to the rest of it. Note that I plan on adding a simple metal (20ga?) wind deflector or fairing to the front. This is not seen in the pictures. I also plan on getting it powder coated in a textured satin black.

The rack weighs 67lbs is extremely rigid - I (215lbs) walked all over it on the shop floor to try it out. I probably could have gotten by with 14ga crossbars which would have lightened it up considerably. Oh well...maybe next time.

Overall I'm happy. It's subtle. Low profile. Strong. And, the expanded metal offers near infinite tie down spots. I considered welding on brackets for lights or other things, but after some thought, I'm not putting lights on the rack anyways. If I have the itch later on, I'll modify it.

On with the pics:

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Barely noticeable!
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Shark fin tucked underneath

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Hatch open

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Thought I'd share. Thanks for looking!

 

[Honu*]

looks great
I need to learn to weld

I rattle canned my sliders on my FJ with the bed liner stuff and it turned out great took my time with primer long dry time etc... freaking tough as nails and was cheap to do

I love DIY thought out projects !

 

[Speedy Gomez]

Nice Job!

 

[Apex Overland]

Nice build, I remember your first post on a diy rack. get that thing powder coated or just painted and its going to look great.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

That's good old American ingenuity right there. ;-)

I have two things I would do:

1) I would radius the arrow points on the ends. Try to make them meld with the factory rails.
2) I would powder coat the rails black and the rack bed white to blend into your roof.

Personal taste and just my .02

 

[Sisente]

I see some spaces in the expanded metal, but no real tie down points.

 

[High_Country]

That's good old American ingenuity right there. ;-)



I have two things I would do:



1) I would radius the arrow points on the ends. Try to make them meld with the factory rails.

2) I would powder coat the rails black and the rack bed white to blend into your roof.



Personal taste and just my .02

Thanks for the suggestions. The front arrow points were left like that as I plan on attaching a fairing at that angle - simply welding a piece along the front, laid back to rest on the arrow points. I like the idea for the back. I can smooth those out a little more.

 

[blizz86]

From the pictures it looks like the stock rails are the limitting factor in your rack, have you considered buildings legs that would just bolt into where the factory holes are?

 

[High_Country]

I see some spaces in the expanded metal, but no real tie down points.

The 8 'spaces' in the expanded metal are for access to the bolts that hold it to the rails. There are eight of them. The holes in the expanded metal itself are big enough to accept most of your standard ratcheting tie down strap hooks. So, I can hook anywhere to secure a load. The 9gauge exp metal is heavy stuff.

 

[High_Country]

From the pictures it looks like the stock rails are the limitting factor in your rack, have you considered buildings legs that would just bolt into where the factory holes are?

I did briefly consider this, but abandoned the thought due to the increased complexity, fab time, concerns about water tightness and the fact I would have to remove the factory rails. I know it's not real popular, but I kinda like the idea of being able to 'upfit' the 4runner with the rack prior to a big trip or something where I'll need the capacity but otherwise leave it off and have a subtly modified, sleek 4R (and not carry around the weight, take a fuel mileage hit, etc).
My intent is to not permanently mount the rack but have it as an accessory I can employ when needed. I probably should have stated that earlier.
So, yes, you're right. The factory rails were my design constraints. ; )

 

[High_Country]

Got the fairing built and installed. I plan on adding weather stripping or rubber to the bottom edge of the fairing.

It's essentially ready for powder coat now. I'm very pleased with the end result.

About $110 in materials and hardware. We'll see how much powder coating costs.

 

[YodaPride]

I like the finished look! It's got kind of a stealth look to it. Not huge and in your face like the one that I am going to build!

 

[Mesofluk]

I like the idea, great custom job.

 

[bane]

I really like your design and I think that the ability to remove or install it easily when needed is a huge plus. I'm surprised that it's not a more popular option.

Are the factory rails really that much weaker than extending feet to the mounting points?

 

[DesertCanyons]

DIY Roof Rack

I like how this came out. I remember your mock up drawing.

I like how you ignored the shark fin antennae and built the rack right over it. I have no use for Syrus radio. Cool cowling too. Very clean.

I would have done anything I could to avoid having those 8 holes in the mesh. Like maybe an intermediate plate bolted to the roof rails and a bolt welded on to the inside of your fab'd rails. Otherwise it looks ideal, flawless.

 

[Lexusbstrdchild]

Came out really nice! It will look even better with PC on it, good work.

 

[dawudih]

As my 6 year old would say, I'm a little jelly now.

 

[High_Country]

Powder coated and installed

All right, I got the rack back from the powder coater. Overall I'm very pleased. I selected a textured black finish (as opposed to say a smooth semi-gloss or gloss black). I think it will hold up well. The coater did a zinc based primer prior to applying the textured black to prevent...okay...minimize any rust.

These are iPhone pics so don't expect professional photography here!

Stainless steel hardware mounting of course...

Already got the fishing poles strapped to it to take advantage of some nice Sunday afternoon weather.