Pics of your 1st gen roof rack?

[KidVermicious]

Browsed thru the pic threads, didn't get enough. Need more pics!

Specifically looking to fab a rack thats independant of the hard top, I figure I can do the ladder rack from a tacoma, or bolt it to the side panels, any other ideas?

 

[priestsallore]

Hey dude , you want a custom rack for your truck?

look up Freeride Fabrication, & call Andrew Bernhard, he is down here in Austin, TX though.

let him know Gabe from SA, TX sent ya.

 

[KidVermicious]

Thanks, but I'm hoping to fab my own. I'm just looking to see what solutions folks cleverer than I may have come up with.

 

[Iroke17]

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[KidVermicious]

here is mine i did not custom make it but i did make the mounts

its the cheepest basket you can buy on ebay... i just took off the plastic mounts and got some alunimum angle iron and polished it up.
its the best picture i have right now if your interested i can take some better ones.

That's not bad looking, nice work.

It's bolted to the hard top, right? I'm hoping to find examples of racks that stand on their own, so I can run them without my top.

 

[austintaco]

There is a thread on expeditionportal about this. The last I heard, the member was going to go with a ladder rack made for trucks with campershells.

If you find something, please post up. I am looking for a versatile system that I can use on either of my trucks, depending on which one I am using.

 

[Iroke17]

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[Iroke17]

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[Iroke17]

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[Iroke17]

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[Iroke17]

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[austintaco]

Check out this thread and go to page 10

1987 4Runner- Expedition Build Up. - Page 11 - Expedition Portal Forum

It depends on how much weight you want to carry and if you want to drill and seal your top.

 

[KidVermicious]

i dont understand how you could not attach it to the top i dont see how its possible at all.

Like this. Which may very well be what I end up doing, rather than build me own, that's a really good price.

The only reason not to go this route would be the seal when I run my hardshell, but I think I can address that.

 

[austintaco]

If you go that route, please post back up with pics and opinions.

 

[Iroke17]

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[fourwd1]

That is scary.

 

[Iroke17]

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[fourwd1]

What's the footprint of that piece of angle stock, maybe 2 sq in ?
And the bolt holding it on is what size ? 10, 12, maybe 1/4" ?

All that weight supported by 8 sq in and held on by 4 bolts is scary.
Hope there's reinforcing plates underneath at least.

All that weight up top also raises the vehicles COG.

 

[KidVermicious]

what make you want to run them all the way down seams like more work than i would want to do and it prevents you from taking the top off..

No, you're missing the point. I want the rack pointed to the bed rails precisely so I can run topless and keep the rack. If I point the rack to the hardtop, then I lose the rack when I lose the top.

I remove the top in the summer.

Which is when I'm most likely to need the rack.

See?

 

[KidVermicious]

Got it off last night (and of course it promptly started raining), but it looks like this will not be as simple as I thought. I'd forgotten about the bolts across the upper back of the cab, those will not line up if I insert anything between the bed rails and hard top. It might seal anyway, but I'm not happy with the idea of added stress along the side bolts if I get off-camber.

Options:
1) reinforce the side rails with more bolts.
2) dish the points along the rail where the top bolts go, so I can insert tabs from rack without raising the top.
3) mount the rack straight to the body panels.

The last is not really an option, I've got a fairly clean body and I don't know that those panels will handle the shear anyway. The second might be the cleanest solution, but I suspect the hardest. The first is a brute force solution that does not appeal, but might be the path of least resistance.

Any other ideas?