Roof racks with something other than steel/aluminum

[outwardbound]

Hi guys, I am relatively new to the forum but not to Toyota or 4runner for that matter. I did just pick up a 15TEP a couple months ago and am in the market for a roof rack. I've read probably every thread I could find on here on roof racks. I see everything made from steel and from aluminum. However, how come no one is experimenting with hardened/molded plastic or Kydex for roof rack components or for the rack itself, the strength to weight ratio is outstanding. working for Uncle Sam, I am also using high strength plastics and kydex materials for various things and the durability and strength is amazing.

I am by no means an engineer so if there are issues with long term corrosion against the elements, I don't know and certainly haven't experienced it with anything we use in the far reaching $h!t holes of the earth we go.

Just curious.



Cheers.

 

[Jetboy]

I'm not familiar with Kydex. I am in the middle of building a composite sailboat in honeycomb core with epoxy GRP. It would make a great material for a roof rack in some respects. Ultra light, very strong, but it's a lot more expensive to build for most manufacturers. It's great stuff - but I'm not sure people would want to pay for the cost of it when the weight is negligible in comparison to the weight of the 4runner.

FWIW my future plan sometime down the road is to re-build my trail righ (an fj40) with a tube frame and a full honeycomb/fiberglass body. In that case I could reduce the weight dramatically. Probably get the full vehicle weight down to maybe 25-2800lbs. That would improve performance significantly and after building a trimaran with the stuff, it would be really easy to build an FJ40 tub.

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

Here's the reasons:

metal is easy to work with.

plastic requires a mold machine.

manufacturers of aftermarket racks are mainly metal workers, they don't work with plastic.

A rack can be built for less than a hundred bucks in materials and labor in most shops, and the only equipment needed is a welder, grinder and if its really fancy, a metal press brake.

A plastic/graphite/pvc (which is what kydex is, an acrylic pvc) mold machine is probably going to cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce tubing that can be used.

Its just not worth the investment to do a pvc rack. It would be heavy due to having solid (or close to being solid) tubing to create the strength and durability needed.

I would also venture to say that UV and weather conditions will be a bad thing on a plastic rack. I bet cold weather would make it brittle, and extreme heat (say, a black roof with a black pvc rack), that plastic would degrade pretty fast, much like lots of plastic parts on vehicles. I haven't even talked about strapping stuff down to it. Imagine putting a 200lb. load on the roof rack, how tight would you make your straps to hold that load down safely? I bet that the straps would have several hundred pounds of tension on them. Could you imagine that plastic cracking after 5 or 6 years of weather and UV? I could...

Neat idea though, but I just don't think it would last long outdoors, nor be strong enough for the beating some roof racks get.

 

[SouthernSS]

^--- bazinga

 

[KidVermicious]

Sure you could make it from PVC.

Or even wood! But perhaps this isn't the style you're looking for?

 

[outwardbound]

No I am not interested in a wooden rack or pvc pipe contraption. Just interested in the lightest strongest gear possible and thought it was worth a discussion. I do appreciate the feed back though.


Thanks.

 

[Neauxla]

Or even wood! But perhaps this isn't the style you're looking for?

ound:ound:ound:

 

[Monkeymenno]

^Pretty amazing. It looks like he drove it home.

To do a titanium rack would be pretty cool but $$$$$$$$$$$$

Carbon fiber suffers from UV degradation but BMW has used it for numerous roofs so I would think that would work. Imagine how cool carbon fiber pipes with anodized aluminum hardware with build in d-ring tie down points at the joints holding it together. Would look sweet but it would be on the wrong side of 5 figures. Cool thought though.

 

[TBrock]

^Pretty amazing. It looks like he drove it home.

To do a titanium rack would be pretty cool but $$$$$$$$$$$$

Carbon fiber suffers from UV degradation but BMW has used it for numerous roofs so I would think that would work. Imagine how cool carbon fiber pipes with anodized aluminum hardware with build in d-ring tie down points at the joints holding it together. Would look sweet but it would be on the wrong side of 5 figures. Cool thought though.

He did.

http://youtu.be/Mo4g5qxkiCQ

 

[KidVermicious]

^Pretty amazing. It looks like he drove it home.

He did. He's got a thread on it somewhere on the forum, I don't have the link handy but search out Izzardking.

 

[Stifler]

kydex, while strong I would think has its issues with temperature. I know my raven concealment cracked in -30 during regular range use. Personally the FrontRunner seems to be the best bang for the buck. The only reason I didnt order one was because it is only a 3/4 rack

 

[outwardbound]

I agree. I like the baja flat utility rack as well. But, in the spirit of my history/experience with Gobi, and peer pressure, I pulled the trigger on the Gobi stealth through the Spring 15 Group Buy.

 

[Stifler]

cant go wrong with Gobi.... I have one on order but I am rethinking that and might go Frontrunner. There is a thread on expeditionportal on a full frontrunner for a 5th gen 4r that looks promising. I decided against a sunroof in my 2015 so I could utilize the entire roof

 

[outwardbound]

cant go wrong with Gobi.... I have one on order but I am rethinking that and might go Frontrunner. There is a thread on expeditionportal on a full frontrunner for a 5th gen 4r that looks promising. I decided against a sunroof in my 2015 so I could utilize the entire roof

I like the Front Runners, but like you, didn't want a 3/4 roof rack, plus, I've been unable to find anything about the wind noise on them; I've never seen wind fairings for them. I had a gobi on a jeep I used to have and loved it, Part of my regrets not going with a Baja utility rack. but once I factored in costs and all that I am getting with the group buy, I'd have spent nearly the same or more to buy the baja rack, ladder, and other accessories anyhow.