Custom roof rack

I posted this over on TN but haven't gotten much feedback. Thought I'd put it up here as well.

I've been "working" on this rack for quite a while, meaning it sat in the garage half finished, but I finally got around to wiring and painting it. I think it turned out pretty good... though if I did it again, I'd shorten the dip in the front for looks.



Here is the initial concept:



And a couple more angles...












I put the tabs on the front for a plexiglass air dam. I'm hoping I can use a heat gun and wrap it around the sides a little but I'm not there yet. Let me know what you think.

 

i like it!

 

Looks awesome!

 

Nice job looks sweet! Are you going to sell these?

 

That is a sickkk rack!! I would definitely buy one!

 

Thanks for the compliments. No, I doubt I'd ever sell them (perhaps this one some day). I doubt there'd be any money in it to warrant all the work. I figure I've got about $250-$275 in materials (including $160 for lights) and a conservative estimate of 40 hours of labor. Doubt anyone would want to pay $500 for a rack made out of conduit.

 

If you make one for an extra cab, I would love to be your guinea pig.

 

It looks very very nice. It will be a pain to wash the roof of the truck, but that close to the roof makes it look very nice. Nice work.

 

Real nice job!

 

It looks amazing!

 

Very cool! Did you use the factory rack mounting points under the rubber strip for your feet?

 

Looks really good. Great job. I like how it is so close to the roof. Is it loud when driving on the highway?

 

I agree. This was mostly done by eye and it was my first time using a manual conduit bender so I had less than perfect knowledge of where the bends were going to end up. If I do it again, I'd keep the same slope at the front to match the windshield but decrease the droop in the front. The 4" lights would still fit and the air dam would be smaller.

Yes, I used the factory mounting points. I made 3 different sized brackets (to match the factory threaded holes) that are U shaped in profile. On the rack facing side they have a nut welded underneath so you can just drop a bolt through the rack and tighten it up. I like the design in principle because when the rack isn't mounted, you barely notice them. However, I just used an cutoff wheel & grinder to cut them out of I think 14 gauge steel and then a vice and pliers to make the shape. Thus they don't all look identical/professional.

I would probably shorten it up another 1/2 inch or so if I did it again though the lights are already only 3/8" off the cab so it might need to flare up in the front a tad. I had it up to 80 this morning and it didn't howl at all. There is a minor "rushing" noise that you can hear in the cab above 60mph if you listen but a modest radio volume drowns it out. I expect that to go away when I get the air dam on. I was surprised though, I had it on before I painted it with only 2 lights installed and it howled like crazy above 40mph. I'm wondering if the spray on bedliner I used (textured) provides enough turbulence to break it up...

 

That looks great! What program did you use for the 3D model? If its Autodesk Inventor I would be willing to do some shop drawings and post them for anyone to fab. (since you have no plans to sell them!)

 

nice work! one of the better lookin racks ive seen. ... can you make one for an access cab now??? =)

 

Solid model was done in SolidEdge. I think I still have all the measurements for the roof mount points as well so I could incorporate them into a drawing.

Seriously though, I looked around a fair amount before I decided to fab one and nothing existed like I wanted. I believe that still to be the case at least with this type of mounting setup. What would people be willing to pay for something like this? The hard part was getting all the measurements right using a tapemeasure and standing on my sliders . Now that I've got the critical dimensions figured out, the fab would go much quicker. Especially if I got a tubing notcher.

 

Wow, thats awesome looking, nice work man!

I like the low profile look!

 

Nice looking roof rack! Is there much wind noise??

The rack on my previous FJ created much wind noise that was not tolerable.

It looks great and very functionable.

Taco4x4nc

 

looks good. i give you an A+

 

I like it! I am planning on something similar in the future.