Custom Roof Basket Build Thread

Of course man! Haha! I've got tons of plans. I'm doing all of the things that I can personally do right now though. Doing projects like this are much cheaper than buying them from a manufacturer. Next on the list, my own set of sliders!

I made it the width I did because I think it does follow the lines of the truck. The slope of the rack is supposed to match the slope of the truck, which I think it does pretty nicely. I guess I'm not a big fan of things hanging out over the truck. Thanks for the input though!

 

Ya man, I wish I had the talent you do, that is just insane. Great work.

 

Thanks dude! It really just took a lot of patience though. Welding is easy to do as long as you have access to one. One thing I could have done to make it easier on me was to not make the supports at 45deg angles. The welds at the 45deg sites were tough to get right! I was hoping to be able to build them for people because it started off easy, then with all the pipe bending became troublesome and lengthy. Anyways, thanks for the props! I appreciate it.

 

Actually your rack is narrower then the mounting rack unless there is another pic that I should be looking at. It could still be widened a couple inches on each side and not even be close to hanging over. I am not degrading your rack. It looks good and you have put a lot of effort into it. I am just giving some constructive criticism. I may be interested in one or two. Later, Cam-shaft.

 

I see what you're saying now. Ya, I could have extended it a few inches. It would have given me more room inside the basket as well. Oh well, too late now! Haha! I do appreciate the criticism though. I wanted to see what people thought of it, truthfully.

 

I like it! Great job!

 

Nice work , congrats . I've been following your thread since day 1 , good to see it on your rig . Looks great .

 

Thanks guys!

Haha! Sorry you had to wait so long in order to see the finished product!

 

I'd be interested in knowing the dimensions for the bolt pattern where you plan to connect the rack to the roof. Length/width of the feet, bolt pattern and size, how much lift you think is needed to allow for roof contour.

 

Don't quote me on this as you should measure yours before you build anything but my most forward holes were about 2 1/4" apart and my most rearward holes were 3" apart. The channel is about 1" wide and maybe 1/2" tall. The feet are made of 3/16" steel and it was pretty much trial and error before I got them to fit in the channel. The legs I made were 3" tall with a bend in them. I would say that that's about as low as you can go for the rear cross bar unless you want to hit the roof. Here's a pic of how close mine is:


Here's a picture of how high the legs in the rear stick up past the weather stripping:


The front legs were made a little taller so that the bars could be level across the roof.

 

Thanks for the measurements. THat will get me started.

 

Very cool rack. I have been trying to decide what to throw up on the OEM bars to keep things tied together. The Yakima Loadwarrior and Thule Moab don't seem like enough for the money...

I have read this a few times now and did I miss it? What is the diameter of the tubing?

 

Sweet rack- enjoyed this thread.

Azbackcountry

 

Its not tubing. Its thinwall conduit. Do not attempt to put anything heavy in it if its made from this...

 

I think it looks like crap, better send that to me so I can get a better look at it.

Great work man nice skills.

 

Why do you think this? Just because it's conduit doesn't mean that it's weak when properly supported. The OEM roof rails have a max advertised load capacity of 75lbs. I'm 170lbs and I've stood on the rails of my basket while mounted on the roof (and on the ground) and there was no deflection in the tubes. I highly doubt I'll be putting more than 170lbs of stuff in the basket, but if I did, I wouldn't think twice about it.

 

x3

 

subscribed hell ya

 

Here's a crappy picture of what the crossbars look like when the basket it removed. You can see how low profile they are.


Here's one from the side:


I've finished wiring my lights so I'll have to get some pictures of that up. It's been a very useful addition so far!

 

Holy crap no wonder you need a roof basket!! LOL