1st gen roof racks

this is the current set up, 31's right now, just waiting till I need new tires for the 33's

 

It's actually a wal-Mart basket that I cut apart and welded square tube into to strengthen it. Probably could have just fabbed one up lol

 

Heres what I came up with. when i welded up my own headache rack i just build it off of that. whole thing is removeable within two minunits

 

Does gobi make racks for taco's? Their 4runner offerings are sexy!

I designed a custom one on my shell out of rectangular and square aluminum tubing and flat bar. Wish I'd gone with round bar as it's easier to tie things to... although it is super easy to bolt accessories to since it's flat.

Here are a few photos of mine. Not the same application since it's on a shell, but I think the way I tucked the solar below the crossbars was novel and useful. I use the truck for lumber and plywood runs and I didn't want to have to pull the panels (there are two) everytime I went to home depot for sheet goods or 10ft'ers.

Also not being able to see the panels from the ground has proven to be a good theft deterrent.

 

I have the Smittybilt compact Defender roof rack on mine, they make a larger version as well that covers the whole roof.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what length crossbars do you have on there. I'm trying to figure out how wide I should go on mine.

 

I have the 48" yakima bars on my double cab and they are pretty much the width of the roof if that helps gauge it for you

They have about 2" past each tower on my setup

 

Yakima everything. Pieced together off CL. Save big bucks. I only drilled into the cap.

 

Recent thread here as well with some good ideas.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/roof-rack-help.491525/#post-15229729

 

I mounted a Curt basket on my topper with some blocks of polyurethane blocks purchased on eBay. This way I could keep the rack very close to the roof. I shaped them with woodworking tools. Sanded an angle on the surface meeting the topper, and routed a groove for the rail of the rack to fit into. I drilled through rail of the rack, through the block, through the fiberglass cap, and attached with bolts.

 

This is my set up,

Yakima load warrior with the Q towers. I did lower the rack by placing the Q tower bars through the rack instead of on top of the rack. And I used some u-bolts for Lowe's to attach it.

 

Looks good!

What Roof Rack did you use on the cab side ?

Thinking of doing similar.

Just not as many Roof Rack options for us X-Cab guys

 

Here's my thread of building my own...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/camper-roof-rack.541617/

There is not much in the way for racks, as I'm sure you've noticed and there sure as hell wasn't anything I was ok with throwing on my truck. So... I made my own and I love it. Honestly, I don't use it that often, it's kind of a PITA to get stuff up there and down when I have a bed, but it is badass. I get compliments on it everywhere. Yea sure, it's not perfect and its steel so there's some rust, but the lights are AMAZING and I love the look.

Point is, don't be afraid to make your own. It may cost you more than it did me, but there's nothing wrong with learning to weld or how to fabricate. I'm an engineering student and run my school's machine shop, so that's what I used to build mine. I only bought the lights, wiring, and the lights, I had the rest of the materials available to me, so I spent less than 200$ and couldn't be happier. I never made a drawing or wrote anything down, I knew exactly what I wanted and I built it, there's nothing wrong with that!

 

Did you use their hinged mounts and just drill into your roof?

Old post I know.....

 

Drilled the roof, the Smittybilt Defender racks come with hinged mounts that attach via well nuts that get drilled into the roof. The only roof rack I know of for our trucks that doesn't require drilling is the Yakima racks

 

I dont mind drilling, did it to mount my prinsu on my tundra, was just wondering which ones you used as I was looking at that on Amazon and didnt appear to come with the mounts. Thanks homie

 

I went with a combo of stuff works great.

 

Looks great and what I am looking for. Smittybuilt site says it needs a "vehicle specific mounting kit" but can't find info on what that is. What are you using to mount this to the truck?