cannot find a c channel for roof gutter

I cannot find a c channel that is small enought to fit in the gutter..they are all to wide! Do you guys kno were to buy some online??

 

http://www.mcmaster.com/

 

It needs to be 3 inches long 2 inches high and 1 inch pn the bottom flat and top flat

 

Any ideas?? Just something so I could mount a straight bar across the roof

 

what are you going to use this for? any hvac man could fab that for you in about 2 min out of sheet or anything up to about 22 gauge. depends on what u want to put up there, and the waterproof just get really liberal with the clear silicone, dont use black the clean is much stronger (idk why that is but its true.)

 

i was just going to cut about 3" of the weather striping

 

pretty phsched to see you starting on this anthony!

after looking at the drawing again, i think it may be best, both for waterproofing and ease of mounting, to leave the weatherstripping intact, and just drill a hole in it. if you cut a piece of rubber to go between the weatherstripping and the c-channel, you could actually use larger c-channel, that doesn't have to fit in the gutter. it could jsut sit on top...may actually give you more stability.

 

im going to screw it into the factory holes in the rain gutter...then pust a peice if conduit across it and mount 4 lights on top

 

im going to build just a bar for now..maybe roof rack later..i totaly see what you are saying tho! oh and i could not figure out wear the wires go!..i looked in the front of the gutter by the windsheild and i didnt see a place for them to go

 

yea the 2 holes on the roof..in the gutter

 

yeah, you can use the same thing we talked about whether its a bar or full rack.

as for the wires, you'll have to drill new holes, similar to the ones for the factory rack...they just won't be threaded obviously. i was able to run wires through the factory holes since my thule rack doesn't use them....though i had to drill more anyway when i ran out of room in the existing holes.i can get more pictures if you need

 

i was thinking about rinning it to the back of the cab haha but that means alot of extra wiring..

 

that would work, but you're right, it is a lot of extra wiring. you'd also have to rerout it if you ever decided to go full roof rack. but splicing wires is easy, so not too big of a deal.

i'd say the issue with running them back there is that wherever you have wires under the stripping, it gives it a small bulge. for an inch or two up front, it won't be noticeable, but down the hole channel, it might be different

 

also, i just emailed the guy that manages the machine shop i use, and he surprisingly got back right away. he said that there's not really 1 inch c-channel out there. there sortof is, but it's usually specifically made for some application, and only sold to the company that uses it regularly in their products......aka, not something you can buy in small ammounts. he did suggest though that you could get 1 inch aluminum box tubing and cut off one side. this would be easiest with a milling machine, bout could be done with a ban saw or even a hack saw. essentially make your own c channel. or, as stated above, some 1/8th inch steel and someone with a brake

 

ook, yea i see what your saying, home depot had tons of 1 inch aluminum box tubing..you could probly get away without cutting one side..like just get a longer bolt and drill from the top down

 

i didn't even think abotu that...that would make it real easy. only thing to look out for is when you put the bar going across, will 1 inch of raise give you enough clearance to get over the curvature of our roofs?

also, you would have to drill holes in one side of the condut where the lights will go so the nut that holds the lights on will actually be inside the conduit...otherwise, i have a feeling the nut would hit the roof. that's kinda hard to picture, i can draw it up again if you need

 

yep i just thought of that! i dont think it would be enough clearemce for the bolt..i think you would need about 2" for it to work

 

yeah, probably. but if you could put the nut/bolt inside the condut, i think you'd have enough clearance...you'd just have to bolt the lights to it before mounting it on the roof.

i think it'd look pretty cool to have it low-profile like that. you'd also eliminate the need for a fairing

 

soo i would need todrill a big hole at the bottom and stick the nut up there then stick the screw threw the top! well even if i mess up conduit was only 3.17$ per 10 ft at home depot

 

just checked..looks like 1" wont work i may have to some how stack the square tubing