DIY Roof Rack questions

[sixstringsteve]

This may belong in the Backcrountry section.

I like camping. I have a '97 4-door Suzuki Sidekick. It did not come with any factory roof rails to put ski racks/bike racks, etc on.

I want to build my own roof rack, but I have some basic questions.

If it helps, here are the needs for my roof rack (they change based on the trip I'm going on).
- carry 2-4 mountain bikes
- carry camping equipment for the scouts
- carry my camping equipment, spare tools, jerry cans, etc.
- carry my ski racks
- offroad lights on front for night wheeling
- carry whatever else doesn't fit in the rig when it's loaded up.

I was thinking of installing some core trax as a base, then I could attach different modules for it. I'm not 100% sold on core trax, it's just the best solution I can think of right now.

Has anyone on here done anything similar? I have no experience drilling in and attaching things to the roof of my vehicle, and I don't want it to be a leaky rust bucket in a few years. I want to do it clean, and do it right. Anyone have any tips/experience that might help me out?

 

[Kiel]

I would just use gutter mounts

 

[sixstringsteve]

i'll need to take a picture of my sidekick. It doesn't have gutters. I could do something like a thule rack, but they're $80 just for the foot kit. That doesn't include load bars.

 

[sixstringsteve]

chevycrew mentioned nutserts, those sound like a great way to attach the trax. I'm just curious how much weight they could handle in the roof of a car.

 

[Marsh99]

I used these at my old work a lot... They work great I am unsure on the weight limit.

 

[SAMI]

The benefit to the tracks is that they would distribute the weight out.

 

[sixstringsteve]

do you think the stock sheetmetal would hold weight up there (50-120 lbs) with the nutserts? It seems like it'd work, but I'd hate to have my roof rack fly off on the freeway and injure someone.

 

[Chevycrew]

Nut serts are how a factory toyota roof rack is attached.

I even have a complete 4runner roof rack in the basement...

 

[sixstringsteve]

ooh... that's tempting.

 

[Chevycrew]

Rack:

 

[sixstringsteve]

that looks like a great option.

 

[Unimog]

Nut serts are how a factory toyota roof rack is attached.

Nut Serts is a good idea only if you could mount them in structurally sound areas. Just as a point of reference, imagine a nut sert mounted to the very middle of the roof sheet metal and how much weight that would support. Maybe you can figure out where multiple layers of sheet metal overlap.

 

[Chevycrew]

The 4runner nut serts are only mounted through single layer. With a rack its not towards the middle anyway. The nut serts only hold the track to the roof, the track and roof support the weight.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I ended up finding a cheap Thule setup, so I'll be running those load bars. I like how they mount in the seam on my roof/doorjamb.

Now I'm thinking of building my own basket. I've seen people do it with conduit before.

I'm still pretty new to fab stuff. I've done sliders, bumpers, and frame extensions, but I haven't worked with anything small before. Any recommendations regarding materials? I heard you can bend most piping under 1" with a conduit bender. Can I find steel conduit (not galvanized) at home depot? Will it be strong enough to hold an ice chest, jerry cans, and other camping crap?

 

[Corban_White]

3/4" EMT (electro-mechanical tubing)(AKA thin conduit) will be perfect for this application. It will be plenty strong (provided the design is sound) and it is around $1.50 for a 10 foot length. It is galvanized however. (all conduit is) This isn't really a problem as you can just burn thru the galvanizing (don't breathe the fumes) or you can sand it off at the weld joint. It is available at HD and Lowe's.

 

[cjncustoms]

I have a roof rack sitting in my garage I would let go for really cheap! I believe it's around 5'x4 maybe 3.5'... It's pretty nice and in great shape! I could get some actual dimensions tomorrow or sat...

 

[sixstringsteve]

sweet, thanks. PM sent.

 

[sixstringsteve]

3/4" EMT (electro-mechanical tubing)(AKA thin conduit) will be perfect for this application. It will be plenty strong (provided the design is sound) and it is around $1.50 for a 10 foot length. It is galvanized however. (all conduit is) This isn't really a problem as you can just burn thru the galvanizing (don't breathe the fumes) or you can sand it off at the weld joint. It is available at HD and Lowe's.

Great to know, thanks. If I weld it outside with a breeze, should I be ok? I've heard the nasty flu-like symptoms that follow those who weld galvanized steel, just wondering if that'd do the trick.

 

[pELYgroso]

Steve, I read of someone using a tri-fold aluminum dirtbike ramp as a base and taking off the hinges, making some brackets to bolt the aluminum together, and mounting it to whatever base. I think this is what I'm going to do on the 'runner. The aluminum is PLENTY strong for whatever I'll be putting up there, way more lightweight than the steel equivalent reducing top-heaviness, lots of places on the rack to hook a tie-down/bungee, and most of all, I want a rack that can hold plenty when I need it to, but be low profile when it's empty, so I wouldn't make any sides for it. Just the flat rack on some strong bases (and prob some lights in front) For me, this makes a lot of sense. The tri-fold ramps go on sale at harbor freight for $75 every now and then, and would prob be just right over the sidekick......my .02

 

[sixstringsteve]

hm... that's an interesting option as well. Thanks Tyler. I'm sure I can build one out of conduit for a ton cheaper. But I"ll keep my eye out for used stuff. I really want some sides on my rack to keep stuff in (jerry cans, tents, backpacks, etc).