Building your own roof rack.

[derherr65]

Building a roof rack is fairly simple. Though I'm sure you guys could give me a lot of tips to improve upon my thoughts. The problem concerning me is how much weight will the fiberglass hard top on my '81 support while bouncing around off road without damage? I've never tried crawling up on top of it, so I have no feel for its strength. But I have to think that without support the fiberglass will crack and fail in short order. Also, if making a rack, the thought occurs to me why not make it also act as a roll bar?

My current thoughts are to make four supports inside the top, from the top of the bed rail to the underside of the top. Drill the necessary holes and mount a roof rack on top, bolted to the supports, sandwiching the fiberglass. Basically a four legged table arrangement.

I think this setup will handle luggage weight easily, but are there any points in the bed rails strong enough to handle a rollover? Or would i have to go to the floor and tie into the frame?

 

[az_762_nato]

I was actually planning on building a cage that actually has small standoffs that pass through the fiberglass to attach a rack to. If I needed it to be waterproof where the standoffs pass through, I could inset some small seals (think like output shaft seals) into the fiberglass that fit nice and tight around the standoffs. Im not really looking to do it that way in case of a rollover, but more so to increase the load carrying capacity of the roof rack above what the fiberglass alone can hold.

 

[chevysmithz71]

I don't think any portion of the bed sides are strong enough for a roll.Who knows one could turn into two....When it comes to your life and others in your hands I would build a strong cage and build the rack off that.Then you just KNOW your safe and it can handle the weight without any dought.
Just my.2

 

[super10brss]

I guess I use my Blaz-R for too many things but I find myself constantly on the fiberglass top doing something..... heck back last fall me (215lb) and my wife (not sure what she weighs but she is tall.. maybe 140ish ) were on the top picking muscidines out of the trees we couldn't reach from the ground... I "light foot" over the top of the drivers and passenger seat on the metal part but the fiberglass.... get r done.... I have really been wanting a safari rack for some time... too dang high dollar for now with too many others wants in front.....

 

[dfl701]

Does anyone have pics of a self made rack? I have thought about this but would want it to look so good it looks purchased

 

[GNERGY]

If you can weld thin metal, 1 inch EMT or conduit as it is called could be bent and welded into a nice looking strong roof rack, and not weigh a ton. And not cost a lot if money.
Tarey

 

[tRustyK5]

I built a roof rack for my buddy's K5 about 5 years ago. He's had all sorts of stuff up there...but mostly his boat.

1" x .100 wall tubing, and expanded steel of your choice. I used a torch to make the bends around an 8" round piece of pipe I had tack welded to the table.

4 mount pads out of 11 gauge steel formed to the contour of the top...roughly 3" x 3". We ran the bolts right through the top and dabbed on some silicone. It doesn't leak, and I have no worries walking around on top of it.

rene

 

[dfl701]

I built a roof rack for my buddy's K5 about 5 years ago. He's had all sorts of stuff up there...but mostly his boat.

1" x .100 wall tubing, and expanded steel of your choice. I used a torch to make the bends around an 8" round piece of pipe I had tack welded to the table.

4 mount pads out of 11 gauge steel formed to the contour of the top...roughly 3" x 3". We ran the bolts right through the top and dabbed on some silicone. It doesn't leak, and I have no worries walking around on top of it.

rene

That looks sweet from what you can see. That was probably a fraction of the cost of a defender or some other brand too I bet.

 

[tRustyK5]

Yeah, If I remember right material cost was under $100, with the 4' x 8' sheet of expanded metal being most of it. I did spend about 6 or 7 hours building it, and that was with my buddy's help. A tubing bender would have saved some time...but we didn't have one at the time.

Rene

 

[Vee]

my buddy built his own using gas pipe from home depot and a cheap pipe bender from harbor freight