building a roof rack for my burb.

[heffalump]

I wanted a rack for my for my suburban for a while now and never really liked the looks of the off the shelf ones, not to mention a lack of funds. So I figured I would build my own. I ended up getting a huge section of an old trailer frame. Its 1 inch, 1/8 inch thick square tubing. I've pretty well got the dimensions sorted out as far as the length and width, but still haven't quite figured out the height or exactly how to mount it. I've got a couple ideas for the mounts, but would like to hear everybody's thoughts and opinions. Its already got a couple holes in the roof from the old radio antennas so I don't have the hole virgin roof issue...

 

[PrairieDrifter]

I want to make a roof rack for my burb too. I had a factory roof rack and rear spoiler I think I'm just gonna build it around those mounting spots.

 

[89Suburban]

I would take some 22 or 24 gauge sheet metal and use that for a mounting pad for each foot of the rack and use a rubber gasket between it and the body. Shape the sheet metal to the body contour. Mount your 4 - 6 pad locations then build your rack and set the rack on the pads to get the right angle ground off the legs, tack them down the remove for final welding?

 

[heffalump]

I would take some 22 or 24 gauge sheet metal and use that for a mounting pad for each foot of the rack and use a rubber gasket between it and the body. Shape the sheet metal to the body contour. Mount your 4 - 6 pad locations then build your rack and set the rack on the pads to get the right angle ground off the legs, tack them down the remove for final welding?

I've got some angle iron that I'm thinking of using for the mounts but I'll have to get a little creative with the placement for lack of flat spots to mount to... also I wanna tie in to the ceiling braces where they meet up with the roof. Is this really necessary, or a little overkill? This thing is gonna be heavy as hell and I wanna make sure it's mounted solid.

 

[89Suburban]

That's a good idea about the ceiling braces. Also along the sides of the roof on the inside there is a nice heavy flange that bolts the sides and the roof together. Maybe even tying into that and have your mounts just pass through the roof skin with some sealer around them. Pull your headliner in the rear and you will see what I am taking about. I am sure I have pics of that in my headliner thread if you want to look it up. That should be plenty sturdy enough to tie into.

 

[skysurfer]

The factory luggage rack pads are 36" apart with the front mount centered over the rear passenger doors. I carry 300 lbs. in the basket all the time but don't stand on top to load.

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My friend Chris has a custom rack on his that was made from 1.5" thick wall tube stock. His mounting pads are further out than the factory ones and he can stand on the rack to load. The pics are a little confusing because he also has his old Confer rack hanging in the carport. The new rack is flat with loops welded along the edge for straps or a cargo net.

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The front mounts are about an inch longer than the rears to keep everything level.

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Middle mount.

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[heffalump]

Not a whole lot of progress today.. started raining and got cold as hell so I decided to retreat inside and play video games.. did get the headliner and trim out, and got all my measurements figured out for the mounts. Luckily all the trim is in good shape, the headliner... not so much..

 

[heffalump]

The headliner is pretty f-ed up.. both front and rear sections are warped pretty bad and the one for the rear has quite a few holes in it. I should probably replace it but, I don't have the $$$ for a new one and a good used one is gonna be a bit hard to find. So I thought maybe there's a good alternative that would be tougher than the original one.. any ideas?