Roof rack

[Steve F]

I needed a rack for a roof top tent on my XJ and wanted something very slim yet tough enough to carry the tent to the Cape as well as suitable for chucking lengths of steel etc up there. I also already have a roof basket I can mount to it if I need to.

Here's what I knocked together today, the perimeter tube is 20NB medium wall which means it'll take a hit as its 2.6mm thick. It's also easier to weld. The cross bars are 50x25 and are 1.6mm thick, I made them wide as the mounts for the tent will be a better fit. To get a good fit I used a 1" hole saw to cut the ends so they wrap around the tube.

Total size is 1900mm long 1275mm wide and 25mm high

Tomorrow I'll weld on the end rails and give it a tidy up in preparation for the gutter mounts. I'll also weld on some light tabs and some hooks for straps etc. I'm expecting it to be lower than the stock roof bars (which will come off)

Total cost so far a touch under $60





Cheers
Steve

[Steve F]

Finished the main rack section, just needs some grinding with the flapper disk to tidy it. Tomorrow I go get some gutter mounts, I was going to make them but cost versus time its a better deal to buy.



And propped on the Jeep, it'll be about 2cm higher than this. Nice and low and will take my weight walking on it without any deflection



Cheers
Steve

[Blujeep]

looks good Steve,
how much weight do you think the gutters will take?

[valpacer]

Looks good Steve, i like the low profile too!


Dave

[rupicon]

love your work stev

[Steve F]

Picked up 6 gutter mounts today, they are from Powerful 4x4 and used on their racks tested to 500kg A real bargain really and a great time saver, $80 for the 6

They are made from 3mm steel and a pretty heavy for a box of 6.





Just need to weld some plate onto the rack to mount them on, looks like the total cost is going to be around $140 and around 2 days of time. Pretty good considering a bought one, admittedly with more features, is around $799 although I could build one the same for about $200.

Cheers
Steve

[YankeeDave]

thats a great price, but i can't find it on their web site