DIY Roof Rack, Seanz0rz's Low Profile Rack

[Seanz0rz]

Not a great picture, it's dark outside. The cross bars are so close to the roof it was causing a noise like blowing across the mouth of a bottle or jug. Except louder.

I might add a deflector from the roof up to the bottom of the rack. The sunroof is a bit noisy.

[paddlenbike]

Interesting. My cross bars were probably 5" off the roof and it howled like crazy. It didn't do that when they were new, but I can't imagine what could have changed, they're just tubes.

[Seanz0rz]

Basically, you're looking to interrupt the air flow that is causing the noise, essentially spoiling the flow. Since our roofs are so flexible, I think mine was vibrating and causing the low pitch noise. My old rack whistled. I've seen on other racks that a flat piece of material behind the leading tube smooths the flow. Very difficult to give an exact solution, just use your instincts on where you think the noise might be coming from and use some temporary solutions like blue tape and cardboard.

[YotaFun]

Thanks for shoving the good weather in my face Sean :-P
I do have 4wd and a big lifted vehicle I don't have to worry about the shoveling part hehehe

Back to the rack, it looks great especially with the daylighters back on, and its awesome you found a fix, and it makes sense on why it made that noise there.

[Seanz0rz]

Since I pretzel'd mine in the roll over, it is time for 2.0

Here is something I drew up real quick. Ignore the sides being too long.



I don't think I like it, but it is a step towards something. Maybe round tube would look better? I dunno.

[Robinhood4x4]

Yeah, round always looks better...more professional. Square tubing looks ok if the corners are bent and not welded but at that point you still need a bender so might as well go round.

[Kryptoroxx]

Since I pretzel'd mine in the roll over, it is time for 2.0

Here is something I drew up real quick. Ignore the sides being too long.



I don't think I like it, but it is a step towards something. Maybe round tube would look better? I dunno.

Since you are looking for more of a platform than something with sides you could run 1x2 on the sides and either notch the cross braces in using 1x1 or 1x1/2. That would give you strength while ensuring you aren't making it a boat anchor.

I spent a good bit of time comparing weights on the different sizes available till I found something that worked for the design.

You could also look into the atv ramp rack. It was first seen on a land cruiser. Looked pretty stout for putting an rtt up there.

[Seanz0rz]

I've seen the j-moose rack (I think I STILL have the bookmark somewhere). I am looking for steel that I can put my RTT on easily. I am not a huge fan of working with aluminum at this point, mechanical and chemical fasteners have let me down for structural stuff.

I actually might use the aft-end of my roof rack (relatively undamaged) and build a new front for it.

[Kryptoroxx]

I've seen the j-moose rack (I think I STILL have the bookmark somewhere). I am looking for steel that I can put my RTT on easily. I am not a huge fan of working with aluminum at this point, mechanical and chemical fasteners have let me down for structural stuff.

I actually might use the aft-end of my roof rack (relatively undamaged) and build a new front for it.

There's an rtt in the hobby shop right now. Let me get my haircut and I will go take a good look at how it mounts and stuff. Maybe take a few pics too.

It's on the back of a danger ranger lol


Fast forward 15 minutes.....

All you need to support the rtt is what looks like 1x1x.090 so still pretty lightweight. There were only 4 contact points for the tent to the rack and the rtt itself had its own aluminum 1x1 and the aluminum sheet.

No wonder they are so expensive lol.

Anyway if you made an outer of 1x2x.060 and then supported with 4 or 5 cross braces of .5 sq then I think you would have a rather lightweight support solution. Certainly lighter than my rack.

[Kryptoroxx]

mounts for the factory tracks:


Something sorta similar for the forward mounts to the body, but without holes and probably lower profile. I will figure out those later

Can you snap a few pics of your forward mounts when you get a chance? I've got something in mind but it's kinda tricky to build imo and just as difficult to describe.

So my idea is made out of flat steel. The bottom has a hole drilled for the foot and then forward of the hole is a v shape out of flat steel that is the mount but the bottom of the v is an angled cut to compensate for the angle on the roof.

Clear as mud right? Lol