DIY Roof Rack Build - $250
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- I needed a new rack to support the weight of the roof tent I'm building, so it was time for a stronger rack. Made this in my dads home shop. If you can cut and weld steel, this is a project for you.
Steel - $80
- 20ft 2" 0.120 tube
- 2ft 1 1/2x1/4" flat bar
- 4 6x1 1/8x1/4" flat bar (cut at the steel shop)
Unistrut "Cross Bars" - $35
Powder Coating - $120 (would be cheaper if you painted the cross bars yourself)
Nuts/Bolts/Washers - $20?
I rounded it to around $250
Thank you very much for providing the information for the raw materials. I will begin my search for the 6x1 1/8 flat bar.
yellownp22541 Awesome!! You’re welcome. Happy to help. Send us a pic when it’s done!
Looks great Bro! I’m gonna save this for future reference. This beats spending $1200+ for a rack!
David Garza thanks! It’s been over 2 years and still good as new!
I was in the middle of building a roof top tent and had a look at the bars on my jimny, aahh fuk plastic ( same as your Tokota.)
Building a hole new rack with light tabs, spade and axe brackets. So turned out ok 👍
hairy 1 hahaha yyyyeeeeppp. Sounds like we went through kinda the same thing when looking at the plastic rack. Glad it worked out in the end!
Dig it! Well done, man. I like the working with your dad part and planning it all out. I too am a big fan of unistrut! It's certainly burly, overbuilt maybe, but then no question of its durability. Did you happen to get an overall weight on this rack?
Cheers.
aspleenic Thanks! It’s awesome being able to do projects like this with the pops. Lucky that he’s both knowledgeable and skilled.... and willing to help!
It’s definitely a tad overbuilt but it will absolutely hold what I need it to lol like you said. I never got a final weight, but I’ll tell you it’s not exactly light weight.
Hey man ive seen a few of your videos I like your methods thinking of applying some of it to my k5 blazer build thanks for your contant
Awesome! Thank you. Glad the videos could help. Be sure to send us updates on you blazer through Instagram and we’ll give you a shoutout. Love blazers!
Sweet video bro! I will def be using some ideas from your build. Keep up the great content! Dont mind these haters below lmao.
Means a lot! Thank you. I’m still loving this rack. I actually recently revamped it. Might get a couple ideas from this too:
th-cam.com/video/3Fput5OGQkM/w-d-xo.html
Glad you found it helpful!
Great design! I'm just about ready to clone your roof rack using Aluminum. A few questions:
1. Are the supports from the feet to the tubes the same size as the supports holding the Unistrut?
2. I cannot find 1-1/8" width flat bar for the 6" feet, do you think 1-1/4" would work, or should I size down to 1"?
3. Do you have a link for the rubber you used under the feet and for the washers?
4. What size bolts did you use to connect the feet to the body of the truck?
5. What size hole and bolts did you use to connect the Unistrut to the supports?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm kinda a noob at this but am excited to give it a whirl for my 4th gen 4Runner! I'm from Vista myself and I'll be back in town next week, hope to maybe see your Runner around haha!
Awesome! I'd love to see it when it's complete. Good call on aluminum. I went with steel because that's all we can weld here at home. I'm going to do my best to answer your questions!
1. Mine are not. I cut 4 supports that were the widest possible between the 2 holes. Gotta still be able to get the bolts next to it. The 8 unistrut tabs I made the same width as the usistrut. I actually just went out and measured. You can make the unistrut tabs the same and the supports. It's very close to the same.
2. Measured again while outside and 1-1/4 might actually work. Go with it and grind it skinnier if you have to.
3. 8x from Amazon - www.amazon.com/Pack-Round-Black-Flexible-Rubber/dp/B075WWNM8Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518467895&sr=8-1&keywords=2%22+vinyl+pipe+cover
or
4x from Ebay: www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pack-2-Black-Vinyl-Round-End-Cap-2-0-Rubber-Cover-Pipe-Tubing-Stopper/142507218045?hash=item212e17947d:g:p6wAAOSwy1VZuoKf
(I would get 8. I actually just lost one on my last trip and only had 4, so I ordered more. Put some silicone or something on the tube to keep the cap on)
4. I used 6x M8x40mm and 2x M8x35mm... But those 35mm only because I couldn't get the 40mm in. One support was a 1mm or 2mm short and just kept the 40mm from making it through without getting stuck on the tube.
5. I used 3/4 nuts/bolts and holes just big enough. I also put washers and rubber washers in between everything around the unistrut. The unistrut has elongated holes so I relied on that for "slop". Remember each unistrut is different length as the roof tapers in toward the front.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Yeah it'd be rad to meet up sometime! I wanna see the rack when it's done!
Sorry, I didn’t fully read #3. I just saw “rubber” and assumed you were talking about the end caps. The washers I just got at Home Depot. Stainless steal. The rubber underneath the feet, I would use the same thing again. Get a 1/8” reinforced rubber. That will hold up better than what I have.
Also, as my rack has settled into the rubber, it started to leak water in through the roof to inside. So be sure to tighten your rack again down to the roof once a month for the first 6 months or so.
Wow thanks so much for all the info! I'll definitely keep you posted on the build. Also, it looks like I'll probably end up going the steel route after all, aluminum might be a bit too out of my reach as far as skill and equipment. And I'll keep it it mind to tighten it down! I appreciate all the help, I'm looking to do a number of builds based on your videos, keep them coming they're unbelievably helpful!
I wish I could sew like the RTT you built, that's amazing! I'll probably have to settle for a Smittybilt myself. Also looking to do a drawer build in the back, I've got it all sketched up, I'll have to make a video of the build process! 4th gens are such amazing vehicles!
Same reason for doing steel myself. It's a little heavy, but it works. We also have a new build video in the works for a single drawer system. Steven's, out in Vegas, is working that right now. Just posted a little teaser of it on our Instagram.
While I love having the DIY tent and it was a great project to sew with my mom.. given the price to build + build/sew time, looking the cost of a smitty.. I can't argue going that route. I have an idea for a roof tent design where you build a frame and throw a round pop up tent on it, to avoid sewing.. but even that will be close to $300
This is sweet man! I think I'll try and build something like this for my 08 tacoma. Thanks for sharing your idea!
Awesome! Glad I could help. It's been about a year now and it's still good as new. Be sure to send us pics on FB or Instagram!
Where did you get the end caps for the tubing ? Looks great !!!
Fred Flinstone Thanks! I got them on eBay. They’re on both eBay and Amazon usually. Just search 2” vinyl end cap. Should pop right up
There are super-clean looking endcaps too that fin INSIDE the tube. Check them out too. Most hardware stores stock that stuff. I have some in the ends of a tube bumper, and for giggles stuffed one in the side tube of my trailer hitch...
Great job, what type of tube did you use? Thanks
elyyfz450 The only spec I really remember is it’s 120 wall steel. 2”
DIY means do it yourself, not hiring 3 companies and professionals to work for you or to make your idea
Ohhh.... Thank you for clarifying. Well it's a good thing that's not what we did!
I bought the steel, cut and welded with my dad, and hired one company to powder coat. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to powder coat at home so I did have to hire that out.
Would you please clarify the other 2 companies though that I hired to make this rack?
No response?
I thought from the video that you went to different companies to do this, it is nice that you worked with your Dad, looks very professional, I apologize if my comment was not so nice, I am looking to make a similar thing, thanks for sharing!
I appreciate your response. It’s awesome having parents that can help make and teach special skills. Learning to weld with my dad and learned to sew with my mom while building my tent.
I guess it’s ultimately a good thing you were confused about it cause that just means my dad kicks mega ass! Haha
Again, thanks for the response. All good!
Haters
Film the product, not you! I wanted to see the roof rack.
Jesse James Lol it shows it completed around 9:00
Stopped watching after realizing I have to buy 1000’s of dollars in tools and pay someone to cut drill and weld.
But you bought the roof rack. This is just a video of making rails to hold the rack.
DARKB1KE I have a roof basket that sits on the roof rack I made. Not everyone will be putting a basket on their rack. I’m actually thinking about getting rid of the basket and mounting everything straight to the rack.
I'm surprised you're allowed to do that in California.
Gerret Outdoors Me too! Idk if there is a law about it, but I see all kinds of crazy DIY racks in my town. A lot of them made of wood. You’d think with how lame California is that they’d nail us on DIY racks too 🤷♂️
looks like black pvc piping. old timer did a heck of a job on the weld beads.
Haha apparently my dad is an old timer. He's a great welder. And not sure what looks like black pvc. The only black piping is on the ROLA rack.
Awesome! I'll be building a rack for my GX 470 soon
Sweet! Would love to see it finished! Be sure to share a link or post on our Facebook! We'll blast it on our social media
Great video! What basket are you using?
Thanks! It’s the ROLA Vortex 2 with the extension.
I actually just took it off and have a new video coming soon of my reworked rack. Did it to fit a different tent up there.
Great job, I put my superstrut opposite way up and used truck bed liner to coat them all. So far so good no damage from canoes or gas cans
Awesome! If I did it again I would probably also just do bed liner on the cross bars. Love unistrut. It’s so versatile.
what's the wind speed there ??
In general or during the shoot? We can get up to 50 knot winds but we drive our vehicles north of 80mph at times and so I guess the effective winds the rack has seen is north of 80 mph????
Nothing beats metal....only more metal lol
I.E. RoCks & ShOcKs🔰🚙🗿 🔧 METAL!!!
@@TrailBendersOverland lol hell yeah!
Where are you learning how to make all of these projects? Or are you building without plans
It's all just coming from our heads! No plans for anything. We just come across something we need and come up with a solution, and a lot of the time we can just build it.
Where'd you get the caps for the tubing? If you built another, I'd suggest you use tubing (Square or round - either would work) instead of flat bar for the section between the round stock and the connection to the car - It just might survive a rollover that way...
I got the end caps on Amazon. I see what you mean about tube cross bars. Would definitely be stronger, But I decided to go with unistrut for it's universal use abilities. You can mount anything on it any way you like. It would be much harder to mount my awning and WaterPORTs with something other than unistrut. I also don't expect much to survive in a roll over, my trucks not really built for it in any way so I avoid areas that would be enough to cause it. and use a good spotter...
Either way I appreciate the idea! It would definitely be stronger, just no the best for my application.
www.amazon.com/Pack-Round-Black-Flexible-Rubber/dp/B075WWNM8Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534526179&sr=8-2&keywords=2%22+vinyl+tube+cap
I was talking about the uprights - the little squares you connect to the flat piece bolted to the truck (for lack of a better way to describe it) I like the unistrut; have thought about using it or T-Channel aluminum for racks on my pickup so I can move things around easily.
what rack and do you still like it. nice job btw
It’s a custom rack. I love it. I modeled it somewhat after the stock rack to have a similar look and function. I have the ROLA Vortex basket with extension on top and that has been great so far too. I’ve had the ROLA for a year now and it’s held up great. I coated it well with bed liner to prevent rust and that has done its job well compared to other ROLAs I’ve seen
As usual, nice build,,,
Thanks Mike!
Great job! Thanks for sharing!!
Steve Gullett Thanks! It still works great for me. Super solid. I know a couple people have done it and sent pictures. Hope it helps you too!
Your dad is awesome!
You could say that again!! Not only is he cool, but he’s super talented and skilled too!
Hey man do you still happen to have the roof rack you took off in this video?
Egzon Dervisholli I do! You want it?
Yes how much!!
Trail Benders Overland ?? Just let me know I’m really interested trying to build an overland 4Runner too!
Egzon Dervisholli Awesome! Although if you’re putting much weight at all in the roof you probably don’t want my old stock rack. I replaced it so I could put the tent and some real weight up there
Trail Benders Overland that’s fine not looking to put too much weight on there.
Escondido, sandiego county!!!?????
lemme shoot Yep!
@@TrailBendersOverland Oh man so sick! Im in the military so im not home much, but meeting you would be dope. Great build, all that planning worked out.
@@CoilBoyRunning I wanted to say thank you for your service and dedication to this country, I myself (Steven) am prior service as well. we will definitely link up sometime in the near future. Stay safe out there!