Roof Rack

[choff1212]

Im wanting to make my own roof rack and want to get some opinions. The dims are going to be something like 4.5'x5'x5"-3". My main goal is to mount 4
4"x6" procomp light across the front. I have no welding experience at all so it shoud be an intresting project. Heres what i came up with on MS paint, i leaning towards the first one. BTW i know its not even

[BigSlick]

I like the last one and what are you going to make it out of? but i hope it goes well practice with the welding before you do this, also i dont know how they mount today but look into the mounting systems out there maybe you can think of something better

[choff1212]

Im going to make all the tubing arond the out side 1.5" DOM and all the cross bars 1' then im going to put 1.5" tubing across the bottom and put metal mesh on it and possibly on the sides too.

For the mounts I was thinking about retro fitting the Defender rack mounts to it, seems like the simpliest way to go.

I see aloooota grinding in my future

[1tonpower]

save your self some money and 1.5" seem less pipe with .125 wall. are you going to use 90 radius bends for the corners or do you pain on doing all your own bending.
i dont know about the mount your spoke of. anything that uses the drip edge as the mouthing point will be the strongest. good luck at take pics

[choff1212]

Heres a link to the mounts
http://http://defenderracks.com/cate...asp?category=2

For the corners I have no idea what to do with them yet. Anyone have any tips on welding?

[1tonpower]

you said that you have never welded before. this is fairly complex job for a newbe. ill give you a few pointers. use a mig welder it will be the most forgiving. practice doing butt welds on the material that your going to be working with. welding pipe can be tricky. dont mess with trying to bend the corners your self. i know you can get precut radius bends and elbows it will make your project go a lot smoother for you. put a nice bevel on the ends before you weld them. it makes for a stronger weld. and ditch the idea of the angles for the separators, cutting those pieces with the right angle and the bird mouth is going to be tough with out the right tools.

im not a master fabricator by any means, but i can hold my own. take every thing i said lightly and have fun with your build.

[Big Calo]

^^^^ +1 on all of your cross pieces. With mesh, or expanded metal as i call it, just the vertical pieces will be sufficecent as the ex. met. will give you plenty of support.

[icedevil]

for what you arwe thinking of doing do you really need 1.5" tube? it will be a little bulky to work with for what you have in my opinion. Also, from what I have seen most people use 3/4 or 1" square tubing to make the upper and lower frames. Unless you are planning on having a lot of weight up there I would consider downsizing the tube and save the weight. DOM as said above is a little overkill and costs more. Not meaning to upset anyone, just trying to provide another thought on the matter. Hope it turns out well, cant wait to see what you come up with!

[choff1212]

The bigest thing i would mount on the rack is a 37" spare, but im not positive im going to do that. I dont really like the look of the square tubing at all so round tubing is a must mabey aircraft aluminum??

[Raul@Stealth Automotive]

1.5" is pretty big... the ORU rack i had on my truck was barely an 1"
here is a pic