Hey everybody, came upon an idea the other day, and rather than keep it to myself, I figured I'd see if people are more interested in DIY on this one, or having me put a few of these together and selling them. Some of us want roof racks, but without the addition of a lot of weight, so I found some info on ExPo that may help some of us out... using an ATV ramp set as the base for a roof rack that could even be a full-length roof rack.

The primary advantage of this is cost. I could put together a full-length aluminum roof rack for about the same cost as a MegaMule (~$350).

Please chime in if you have any interest, and what features you'd be interested in, and if there is enough, I'll start with building one for myself as proof-of-concept and proof-of-quality, then change my status to vendor and figure out what costs will be.

If anybody is more interested in DIY, please let me know, and here is the link for anybody interested in that route: http://www.wildyoats.com/the_j-rack.htm

Thanks,
Phil

ETA: I'd also like to hear from those of you with sunroofs to see if I could get any measurements like how large the glass is, how much it protrudes from the roof when the tilt is activated, and how far it is from the sides and the top of the windshield.

I know at some point, I would love to have a roof rack. I want one more catered to those who have a roof top tent, and still want to carry a few small things up top.

It would be nice to see something lighter, stronger (strength, and resistance to the elements) that went the whole length of the roof.

Exactly the reason I'm building one for myself anyways... The rack I will build, whether I sell them or not, will be:
1) Full-Length (for RTT as well as limb risers)
2) Mostly Aluminum (corrosion resistance, weight savings)
3) Flat in rear (RTT is in my future plans)
4) Strong (RTT and cargo)
5) Lightweight (Aluminum)
6) Low-profile (Thinking removable side panels, or just some short walls in the front, with a mounting system designed to either supplement or replace the existing factory Trailblazer rail system, and place the rack lower than one on crossbars. Wanting to go as low as possible, but need to find measurements for the sunroof first, as I don't have a sunroof)

Everybody else, please chime in with anything you think.

I have an EXT, what kind of measurement do you need from me? That is if you dont have one near by.

RTT, explain please.

The wildoats site show attachment to the rain gutter. Will you be making your own mounting brackets or using someone elses to fasten to our existing rack?

I would like to see you make this to fit directly to the OE mount holes without the OE rack.

I agree, I removed my OE roof rack, and would much rather a new system that bolts right into the holes on the roof.

RTT= Roof Top Tent

And it would be easy to ditch the stock crossbars... just do something along the lines of the roof rack lightbar that JD and several others have done, it would make it lower to the roof.

I'll go out right now and get those sunroof measurements you want. Although I have no immediate use for a roofrack as of yet, maybe in the future if needed.

IIRC, the EXT has a hump in the rear section of the roof that makes room for the 3rd row. I would need the dimensions of the front section of the roof, and the dimensions of the rear section of the roof, and the difference in height between the two. Depending on the difference, I may opt for a split-level design for that one. Also, if you have a sunroof, the distance from the top of the windshield to the front of the sunroof, the dimensions of the sunroof, and the height of the glass from the roof when the sunroof is tilted.



Roof-Top-Tent = RTT



The wildyoats site does indeed show different mounts, as they are for a Land Cruiser. I would be utilizing slide rails similar to the ones already on our vehicles, but mounted lower if I can manage it. The only obstacle is that the roof is sloped, so I will have to take that into account. My other plan is to utilize round crossbars that are almost touching the roof, so that I can overcome the slope issue. This may become the preferred method of attachment.

Of course, Thule and Yakima already make mounts for these kinds of things, including low-profile rails, but these are very expensive, and IMO, overpriced. I have some connections, including a precision machine shop, so I'll see what I need to do to keep prices down and functionality up.

Thanks for the RTT answer janesy and Phil. Brain lock on that one.

Your right on leaving the rails in place. The height may be needed for a roof vent like yours janesy.

My roof rack mounts to the stock bars using this design:





It's certainly the cheapest and simplest method as far as I'm concerned.

Phil... have you considered shipping costs? A full size roof rack would cost at least $70 (or so) to ship. It'd probably have to be shipped freight.

James I would question the strength of your mounts. I know you've used them for awhile but for Phil selling roof racks they may not be strong enough.

As for freight cost, I'm sure Phil said it will be free shipping.

Yeah, I've seen your mount James, but I'm thinking that if I'm going full-size, I'm going to have to ditch the factory rails, as they'd be a pain to match the height and extend. I'm probably going to go with round crossbars that mount directly to the bolt holes for the factory rails, and then use clamps and rubber insulation to attach the rack to them. This should give me more strength (something like 3 or 4 crossbars vs 2) and more center support than relying on just side mounts, especially considering the base will be a hinged ATV ramp.


As far as shipping goes, that'll certainly be something to consider, but that's a final detail, rather than one to consider in the construction of the first rack and mounts. My thoughts are that once the design is figured out, it'll be a trivial detail to make the rack bolt together from separate smaller pieces, making the thing shippable without going freight, a la Mega Mule. Also, since it'll be aluminum, I can count on it being lighter, and I'm going with a goal weight of 30 lbs for the rack itself.

All measurements are within .1" give or take...

Dimensions of sunroof: 18.5"x32.5"

Height of sunroof tilted up: 1.55"

Distance from windshield: 8.25"

Distance from inside of roof rack rails: 4.5"

Thanks. One other question: When you open the sunroof, does it slide inside the roof, or does it tilt up and the slide back?

If you open it all the way it goes in the roof... only tilts when you want to have tilted. Also my roof rack lightbar gets hit slightly when I tilt it up but just barely

Cool. Looking at using this ramp as a base. It also offers a beveled edge that can be a mount for an air dam if you want. Cheaper than the usual $130 per ramp, and I'll be using flat aluminum to fill the large gaps between the center and the side rails.



Thoughts? Opinions? Constructive/Destructive Criticism?

Are you thinking of two of these linked together?

Material cost for something twice as long and out of the same extruded aluminum isn't much. What kind of welding have you done?

If you are going for light, cut pieces bolted together would ship cheap, just work for the buyer. Lots of Lock Tight.

I should explain... that picture shows one (1) ramp. The ramp is bifold, and both sides are linked together via hinges. Using Grade 8 bolts to hold the ramps in a fixed position eliminates the folding, and makes for a sturdy rack. This makes one rack floor for approx $100.


The problem with welding aluminum is that it is terribly difficult, and I have no welding experience anyways. Bolts are going to be the method of attachment for everything here. A bonus of this is that it allows me to make everything cheaper, and it allows you to modify or replace parts at your leisure without having to find a competent welder or break out a grinder.

Here's another, slightly more expensive ($20 more) ramp that I have thought about using as a base... wider and longer than the first, so more room after adding a RTT, and the tent won't hang off the sides as much.