Custom Stainless Steel Roof Racks

[Dino]

I made myself a prototype set of roof racks today. I fabricated them from some 1.5" stainless tubing that was left over from a railing install. The mount is fairly simple, a 1/4" x 20 carriage bolt through a clamping assembly made of 1/4" stainless. The welds are quick and dirty because I built the whole set in about an hour while everyone was at lunch.

They're 48" wide and really solid!



I drove home with these doors on at 40 - 50 mph with gusty trade winds blowing and they felt very stable. I must say, the VX roof is a very stiff assembly of metal!!









I may do some with 1.25" square tubing with a thicker wall and use the same mount.

If some of you are thinking you might want racks some like this, I'll be selling some VX stuff I've dreamed up real soon on a website I'm setting up. dinofab.com ... not there yet, but it will be. Anyway, bear in mind I'm in Hawaii. Shipping from here is best done with USPS. 5 days at the most, but it allows me to sell on the net and not have to make YOU pay an otherwise huge shipping cost. So anyway, stay tuned....

[CrnCnn]

Nice, Im sure I will be sending you some money.

[nfpgasmask]

That's pretty sweet. Perfect it a little, maybe put some end caps on the tube and you got yourself a product I am sure many on the forum would be interested in!

Oh how I long to get a welding shop setup in my garage...

Bart

[Knigh7s]

That looks awsome Dino! I'm with nfpgasmask, clean them up and you got a great product that i'm sure quite a few VXers will jump on if the price is right...

Also... I'd be interested in a low profile version of that rack! =P

[etlsport]

looks awesome dino! a small suggestion about the bars if you decide to sell them.. i dont know for sure what size the bars of yamika round bars are.. but if you can match their size, it would be pretty easy to use yakima accessories on your roof rack (ski,bike etc) just some food for thought.. but looks awesome!

just went out and measured... the yakima bars are 1-1/8" diameter

[Dino]

Thanks! I need to source some 1 1/8" tubing.

I used the large tubing because it was free, on hand, and I really needed a rack to haul some stuff too big to fit in the back of the VX.

[JHarris1385]

Looks good. Looking forward to dinofab.com. You should try a rear cladding guard.

[Dino]

You mean like a bumper of sorts? ...or like a skid plate down low on the rear?

[JHarris1385]

A bumper

[creeg]

Wow!

I think I may need to trade in current rack for one of these if it will work with Yakima attachments.

Very nice.

[VCAMILO]

Perfect it and I will be sending you some money. I would probably have mine powder coated orange to match my VX after I get mine repainted.

[Dino]

I'm placing a metal order today and I'm getting some 1 1/8" stainless thick wall tubing. I'll make another proto out of that and see how it looks.

With the 1 1/8" diameter tubing, all the Yakima accessories should go on. Only one thing, my racks are permanently welded to the mount. Would you still be able to attach accessories or do they need to be slid on from one end ????

[etlsport]

all of the accessories i have attach with clips that open up then clamp down on the bar, i havent needed to remove my crossbars to attach anything

[creeg]

Yup, they are "C" shaped, so they have an open end that can be slid over the bar easlily.

[CrnCnn]

I'm placing a metal order today and I'm getting some 1 1/8" stainless thick wall tubing. I'll make another proto out of that and see how it looks.

With the 1 1/8" diameter tubing, all the Yakima accessories should go on. Only one thing, my racks are permanently welded to the mount. Would you still be able to attach accessories or do they need to be slid on from one end ????

I wonder what the largest diameter the u-joint straps are made to fit for an option to attach a rack or accessories.