I am thinking of building my own roof rack and any suggestions and advice would be great.
My thought is to use 20x3mm flat bar to make it light but robust and as welding of aluminiium is a crazy
experience, I thought that would be the best. Also working with steel is far easier and it means bits can be added if necessary.
Any thoughts
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
Thanks Bennie, good suggestion. The only problem I have with using tubing is the bending.
Is there anywhere that sells corner pieces for tubing? Kinda like the corner pices used for gazebos etc.
Might make it a bit easier than getting someone to bend to the "right angle" :D
Is anyone aware of where to buy the correct roof rail attachments, I suppose a hardware would sell them?
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
I have had a look at that route thanks Bennie and Yes aluminium could be used, I'm just a bit worried about the lifespan of those joins when subjected to the elements all the time. I guess with them being so cheap, you could afford to replace them every once in a while.
However I will be building a drawer system to so maybe I should just match it and wait and see how long they last.
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
What worries me about them joints is that the pop rivet's hole might grow with the continuous vibration of million and millions of kilometers of dirt road.
The only way really to do it would be to use alli square tubing as Bennie sugests but I would weld the frame up and then make the roof mounts stiff rubber mounted to prevent longterm cracking and to releave stress on the frame.
2006 Hilux DC 4x4 4.0 V6 Old Man Emu suspension, Long Range Fuel Tank and a LA Sport Sump Guard, Natko railings with spade and high lift brackets, LA Sport high lift jack mounts, Powder coated Hilux Nudge Bar, Hella LED light bar, LED Work Light
Pieter, I can agree with you on the rivets and it does kinda make me shift towards welding.
CM, any idea on costs of welding if getting someone to do it? Normal welding is not a problem for me to do myself but aluminium I have never touched. Any suggestions besides buying a ready made one, wheres the fun in that?
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
Scooter wrote: Any suggestions besides buying a ready made one, wheres the fun in that?
You are like me. Even if the raw material would cost the same as the bought product I will rather build it myself then to make the 4x4accessories store owner rich. ANd you can enjou your handy work afterwards.
I hear they say that you can weld Alu with one of these AC/DC TIG Welders. Its maybe a good idea in the long run to invest in one.
I hear they say that you can weld Alu with one of these AC/DC TIG Welders. Its maybe a good idea in the long run to invest in one.
I read an article yesterday, written by a guy who had never welded aluminum before. He went out and bought a TIG welder and taught himself how to weld.
The problem being is how much do you throw away while teaching yourself the tricks. The main rules of thumb that he talks about are cleaning the material, pre-heating and using a heatsink to absorb excess heat.
It seems like quite a job but perhaps it is one of the trades guys like us should learn.
I think the best thing to do is to cut all your material to size in your own design and when you are ready to weld get a pro to do it for you because the last thibg you need is for your own welds to fail miles from no where and the old battery method of welding will not cut it for alli.
It will be the proverbial up the creek without a paddle senario. On top of which alli is very expensive to waste.
2006 Hilux DC 4x4 4.0 V6 Old Man Emu suspension, Long Range Fuel Tank and a LA Sport Sump Guard, Natko railings with spade and high lift brackets, LA Sport high lift jack mounts, Powder coated Hilux Nudge Bar, Hella LED light bar, LED Work Light
Forget about welding aluminium yourself. I see myself as a rather good welder of steel. I tried welding aluminium on several occasions and it is not that easy to learn. If there is too much heat a big hole just falls into your work piece, so big that you cannot weld it close. Aluminium is not like steel that will become red when it gets hot, it stays the same colour and the next moment, whoops, you have a 5cm big hole in the plate.
Either you do it in steel or you take it to a pro to weld.
A double cab's roof is not that huge. So the roofrack will not be that heavy. One of my friends used rectangular tubing which looked very nice. It almost looked like very thick flatbar. I do not know the exact size but it was about 20mmx10mm rectangular tubing which he used standing up.
If you are concerned about rust, get it galvanized.
Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow!
1999 Hilux 2.7i 4x4 Raider DC with 3.4 Prado V6. Rear diff-lock, Bull Bar and rock sliders, 31" Cooper ST Maxx, Snorkel, Alu-Canopy, VHF Motorolla radio, West Coast Rust, Mikem Suspension, Ball Joint Spacers in front and Mikem extended shackles at the rear, 25watt LED Spots
