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How do you attach a roof rack?

J

jfiscus

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Middletown, OH
I came upon some steel to make a roof rack out of.
I have not cut the bars for width or any vertical supports yet.
How should I attach the rack to the XJ so that it is sturdy?
I would like to put a tire holder in the rack and I would like to be able to put my canoe on top of it occasionally. The roof seems to be very thin sheet metal and bend easily, and the side gutters dont seem too sturdy either. I have a stock (crap) roof rack that's very loose/leaky and I'll probably just leave it there if possible.

It is a 1989 xj pioneer 4 door.
 
Last edited:
Kargo Master makes a beautifull, clean, low profile mount for their racks. I used their factory rail mounts for my rack and have been more than happy with them. They also make them in a gutter mount. $37 from Q-tec.
 
jfiscus said:
Any pictures?
I need some sort of diagram on what I need to fab.
Click to expand...
They just mount flat (horizontal). I can't post pics here but email me and I'll send you some pictures of the mounting.
[email protected]
hint: buy the mounts first and then build to match.
 
I have built my rack's to mount on top of Yakima racks in the past. They are very sturdy and that way you can remove the rack and still carry canoes, bikes, etc on there is you want. It also makes it very easy to transfer between vehicles if you want to.

Michael
 
2xtreme said:
I have built my rack's to mount on top of Yakima racks in the past. They are very sturdy and that way you can remove the rack and still carry canoes, bikes, etc on there is you want. It also makes it very easy to transfer between vehicles if you want to.

Michael
Click to expand...

. . . and easy to steal! I am bolting mine straight to the factory roof rack rails and through the roof and bolt into the folded roof support then cover it with the headliner. No steal makes me happy:)
 
Made mine gutter mount to hold more weight (at least in my opinion)

Here is what I used... fabbed up in my garage with my mig welder, scrap steel and some threaded rod:

clamp1
 
As for pictures, I just set the rack up top last night and gonna start mounting tonight and Saturday. So expect pics on Tuesday when I get back to work. Sorry its gonna take so long to post but my wife will kill me if I don't spend some quality family time this three day weekend and that means working on the XJ when she and the son have gone to bed.
 
Thanks for the great picture dangerboy, everyone is telling me to attach that way and your metod looks like how i'll do it. (at least on this first rack)
 
jfiscus said:
Thanks for the great picture dangerboy, everyone is telling me to attach that way and your metod looks like how i'll do it. (at least on this first rack)
Click to expand...


My Pleasure. Done this twice now and have no complaints at all. Holds tight, cheap and easy to build. Just make sure you either use a second jamb nut or a lock nut so they dont loosen up on you... and DONT over Tighten them.
 
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