Custom roof rack, Lights, Mounts, Etc...

well after many hrs of labor and planning, my Top hat is done.

after many different opinions in the NWC i thaught i would post a tec thred to show what i did, how strong it can be, and how ez it can be done.

here is what i started with 6months ago or so.



i knew i was going to do a rack with lots of lighting. I just hate paying out the yingyang for aftermarket parts the don't hold up. So i started thinking.

this is what i came up with. http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=990536



Well i removed the stock roof rails, then bolted this to is with some angle iron peices 4X to the stock holes/ mounting points.:doh:

well i dident think of the upforce that it would cause to the rack when i put the solid flooring in it.


so this is what i ended up with.

So after rethinking all the mounting points" rain rails, roof skin, cadge, exo" i decided to go with flat bar suport.



I got the grinder out... pulled the rack, and headliner and started going to town.




my origanal plan was to drill and tap the flatbar then bolt it from the underside... but if u look on the underside for the stock holes there hidden by pillar suport and are not easaly accesed. I mesured and drilled new holes in the roof, also the cross suports on the inside of the roof dont tie into the stock roof rail mounting location. these cross bars Are crutial for my build. Due to the size and caring capasity of the rack im using.
http://s387.photobucket.com/albums/oo317/Bronzewyrm/?action=view&current=S7303841.flv

i sandwiched the roof skin top and bottom with flat bar, tieing it into the cross suports on the underside.

Now i was still kinds scetched out about the fact that i diden't run full length runners on the whol span of the roof for suport.

last weekend, i had a few, we were on the mtn, and needed firewood. well i was then convinced to let the guys go "Jeep Surfing," lol it held up great! with 2 fattys up on my roof sliding around getting whiped by brush. It was a blast.

and i have had a couple others stand up there for a self maid VeiwPoint so to speek. and i can barlie even see the roof flex.

all and all im extatic to have it on for goods and not to have anymore worries about roof tearadge, warpadge, or fabbing up some hokie rain gutterrails.

For all my mounting i use no more than; Air grinder, cordless drill, tapemesure,"flat bar as a streight line", rattle can of ruberized undercoating, tape, and an impact to drive the lag bolts into the rack itself. very ez just takes time... better than $ to me:cheers:
hope this helps for future builds and ideas. just my $0.02
if theres any gray areas let me know i have lods of pics, iand i may have missed someting in there... let me know!

THANKYOU ::
BronzeWyrm

100% Awesome!

gotta say those lights are pretty nice design, well executed

wanna make another one? maybe 3" less in height and maybe 1'less in length?

well id love to make another, but it was a homie hookup from the guies at work...
my desighn, they did the welding. i had to make it so tall to make the lights work.

it was origonal suposto be 4" narrower and shorter. i did the orgional miters for 1"X1.5" tube but when i got to the weld area all they had was 1.5 X 1.5 so i had to rethink on the fly real fast like... well i was wrong and it came out a little big.

all and all im loving it. thx for the input guies.
BronzeWyrm

Since no one else is saying it I will. Please learn to spell. I think its starting to piss the older guys off.

Anyways, nice lookin rack. If it wasn't so beefy i would run one.

Something else that would be pretty cool would be to hook up the lights so when you open the door they turn on as well.

...

I pray you are drunk and typing on your blackberry. That is the only excuse I can think of that would possibly explain your amazing grasp at the English language.

ok... i cant spell. sry to thoes who care, it wont change. many other things to worrie about in life than grammer.

just thaught some ppl would like to see what can be done with the roof.

i know carZ... not SpeeLingg
BronzeWyrm

^ That's cool, but be prepared to hear about it a lot. Just ask Crimzon .

Starboard M said:

I pray you are drunk and typing on your blackberry. That is the only excuse I can think of that would possibly explain your amazing grasp at the English language.

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+1 but its almost impossible to misspell that badly on a BB. it auto-corrects everything for you when you mess up.

awesome dude! cant wait to see it in person. we need to get out and do some more wheelin up at TSF..

nw-xj-scott said:

awesome dude! cant wait to see it in person. we need to get out and do some more wheelin up at TSF..

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im on it... 21st/22nt u comming scott?