My homemade roofrack

Seems like there's lot of posts on this, so I ran out and took some pictures. This is more of an expedition rack since I wanted to be able to use for everything from wheeling to camping to long road trips to the middle of nowhere. Any questions or comments for improvements are appreciated.

http://home.comcast.net/~dlb8675309/index.html

Sea Kayak

Mountain bike

Was that a Yakima coffin too?

Damn I miss the Evergreen State (not the r-word, just the state)

Looks pretty damn versatile. Have you thought about putting some expanded metal on the non-tool box side for a floor.

...and maybe a bracket to mount your "kitchen sink"

good ideas

Future plans are a wire mesh floor for the open side, plus a lockable fire extinguisher (had one stolen already). Plus I've been thinking of having a mesh basket in the front kinda like they have on the xterra - good for storing wet kayaking gear for the drive home.

Also planning on building my rear hitch rack (for the receiver hitch) with a cooler & tool chest for our monthlong drive to Alaska next year.

Looks pretty huge and handy.

I am planning to build myself a roof rack before the year is up. Just got a tubing bender, now I need to practice up on the ol' arc welder.

How much weight can the roof of a Jeep support anyway? 2 kayaks, 2 bikes, a coffin, a compartment full of tools, and a ton o camping gear seems like an awful lot. Especially when you add the weight of the rack itself. Are the raingutter mounts able to support more weight than bolting it right to the roof?

I plan to build one which bolts right to the roof, along the ridge closest to the raingutter. I will use 3 mounts per side. The rack will be as wide as the fenders and as long as the whole roof. My goal is to be able to sleep 2 on the thing, and build a tent-like cover for it. No compartments or anything fancy like yours, just BIG.

BTW - It it topheavy when you drive it loaded up?

With it being all solid sided can you feel much extra wind drag? How about wind noise? With it up there and being solid do strong crosswinds ever make you have to fight it from making lane changes on it's own??
Mike B.

Oh yeah, one more thing.

On your webpage, you mention future plans for a diamond plate dash.

Doesn't it seem like replacing your dash with almost a MIRROR seem like a bad idea? The sun's glare would be overwhelming!

Just my 2¢!

I once added the weight (including the spare) at somewhere around 250-300 lbs. And I've had this rack in a similar incarnation for the last 2-3 years, so I doubt it's going to fall apart anytime soon. The crossbars are a little bent (maybe 1/2" deflection at center), so I might add a third crossmember to distribute the weight, but why?

As far as the gutter mounts go, I haven't seen them peeling off the side yet, and I check every time I take the rack off. I do that to fit the Jeep into the garage (2" clearance), and unloaded it's light enough for me and my gf to pick up and off - much more convenient than bolted to the roof, plus I can make changes to the design easier.

It has a small effect on gas mileage. I just drove Chicago-PDX loaded w/2 bikes & tons of camping gear. Best mileage I got was 15.5 mpg, worst was 12.5 (in Neb where it was windy). But last year, loaded w/kayak & bike & camping gear, I got 17 mpg over the cascades. So your guess is good as mine.

I thought it would be very top heavy, especially since it's 8'2" to the top of the coffin. Last summer, on a trip to the beach (w/ just camping gear & 1 bike), I got cut off on the freeway in portland. Slammed the breaks, swerved left, skidded 90 degrees to the freeway, thought we were going to die, but never tipped. But I don't drive like a maniac, so that's the only experience I've had.

Hope this helps

dash

Diamond plate will probably be black powdercoated (with Autometer phantom gauges it should look pretty nice).

Thx for the further info and the clarification. I love the look and function of roof racks. Yours is a good one.

I have climbed up on my Rack, (con-fer mounted to the rain gutters with Thule hardware) it flexed a little, with no permenant bends. It had a 31x10.50 spare, a high lift, and 300 lbs of my fat @$$ on it. If the gutters will hold up to that I think they should be good to hold all the gear you can fit.

P.S. Thanx to the Cowlitz County fire department for the help in getting down off my Rack.....j/k

The "official" rating for the XJ is 150 lbs. on the roof while moving (I assume that means highway speeds). They don't say how much it can support when not moving.

I'm sure it can hold more than that. After all, evldave says he's driven all around with 300 lbs. on his. My concern would be, what if you get in an accident? Is your insurance company going to say, "Sorry, you're not covered because you loaded the roof past the manufacturers limits and made it dangerously top-heavy."

...And if you doubt that your insurance company will look for excuses to deny a claim then you must not have ever filed a claim before!