making a roofrack/light bar

[stumpXJ]

What more pics do you want? I think they are pretty good shots already... Is there something specific? The clamp parts just curves under the gutter, and sandwiches the top to the bottom. I have had over 500 pounds (7 full jerry cans, Roof top tent, lights, weight of the rack, plus me and my wife in the tent... ok, probably well over 500 pounds) on the roof rack numerous times with no problem, and wheeled it fairly hard with a 150 -200 pounds up there. No problem yet.

~James

 

[userbmx1315]

the pics are great. just wanted to see the curve. ive had problems with my gutter falling off.

 

[TwistedcaB]

repost

 

[stumpXJ]

Really? Do they just separate or what? The curve piece, if I remember correctly are basically a 110 degree curve, that wraps under slightly to the back (inner most) portion of the rail.

~James

 

[TwistedcaB]

wow those HID's blow em out of the water but i also don't have that much haha. i have maybe $60 to spend on 4 lights...

hey and also how much was the HID conv. i have two 500's on my bumper

 

[stumpXJ]

Unless you just want to have lights "for looks", save your 60 bucks for something else. I think I paid around 60-70 bucks for the conversion kits. Each kit did two lights, so I got 3 kits. The two lights on my bumper are Hella 700FF's.

I know you may not have the cash for better lights, but seriously, dont buy those things. I had people tell me the same thing before I bought mine, and I wish I had listened. If you dont believe me, send me 10 bucks for shipping and I will send you the extra two cheap lights I have for free. I only used 6 of the 8 that I bought, and the other two are still in the box, never hooked up. Then, you can at least see for yourself they arent worth any price. Your 500's can be converted to HID very simply, and you will have VERY good output. The 500's are the minimum quality light I would buy, and I still would convert them to HID. Once you use an HID auxillary light, you will NEVER go back to a conventional halogen lamp, I promise you that. Your two Hella 500 lights, converted to HID, will put FAR more light than 8 of those cheap lights, and you will only pull a fraction of the power. 4 130 watt halogen bulbs pull a LOT of amps.

 

[TwistedcaB]

well maybe i'll see if i can get a couple sets of used 500's or 700's. figure can use my cheap walmart blazers i have on my roof now for backup lights or somethin

 

[TwistedcaB]

also guys would it look better to make it out of square tube or round?

 

[userbmx1315]

thats really just what you prefer. most that ive seen are square. but round wouldnt look bad either.

 

[TwistedcaB]

or im thinking the rack sq. tube and the light bar round? idk. maybe thats just bored thinking haha

 

[98stocker]

A friend of mine made a rack for his Tacoma out of electrical conduit. I think it was 3/4 inch. Easy to bend, and cheap to build, and plenty strong. I think the round looks better, but everybody has an opinion... Grind off the galvanized finish before you weld it.

 

[Jess]

Square would be easier to build with because you don't have to notch the tubes.

 

[TwistedcaB]

yeah. idk i like both, probally a reason most XJ racks are sq. i think haha

 

[HOUSEDIVIDED]

actuators aren't cheap. I did a quick google search and the around $100 for 12VDC. If you get one be sure it is rated for outdoor use. I didn't check but harbor freight might have some cheap ones.

 

[jesterbomb]

About the only thing I can add to this thread (Which I am very interested in watching as your project progresses, btw) is a comment about the bars lining the bottom of your rack. If you DO choose to go with a mesh of some kind (Over top of square stock rails of course) to keep the smaller things in the rack from hitting your roof, leave it removable.

Just cut the appropriate size sheet and drop it in, use wing nuts, hinges, whatever. If you park under a tree all fall, or outside in winter, mesh of even large size will accumulate a surprisingly large amount of crap. That's not really much of an issue, until you take a girl on a date or something and you want your Jeep to look as respectable as it possibly can. (Not very respectable at ALL no matter what we do for most of us...)

If you use mesh and weld it down, you MAY hate yourself later on if you neglect to clean your rack out for a month or two. I don't know what kind of weather you have where you live, or if having a removable mesh liner is something you are even considering. Just throwing that out there. I know what a pain it is to clean the mesh box and my Logging truck, and that is at chest height. I shudder to think what it would be like to do that same job on the top of a Cherokee.

 

[TwistedcaB]

allright awsome advice man. i wouldnt have thought of it haha.