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roof rack

IntrepidXJ said:
very nice rack.....i am planning on building one similar that mounts the same way. i don't like how high any of the aftermarket racks sit, which is my main reason for building my own......yours addresses that issue nicely

:thumbup:
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The biggest problem that I had is that although we all like to think of the XJ as a "box", there really isn't a straight damn line up there. Trust me. Front to back, side to side: All curves...

I used a harbor freight tubing bender, and basically every six inches put a slight bend in all the tubing. It took awhile, mostly because I had to bend about 60 feet of tubing, but in the end it sits low, very low wind noise, and doesn't look to bad either.

181859962-M.jpg
 
Wilderness.... If you ever want to produce those, put me first in line. I really like the way you contoured that to the roof. Looks great!
 
Hey Wilderness, where did you get the material for your floor and what the heck is that stuff called? I tried to find exactly the same thing by Googling all kinds of stuff and couldn't come up with anything on line.
Thanks
 
WildernessJeep said:
AJ??? you wanna run at it??
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Sure! It's actually similar to the rack I built for my own Jeep and wanted to produce several years ago. Started to make a ring roller to put the gradual curve in the tubing but never finished it up. Once things settle down a little bit I had planned on finishing it up anyways for some other stuff.
 
AJsArmor said:
Sure! It's actually similar to the rack I built for my own Jeep and wanted to produce several years ago. Started to make a ring roller to put the gradual curve in the tubing but never finished it up. Once things settle down a little bit I had planned on finishing it up anyways for some other stuff.
Click to expand...

So that's it. AJ is going to sell them, starting next week, at $200 each, with a lifetime garuantee.........

I keed, I keed....

AJ, check your PM's.

For the rest of you, what's it worth??? How much would you pay for that roof rack??
 
Well, if you were going to market it, comparing it to the other racks that are out there for pricing, the fact that it has integral mounting hardware (and I'm assuming light tabs), and the excellent fitment as compared to the rest of the commercially available racks, I'd say it's easily $500.

That having been said, I'd have a hard time spending more than $250 on any rack personally. The only reason I got my Conn-Ferr is bacause I get it for less than some people charge for the cost of all the mounts and mounting accessories alone.
 
Uhhhh, lessee here:

The PIAA lights on the front were about $400, the steel was about $300 (and rising), the powdercoating was $175, and the hi-lift/shovel/ax are another $100 (which you have to have in-hand to measure for). You are already up to $1,000 before you even start cutting, welding, or shipping, or adding the other stuff like the mounting hardware, front windscreen, side/rear lights and CB antenna.

I figure the rack is worth about $1500-2000 if it came from an assembly line, with the accessories, to customer specs. I would think a "one-off" or custom fabrication would put you in the $2,500-$3,000 range, if you just wrote a check to a professional fab shop. Like the math above says, I built my own for just over $1,000, not including tools or screw-ups.

R
 
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I found a picture of the ski rack I fabbed up. Like I said, it will fit in either side, but if I put in on the passenger side, the ski's will hit the CB antenna. I could fab up a rack for just about anything I guess, including a roof-top tent or multiple boat mounts.

181861277-L.jpg


181861332-L.jpg
 
WildernessJeep said:
I found a picture of the ski rack I fabbed up. Like I said, it will fit in either side, but if I put in on the passenger side, the ski's will hit the CB antenna. I could fab up a rack for just about anything I guess, including a roof-top tent or multiple boat mounts.

181861277-L.jpg


181861332-L.jpg
Click to expand...

Damn, Son!
 
Bored400 said:
Damn, Son!
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I actually got out and walked across it first. No problems, and you can tell I have no problems with walking around on the sand. I was trying to get back to the campsite just before dark. We had just run a trail, and slabbed it back to the dirt road leading to the campsite. I missed it, and instead of driving back across the bridge, I figured I could loop back under the bridge just as easy. I swear it looked like a trail to me. It took me six hours and a grenaded winch to get out, plus a ticket from a passing LEO for "criminal mischief".

Here's some pics explaining why the winch cable is all wrapped up around the front bumper. The winch actually had what I can only describe as "massive spontaneous structural failure". The case literally exploded while I was winching out, sending debris hundreds of feet. My buddy and I were both in the Jeep when it went, and I remember the thing just exploding, and all tension on the winch releasing, which dropped the jeep back into the hole. Once we come to a rest, my buddy asks, "is it supposed to do that?", then a second or two later a three-inch chunk of the winch landed on the hood.

No. It's not supposed to do that.



In the top picture you can see the severed case, and notice that the clutch is about three inches further away from the drum than it likes to be. The best I can understand, one or both of the mounting bolt cradles on the drum end let go. The winch mounting bolts held, the case cracked around them, with the feet of the winch case still firmly mounted to the jeep. Once those two bolts went, the case had a massive, nearly instantaneous failure, ripping and spinning the clutch on the drum. The motor and the two mounting bolts on their end held firm.

Kudo's to Ramsey though. 100% replacement, not a word of hesitation. I mailed them the winch remains in a box, they sent me back a brand new one (in a bigger box). Customer for life.



181861414-L.jpg


181861395-L.jpg
 
Criminal mischief? WTF? That LEO was a D*CK. Honestly man, you had enough on your hands, the guy should have laughed and left...or been a decent dude and helped you out.
 
Bored400 said:
Criminal mischief? WTF? That LEO was a D*CK. Honestly man, you had enough on your hands, the guy should have laughed and left...or been a decent dude and helped you out.
Click to expand...

Ya think?? When I finally got to court, the prosecutor just laughed. Dismissed. Without going onto a huge soapbox here, I truly believe in the "loser pays" law, especially if it included DA's and cops that wrongfully bring people up on charges.

Not only did he write me the ticket, the reason it took me six hours to get out was because the cop wouldn't let a buddy of mine use that power pole behind me as a winch point. He had the winch, but that little 'zuk just didn't have the weight to get me out. Finally, the cop had to go munch a donut or pull over some stripper, plant drugs on her, and force her into sex. Once he left, we tree strapped the samurai to the power pole and I was out in ten minutes.

Most LEO's are dicks. That's why they became LEO's. Sure, you can find one in a million that really gives a shit, but the fact is that most of them just got sick of not being listened to, so they got a badge that makes them get listened to (or so they think). Beauty pagents are very similar in their ablility to attract a group of people, all with a single mindset. Beauty pagents are better to watch, with less emotional contestants, and don't ruin innocent peoples' lives. They both get shiny things, carry mace, and point fingers at others with haughtiness. They'll both have to go look that word up, too.
 
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Damn, those are big bucks for just a hat rack, hell I only spent $900 on my entire custom diesel jeep to buy the whole thing already running, and some one else installed the nissan diesal engine in it, LOL.:rolleyes:


WildernessJeep said:
Uhhhh, lessee here:

The PIAA lights on the front were about $400, the steel was about $300 (and rising), the powdercoating was $175, and the hi-lift/shovel/ax are another $100 (which you have to have in-hand to measure for). You are already up to $1,000 before you even start cutting, welding, or shipping, or adding the other stuff like the mounting hardware, front windscreen, side/rear lights and CB antenna.

I figure the rack is worth about $1500-2000 if it came from an assembly line, with the accessories, to customer specs. I would think a "one-off" or custom fabrication would put you in the $2,500-$3,000 range, if you just wrote a check to a professional fab shop. Like the math above says, I built my own for just over $1,000, not including tools or screw-ups.

R
Click to expand...
 
I replaced all the roof rack nut inserts on mine recently. The dealerships have a new style insert that elliminates the weak rubber and brass threads and replaced it with an all steel moly-bolt like insert that expands the metal as the bolt is tightened. The top side of it is dipped in PVC vinyl to seal the inserts against water intrusion. The new ones will litterally rip the roof off the jeep before they come loose (almost). In other words they are a great upgrade and run about $30 for a full set, I think it is six per side for a total of twelve. I posted the part number about 3 to 5 months ago in another roof rack thread here.

WildernessJeep said:
They are the little threaded plugs that Chrysler stuck in the sheet metal of the roof to secure the factory roof racks. Like I said, they are a standard metric machine thread, I just don't remember if it's Metric 8 or 10.

Be CAREFUL with them. Use the FSM torque values on them, over tightening them will strip them out of the sheet metal, then not only will you have a hole in your roof, you won't have anything to screw the rack to (without through-bolting it). I think there are about 8 total on the roof, maybe 10 (4 or 5 on each side).

I don't think they are welded into place at the factory, just pressed in which makes for a light hand on the wrenching. You'll be lucky to get your factory rack off without stripping or ripping at least one out of the sheet metal. Luckily the 1 or 2 that I pulled out were in the middle, so I have a fastener on both sides of the missing one. Like I said, I always planned to pull the headliner and through-bolt the roof rack with flat stock and bigger hardware, but after a couple of years of hard use, until I rip the thing off, I'm not gonna mess with it.
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