ultraclyde
Member
- Joined
- November 3, 2004
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Bonaire Ga
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 97 XLT V8
I'm planning on building a safari rack for my second gen and I've seen a bunch of great ideas here in the fab section. I'd like the rack to be large, covering most of the roof, and I'm planning on using 1" 16ga steel sq tube since I don't have the rig for welding aluminum.
The rack will be for general gear use - the X is our tow vehicle for a popup camper and my travel/adventure rig for mountain and road biking. It's a 2wd, and i don't do any offroading.
Given the size, what's the best way to mount it so that it still has a good bit of weight carrying capacity? I'd love to remove the factory crossbars and use the existing mount points, but I know the factory setup is only good for a couple hundred pounds. I'd considered removing the factory rub rails and direct mounting it. Bolting it through the roof with interior backing plates would be strongest, but it seems a bit extreme, plus there's the risk of leaks and having to remove the headliner.
I'm not planning on hauling stacks of plywood, but the rack itself will probably be over 75 lbs, and one of the main items to strap down is a 10x10 Easy-Up canopy, which is probably 30+ lbs. Add a couple mountain bikes and some other sundries, and it's getting heavy.
On a related note, when you guys mount lights on the rack, where do you bring the wires out through the roof? Long term I plan on have some driving lights, a couple low power side floods and perhaps supplemental brake/turns for towing. My rack design will be drilled for internal wire routing throughout the rack.
The rack will be for general gear use - the X is our tow vehicle for a popup camper and my travel/adventure rig for mountain and road biking. It's a 2wd, and i don't do any offroading.
Given the size, what's the best way to mount it so that it still has a good bit of weight carrying capacity? I'd love to remove the factory crossbars and use the existing mount points, but I know the factory setup is only good for a couple hundred pounds. I'd considered removing the factory rub rails and direct mounting it. Bolting it through the roof with interior backing plates would be strongest, but it seems a bit extreme, plus there's the risk of leaks and having to remove the headliner.
I'm not planning on hauling stacks of plywood, but the rack itself will probably be over 75 lbs, and one of the main items to strap down is a 10x10 Easy-Up canopy, which is probably 30+ lbs. Add a couple mountain bikes and some other sundries, and it's getting heavy.
On a related note, when you guys mount lights on the rack, where do you bring the wires out through the roof? Long term I plan on have some driving lights, a couple low power side floods and perhaps supplemental brake/turns for towing. My rack design will be drilled for internal wire routing throughout the rack.
