jakegator
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- August 1, 2012
- Messages
- 124
- Reaction score
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- City, State
- PA, USA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 explorer 4dr ohv
Hello, just thought id do a write up of how I made my roof rack! The roof rack is full length and width, with respect to the roof, ill get measurements eventually... I used 1/2 inch conduit and a flux core mig welder.
What you need:
Around about 60-70 feet of conduit = 6-7 pieces at 2$ each
Spray paint
Athletic tape (more on that later)
Pipe cutter (not necessary but soooooo much easier)
Pipe bender
I didnt use measurements just eyed it up and chuged along! If you do it my way just make a bend somewhere on the pipe and lay it on the roof. Then make a mark where you want the second bend to be and bend there... just keep repeating this until you get the desired shape! I dont have any pics of this part sorry!
Next assemble it! I suppose clamps would work well but i had a triangular magnet for welding and so i used that. My welder doesnt have a good current adjustment, but you want it low and the feed speed to be about mid way. Conduit melts very easily!
Note: I have heard welding conduit is especially bad for your health so use a ventilated area... I used outside....
Im not sure which of these codes doe pics so heres both!
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/1230121646a_zpsa7f1e020.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/1230121646a_zpsa7f1e020.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
This is the rack almost all together, I plan on putting lights in the part where it swings up! In later pics youll notice that it swings up way toooo much so i cut it down later on.
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/0102131230a_zpsc518960c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/0102131230a_zpsc518960c.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
This is also before i trimmed the slope, but notice the welds... partly due to the material (mostly due to my skill level) the welds look terrible! However they are very strong as I can stand and jump on it with no problem.
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/h_zps71774801.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/h_zps71774801.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
So here is where the athletic tape comes in! As I mentioned the welds look like crap, so i wrapped the whole thing in athletic tape. Its kinda like a fabric tape, anyways i think it looks decent so thats what im doing... Also The rack needs painted regardless if you wrap it or not, it will rust alot!
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/0106131204a_zps13dc6f00.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/0106131204a_zps13dc6f00.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
And there it is finsihed! Its not bolted up yet and the lights are not hooked up either, eventually I plan on adding two more in the center!
Well hope this helped someone out! let me know if any one has questions or needs more pics!
What you need:
Around about 60-70 feet of conduit = 6-7 pieces at 2$ each
Spray paint
Athletic tape (more on that later)
Pipe cutter (not necessary but soooooo much easier)
Pipe bender
I didnt use measurements just eyed it up and chuged along! If you do it my way just make a bend somewhere on the pipe and lay it on the roof. Then make a mark where you want the second bend to be and bend there... just keep repeating this until you get the desired shape! I dont have any pics of this part sorry!
Next assemble it! I suppose clamps would work well but i had a triangular magnet for welding and so i used that. My welder doesnt have a good current adjustment, but you want it low and the feed speed to be about mid way. Conduit melts very easily!
Note: I have heard welding conduit is especially bad for your health so use a ventilated area... I used outside....
Im not sure which of these codes doe pics so heres both!
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/1230121646a_zpsa7f1e020.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/1230121646a_zpsa7f1e020.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
This is the rack almost all together, I plan on putting lights in the part where it swings up! In later pics youll notice that it swings up way toooo much so i cut it down later on.
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/0102131230a_zpsc518960c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/0102131230a_zpsc518960c.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
This is also before i trimmed the slope, but notice the welds... partly due to the material (mostly due to my skill level) the welds look terrible! However they are very strong as I can stand and jump on it with no problem.
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/h_zps71774801.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/h_zps71774801.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
So here is where the athletic tape comes in! As I mentioned the welds look like crap, so i wrapped the whole thing in athletic tape. Its kinda like a fabric tape, anyways i think it looks decent so thats what im doing... Also The rack needs painted regardless if you wrap it or not, it will rust alot!
<a href="http://s1242.beta.photobucket.com/user/jakegator/media/0106131204a_zps13dc6f00.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/jakegator/0106131204a_zps13dc6f00.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>
And there it is finsihed! Its not bolted up yet and the lights are not hooked up either, eventually I plan on adding two more in the center!
Well hope this helped someone out! let me know if any one has questions or needs more pics!