3/4" PVC safari roof rack, strong, light weight!

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:49 am

I made this rack to fit right between the roof rails on my kj and fastened it down with 4 hose clamps painted (black rubberized trunk coating) to match roof rails. I also added the lexan air deflector to stop the wind noise you get with a rack.OK I know that someone is going to ask (can you carry a tire up there) and the answer is yes, but I sure don't plan on it, just some camping equipment & stuff. [img][img]http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/5289/dscn00397ge.jpg[/img][/img] [img][img]http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5004/dscn00637jb.jpg[/img][/img]

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Se7enLC · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:58 am

I really like it. It's very different from the typical metal safari rack, and it blends in nicely with the factory roof racks. Do you have any closeup photos of the connection to the racks?

The only thing I would change is to lower the lights a little. They look REALLY high on top of the rack. I don't know if it's possible to drop them down so that the lights are right about the front edge of the rack?

dog_party · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:25 pm

That's cool. I was wondering about making a rack out of PVC. Glad to see someone beat me to it. Looks great! How much weight have you tested up there?

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:44 pm

Se7enLc, this is a close-up of how the rack is connected to the side rails, neat,clean & secure. 4 two inch hose clamps, ( two per side.)

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:51 pm

I don't think I would hold a dance on it! I did put a mounted tire up there and it was fine, but like I said, I don't plan on carring much more than camping & boating stuff.

corwyyn · **Posted:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:10 am

Wow, that actually looks pretty nice. Could you possibly supply some pics of how the rack goes together, or maybe supply a rough sketch of the design? I could see making something like that and maybe putting some wooden dowels inside the PVC for added stiffness. Something to ponder...

Taz · **Posted:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:14 am

Wow, that turned out pretty good. Did you use regular plain old white pvc? Is it stiff enough? It looks like it should be with how close the fittings are. If I understand correctly you coated the whole thing, how well did the coating stick? Did you have to do anything to get it to stick? I'm was thinking of building a rack out of PVC but had all these questions, now I think that it's a go.

EugeneTheJeep06 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:57 pm

None of the images are working

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:58 pm

Taz, I used schedule 40 PVC, and yes the hole thing is coated and it stuck just fine, but I sanded it first. and your right, the strength is all do to the short span of the pieces of pvc. Just take your time and make sure when you glue that the pieces are firmly seated and they do not back off a little, because they will. I used a rubber mallet to help with this problem! Good luck. PS...I should make this clear because the side rails hide this part,it does have 4 cross pieces in the bottom of the rack, look close at the pic and you can see what I am talking about. The cross pieces of pvc will be about 1/2 to 3/4 inch off the top of the roof so I put the foam insulation on just for cushion and to save on the ware of the coating. You could put a solid bottom in on top of these cross pieces if you like, I just had no need for a solid bottom.[img][img]http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6929/rscn00867rx.jpg[/img][/img]

Taz · **Posted:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:16 pm

Very detailed design and write up. This helps a lot, I was wondering if schedule 40 would be stiff enough or if I would have to find a plumbing supply house and get schedule 80, I think that I will try scedule 40 now. Thanks for the info.

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:52 pm

One more thing before I forget. These 90s with a side inlet is what I used on the corners, but as you can see the side inlet is threaded so I had to reduce down to 1/2 inch pvc. I did not want just 1/2 inch on the corners and the rest 3/4. so I got threaded tee's and reduced all the upright to 1/2 inch, but the bottom cross pieces are slip tee's and I used 3/4 inch for that. Hope that makes since.[img][img]http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/5061/101522front1006qo.jpg[/img][/img]

Calvin56 · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:59 am **Posts:** 345

Cool, nice work!

dog_party · **Posted:** Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:28 am

Quote:

I don't think I would hold a dance on it!

Haaaa hahahahahahahaa :-)r

That's funny!

On the threaded corner pieces: How hard would it be to grind those threaded Ts down to 3/4 slip Ts? I've never done it before, but I'm always looking for something to ruin with my Dremel. I love that thing.

BrrrRRRRRrRRRrraawwwlllllawwwWWWWLLLaaaa*snip*
"Cr@p! Honey, I broke another one. Gotta run to Lowe's again."

TnRebel · **Posted:** Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:14 pm

You can buy the slip typ of of corner and T's

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:27 pm

HaHa, When I glanced at the 1st pic, I thought ure basketball hoop was a satelite dish :shock:

and to show u how twisted I am, my first thought was "I want one!" :lol:

Cool construction though. Before I cut my basket to fit my Renny, I essentially built a mockup out of pvc to get the dimensions correct before I cut up my metal one. I considered building the whole thing out of it at that point but didn't think it would be strong enough. Guess it is!

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:42 am

TnRebel wrote:

You can buy the slip typ of of corner and T's

The Tee's were easy to find, threaded or slip but the elbow with side inlet was not, I look & called all over the place and all they could come up with was the elbow was slip but the side inlet was threaded. I did find one place online that sold them but I had to order and I really did not want to, Trust me as a rule your local pluming & hard ware stores just don't carry them.

skogsemt · **Posted:** Sun Mar 26, 2006 12:03 am

Great idea- nice write up..

06BlueLimited · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:36 pm

Hey I was just wondering how that roof rack is holding up? I have been looking at the pics alot lately and really like it and I am thinking about somethinkg simialr. Any info on how you like it so far would be great

TnRebel · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 9:18 pm

Liberty & Justice 4x4 wrote:

TnRebel wrote:

You can buy the slip typ of of corner and T's

The Tee's were easy to find, threaded or slip but the elbow with side inlet was not, I look & called all over the place and all they could come up with was the elbow was slip but the side inlet was threaded. I did find one place online that sold them but I had to order and I really did not want to, Trust me as a rule your local pluming & hard ware stores just don't carry them.

anyway a GREAT job you did

Liberty & Justice 4x4 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:23 pm

06BlueLimited wrote:

Hey I was just wondering how that roof rack is holding up? I have been looking at the pics alot lately and really like it and I am thinking about somethinkg simialr. Any info on how you like it so far would be great

06BlueLimited, the rack is holding up just fine. A friend of mine thought it was factory, what a good feeling. I had made a rack for my Ford Ranger 10 years ago and it is still in use. These are a few things you may find helpful, take your time, dry fit before you glue, make sure rack fits between factory side rails snugly ( front is wider than back) you will need to make a lexan wind deflector to stop wind noise (around $20.00) I painted the back and added the decal I found on ebay http://stores.ebay.com/stickycreations This guy will work to meet your needs, He is A1. This 3/4" pipe hanger (below) is how I mounted the three 130 w lights & the lexan wind deflector with out drilling into the pvc ( need to enlarge hole in bracket a little more to fit the light mounting bolt through it). I also filled in any gaps with body filler and used a small rasp to round off the wrench flats on the fittings and all of the other mold tabs left on the pvc for a nice round and smooth finish. Hope you find this helpful.

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3/4" PVC safari roof rack, strong, light weight!

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