WoodysKJ wrote:
I'll bet that Marty is sitting in his office reading this and saying "Holly Crap, what have i gotten myself into now?"
Got most of that right, but I knew what I would get myself into, just no that much so quick.
Materials and actual assembly isn't that difficult, but the bending of the tube is the fun and costly part. I didn't actually weigh the rails before installing them, but I would guess under 10lbs each. The tube itself is 1/8" wall, same exact tubing I use on my Super Skinks, so they are pretty strong. The feet are 3/16" plate with a UHMW plastic pad on the bottom so it isn't steel sitting directly to the steel roof. I haven't sat down to figure up my actual cost yet, but from a quick glance at the receipts, retail for just the rails would be around $250. Shipping will be pretty cheap compared to sliders and bumpers, and they would come sandblasted no charge and I could paint them for you if wanted in Hammered Black for an extra $20 to cover paint, time, and packaging. If I get a bunch of orders for the first batch, then I could drop the price a little, say 10%. Because of the angles of the roof and the sliders, they angle outward just slightly compared to the OEM rails, so the overall width from one side to the other is slightly wider, so if you have a basket rack, you would need to look at the adjustability of the mounting and see that they can mount wider by atleast 2".
The full basket rack/rail design will have higher side rails by about 3" (still 2-3" shorter than the Defender rack on stock OEM rails), will have a square tube floor, rear bar with two light tabs, front bar extending slightly forward of the rack itself with four light tabs, and I could put a tab for a CB antenna on the front or rear bar. Price I don't know yet, but have a number in mind. Considering most "quality" heavy duty baskets like the Defender, Kargomaster, and similar run about $400-500 for the basket with light tabs and mounting brackets, and the OEM rails aren't rated for very much weight, My rack that bolts directly to the roof in the stock rail holes with the floor and the tabs, I would say right now $550 plus shipping.
Will be later in the year before I can mess with the basket design, but the replacement rails themselves I would mostly be waiting on my tube bender guy to make up the rails, then I would make up a jig in the meantime, and with being close to caught up on current orders, I would guess they would be ready sometime in October.
As for load rating, haven't had time to experiment, but the factory renegade plastic mounts are only rated for 65lbs. The factory rails are fairly strong, but the plastic mounts are crap. Reason I built Ted's (USAFCOP) rack is because he had a basket rack mounted to his factory rails, and flexed his jeep enough on an obstacle that the right rear mount actually shattered. Chase (Green Renegade), had atleast 200lbs of gear and a large cooler full of ice and beverages, and the rails didn't flinch. Chances are your roof will cave in before the rails or rack ever will.
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2011 Ford F-150 XLT 4X4
one more thing to scrownge up $$ for when thier ready 
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