Homebrew Con-Ferr Style Porthole Roof Rack Build

[97CargoCrawler]

Tonight I cut the lengthwise pieces of strut for the rack. Nothing much to see there yet but I did take some pix to try to decide how I want my lights arranged.

These are just brainstorming pix...

Pyramid arrangement:



Straight across:













Straight across with angled corners:













I'm not sure yet which of those I like. I can weld multiple tabs and just use whatever, whenever. Since I could potentially have this rack for decades some versatility would be a plus.

Rear LED lights:





















Any thoughts? I think the pyramid only looks good in the jungle when you have a dead rhinoceros on the roof. The other configs are doable.

[97CargoCrawler]

The floor is now completely welded in! I absolutely hate welding galvanized steel. Toxic like a MoFo. My throat is burning even though I tried not to breathe. Gotta drink a lot of milk.



More poison please!



I thought this was funny....coming from OSHA! Read to the end...









Inner floor joints:



Outer floor joints:



Tomorrow I'll weld in some tabs around the inner perimeter to better secure the flooring at the edges. I also need to weld on the tabs for the lighting. I'm going to add more than I will use simply for future configurations. Aside from the tabs I don't think there's anything else to weld to the basket. Is there? Just about anything can be attached to the strut channel so things like awning rails, 50cal. machine gun mounts etc. can all be bolted on. Is there anything else you can think of that I might want welded on?

After the tabs I will start on the roof rails.

[WoodButcher]

Good work. What will this thing weigh when your done?

[doyoulikeithere]

Looks great, extra strong. You could pile a lot of stuff in there!
Although I believe a Rhino would be a bit on the large size, in reality land.
I knew it would be heavy, but 200 pounds empty is a bit to too much for my liking,
Especially on top of a Lifted Van, with another 200 pound load tied into the rack.

I'm assuming your MIG will weld aluminum .
What would we need to do differently to build the same thing, from aluminium?
For those of us who might like to try...

PS, any thoughts about incorporating a small ladder at the back so you can get up there quickly to point yer 50 cal at me.
LMFAO

[97CargoCrawler]

I think you may be underestimating the carrying capability of a vehicle like ours (mine).

For example: my Land Cruiser has a 4" lift with 33" tires. With the roof on it is just about as tall as my van is right now. Then add the rack on which is another 9-10" and take into consideration the track width on the FJ40 74" and my van is 81". The rack for the FJ40 is so heavy empty I can barely lift it (it has a 1/4" thick tread plate floor). The FJ40 is also 2/3 the length of my van and the rack is only 5' X 5.5' square and clamped to a rain gutter.

200# ain't shizzle for a load. I have had upwards of 600# of my FJ40 rack and drove around just fine, albeit very carefully. During a hunting trip up to the Oregon / Washington area we hauled several hundred pounds of gear on the roof across gnarly terrain, mostly volcanic pyroclastic rock (like razorblades on your tires). The rack carried the load there and back to CA with no issues.



Now enter my van. Wider track width and much longer wheelbase, similar in height, soon to have an even beefier suspension and a much larger yet lighter weight rack.

Right now I have no problem lifting it and this is about 2/3 of the total weight that's going on the roof:



I think it will be just fine. If not, it takes only 8 bolts to remove the basket and I still have rack rails on the roof to attach stuff to.

I can do aluminum with my MIG. Like i said before, if you wanted a rack that would be as capable as this one you would need materials with a wall thickness of at least 1/8" and you would not be able to use the porthole plates as load bearing supports. You would need to weld tubing or pipe in. I suppose if you just want the sides to keep junk from flying off like a basket then maybe you could weld 1/8" or 3/16" thick aluminum plates to the sides for support. The floor cross members would have to be very thick material if you ever planned to walk around on it or sleep several people on the roof.

I might make an aluminum version someday. I know it will probably cost 3X as much in materials. Just the welding wire alone costs nearly double.

I am going to do a ladder on the door like the photo showed at the beginning of this thread. I might also add a hatch door in the roof so I can pop up like a Jack-in-the-Box and shoot, throw poo, cuss and get up top quickly to bare my fat smelly ass at anyone I don't like. The 50cal. is just a back-up. I'll have lasers in the headlamps and an EMP device on the front of the rack.

[WoodButcher]

You'll be ok and you will get used to driving with it. I've seen you're responses the naysayers on different subjects and I caught the same on occasion from freinds when I first built mine back in '00. Yes, you'll get blown around on the highway. Your gas guage will suffer, I get about 13 average. Big tires? yep, I've replaced the suspension parts many times, with the wheel adapters you'll be a pro in no time.

I've got one I haven't heard posted yet, my rack and high mounted shelves for tools in the very back have put weird stress / wear and tear on the body. In Oct. this year we had a freak snowstorm before I had winter tires on. I slid off the road and when I stopped my passenger side tires were in the ditch so the van was tilted to one side. I opened the back doors to grab my shovel and found I couldn't shut the doors, the opening was wracked. Got back on flat ground and they were just fine. Broken welds in the body would explain all the rattles these days, when I first did the van it was tight. Freinds used to say it sounded like a luxury car when you closed the doors. Not so much anymore,,,, I put 125k on this one so far and I'll do it again when this one dies.

[6spd_monte]

A couple of questions about the hazards of welding galvanized steel:

Is the galvanizing just a coating? If so, then if you were to grind it off before welding would it still create toxic fumes?

[97CargoCrawler]

Yes, it is a coating of Zinc. Problem is I'd have to grind back about 1.5" of it and that is impossible to do inside the channel because it is bent into a U and then the edges into another U. It's not that big a deal. I just make sure to drink milk afterwards as it helps flush the zinc out of your system. I have built other large items with galv steel and I'm only half brain-dead.

[97CargoCrawler]

BTW, grinding zinc is almost as bad without a respirator.

I got the light tabs and floor tabs welded in today.

Front light tabs:



Rear light tabs:



Floor corner tabs:





Floor side tabs:



I thought I would have a chance to start on the roof rails today but I forgot to buy them on the way home from work yesterday. Oh well. Maybe I can work on the ladder tomorrow instead.

[97CargoCrawler]

I'm not feeling too inspired today because the weather is crappy. I also have not left the house for anything aside from going to work in over a month so tonight I'm going to dinner and a movie. I am using some time to plan for my trip to Home Depot on the way home from work tomorrow though.

I always had difficulty finding a tidy way to route the wiring for the lights on my FJ40 rack. I even resorted to drilling holes in the tubing to run wires. Obviously that compromises the integrity of the tube from a structural standpoint and also allows water to seep in after the rubber grommets harden and rot. I definitely want to improve on that.

I have decided to run 1/2" PVC electrical conduit around the inside perimeter of the rack. It's light weight, easy to cut and add in junctions and I don't need to protect it from rust. At each light location I will add a TEE that has a 3/8" threaded fitting. I will then use a 3/8" NPT liquid tight cord grip to feed the wiring for each light. I will have to cut off the giant PIAA connectors that came attached to the lamps. I suppose I will use bullet connectors instead. SOLDERED of course.

I will use these:



I will use a similar but larger liquid tight multi-cord grip to feed the wiring in through the roof.

I will have an LED spot light on each side of the rack and two on the back. They draw something like 2 Amps and 12V. I was thinking that I could add these into my alarm system that I'm installing this summer. There are two ways I would like to use them for the alarm:

1: Have them turn on to light up the perimeter of the van if the alarm is triggered
2: Allow them to be activated using the wireless remote function on the key FOB. My remote has a function to allow the trunk to pop etc. so I should be able to activate the lights from that function and keep them on for a predetermined time using a timed relay or something. It would be a really nice feature to help me see around the van before I get in a night. Just in case there are any critters or Canadians hiding around it.

[MountainManJoe]

Just in case there are any critters or Canadians hiding around it.

Well gas is expensive up here...

I think this rack is going to outlive you.

[97CargoCrawler]

That's one very tanned Canadian! I know this rack will outlive me.....I used to play with liquid mercury when I was a little (curious) kid. I should probably be dead already.

I got a quote today for 6061 T6 MILL finish 1/8" thick diamond plate for my rack......$570. I almost died. That's double what I had anticipated. It is sold in 4'X16' sheets. My rack is roughly 9'X5' so that means I need to have two strips cut out of two separate sheets to cover the rack. That leaves a whole lot of extra metal. Yes, I could piece together a mess of squares but the idea is to provide strength to the floor. I don't want to weld all that aluminum since it weakens it and will warp like crazy. The girl isn't charging me for anything over the 9' in length, but she has to charge for the entire width and it still comes out to $570.

If I do the kennel/chicken coop flooring it will cost me about $300 shipped. This flooring is a major PITA over the tread plate. It will require a ton of fasteners and cutting to size. I think the labor alone makes the tread plate worth the cost. I doubt the plastic will hold up to the sun for very long too.

I could buy a whole lot of other goodies with $570. I can't believe the cost.

[astroturf]

plywood

[97CargoCrawler]

I looked at tents, I didn't like what I saw. Nothing fit right. I have always liked the military truck look so I might as well make my tent like one:



It will have a thick OD green water repellant canvas covering held on with these suckers:



The way it is now it's 34" tall. I can sit up in there and still have an inch or two headroom. I can always make some extension poles too. This is just a mock-up that I quickly bent up with 1/2" EMT electrical conduit. It's pretty lightweight yet can be very sturdy with the canvas attached. There will of course be some poles running down the sides too. I need to weld up some clever tee's. These arches fit within the rails of the rack so I shouldn't need to hack them up for storage:



I also bought one of these so I don't have to climb up the ladder to get in there:



It will arrive tomorrow along with my diamond plate floor. It should be pretty rugged.

[97CargoCrawler]

It still needs some minor massaging but tonight I cut out the corners and dropped the plates in. The rack is heavy now. Those plates total about 80lbs. I'd say the rack is now about 150 to 170lbs. With hardware, roof rails and lights it will easily top 200. Not excellent, but I wasn't aiming for cheap and flimsy. The plates can easily come off if I find the weight is an issue. I was able to walk across the rack stepping into the unsupported sections and there was almost no deflection. Once it's bolted down I doubt I will notice any deflection. I will probably put one 1/4" bolt per foot.

One 28.25" X 106.5" sheet:



Test fitting showed that my dimensions could have left a little room for play. The plates fit tight inside the rails which is a testament to my anal quality control but not good since a little wiggle room is nice. I could have used 1/16" on all sides.



The plates are going to sit nice and flat:



After the test fitting I set the rack over the two sheets and outlined the corners that needed to be chopped:





They are a little tight. I need to make some notches in the sides so the plates can push outward a bit and slide into the porthole supports. I want a slight separation between the two halves so they don't rub and squeak.



I cut the corners so they overlap the rails a bit:



The two sheets sit slightly higher than the rails. The strut is perhaps 7/8" thick so it is higher than the rail profile. This was an advantage because it allowed me to weld tabs on the topside of the rails to secure the in between sections:





Overall I am quite happy how square everything turned out. It's not perfect but I'd say the largest deviation in any dimension is 3/16". That's pretty good considering I used hand tools and hardware store quality measuring tools that were way to short for this type of work. And nothing was bolted to a welding table yet I managed to combat warpage from heat despite over 1,000 welded joints.



I hope to get to work on the roof rails this weekend. This basket will sit on top of those rails.