Roof Rack

[Mark C.]

I wanna beef up my roof rack without goin crazy. I am thinkin about getting roof tracks from a vehicle like a cherokee,but longer. Yakima sells them but I think I will try pick n pull first. I think the trak will spread the load better than the indvidual feet of the factory rack. I am also considering a lumber style rack with feet down the side of the van between windows. Three legs per side. One is cheep one is bomber. Any thoughts?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

97CargoCrawler built an awesome rack for his van. Check out his build thread for feet mounting ideas and then build away! Nice thing about building your own is you can make kayak mounts and fishing rod holders the way you want them.

[astrozam]

97CargoCrawler built an awesome rack for his van. Check out his build thread for feet mounting ideas and then build away!

Yep... tho it may be more than your looking to build, it is the Grandaddy of ALL roof racks and it'll give you lots of ideas for yours.

heres the link...viewtopic.php?f=73&t=7862

[H2OJoe]

I just read the build thread on Crawler's roof rack. All I can say is WOW!!! I have neither the talent or patience to build something like that and am genuinely in awe of those of you who can do it.

Joe

[97CargoCrawler]

I acquired the talent in the process! Well, at least my welding skills improved somewhat after 1500 or so welds.

I would look into electrical strut for a very versatile rack. You can get it in steel, aluminum and fiberglass. If you know an electrician you are in real luck. They can usually supply you or at least point you in the right direction for finding affordable strut. They do carry steel strut at Home Depot and similar large hardware stores. You could build a very sturdy, bolt together rack with immense versatility for less than $150.

You could probably find some brackets in the electrical dept. too for easy attachment to the roof. The only tricky part is the spacing between the roofs sheet metal and the cross beams. Solve that problem like I did and you'll be able to hoist the van from your rack!

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing what you build.

[Mark C.]

So... I have been doin research and will have a pic as soon as they arrive,but I ordered a universal roof track from "Vantech" a couple days ago. I have to say I have installed the Yakima version many times over the years and have never been dissapointed,however this time the loads are greater and more often. This in mind reading Crawlers thread,about five times,made it take longer to make up my mind. South Tahoe is a one horse town and I even convinced the local plumbing supply to order a couple sticks of Uni-strut for me to play with. In the end I went back to the track idea for one simple reason,I don't wanna deal with tryin to get the headliner out right now. Its gettin too cold to take on a major project like that now. The Vantech tracks come with Riv-nuts which r expensive and work well,the tracks I ordered r 6' and longer than others I have installed before,so I hope they will spread the load out well. I also figure I can tie into the cross members at a later date,maybe? I am going to also try to pull off some KungFu. I think I can make the factory roof rails fit in these "tracks" then the Thule towers and cross bars I already posess will work,and the factory rails will also help spread the load,having four feet per side. I will post pics as soon as they arrive but that wont be till next week.

[Mark C.]

Brown box santa came today! These r way beefier than the Yakima version, looks like a nice kit. All hardware included,stainless bolts and weatherstrip. Too bad it just snowed or I'd be out there drill in hand.

[davlafont]

I'm looking forward to more. I like this concept a lot. Like many people, I'm in awe of CargoCrawler's custom job but won't be going down that road any time soon (I can't spell "weld" without computer assistance).

I've read lots of skepticism (and more than a little negativity) about RivNuts, but I think having many of them tied together by the aluminum channel mitigates the risk of one being overloaded (or to be more accurate, overloading the sheet metal they are clamping into).

Best of luck to you!

[Astrophysics]

What is the Vantech rail kit Part number? I looked on Vantech web site but somehow I did not see the aluminum rails. I want to install on my 2003 AWD Astro which does not have OEM roof rack. I have use Riv nuts before since I have the Marson riv nut tool from Grainger.

What is the web URL to get to Vantech site that shows how to order the rails?

Thanks,

A..P

[davlafont]

I looked on Vantech web site but somehow I did not see the aluminum rails.

I found them buried:
Accessories > Universal Fitment > Vantech aluminum universal track, 72 inch length (pair) Silver
http://vantech.us/Vantech-aluminum-univ ... er-R15.htm
currently $81

The same 6' tracks are a part of their kit with crossbars:
http://vantech.us/J1000-Ladder-roof-van ... J1021S.htm
currently $314

[Mark C.]

I wish I had acess to a garage,it has been snowin where I am since these tracks arrived. The rivnuts use 1/4-20 hardware,biggest I will have used on a roof track. Six per track. Usually we get long periods of high pressure around here with a couple weeks of blue sky at a time,as soon as it happens I will be at it!

[Astrophysics]

6 per track sounds pretty strong. Are the riv nuts steel or aluminum?
Make sure to use drill stop to avoid cutting headliner.
Then prime and paint the steel holes.
It could be smart to remove some of the headliner and install a large washer stiffener plate inside.

[Mark C.]

Hardware is steel,The biggest reason I went this route is not to remove the headliner.The tracks are prety stiff,just flexing to conform to the roof line should make them even stiffer,I wont know until I install but if the roof is still flexed too much by my kayaks and roof box then I will remove the headliner and tie the tracks and back up all fixing hardware. On wifeys 4runner I installed yakima tracks and carry the same load I carry on the van with no problem,I used #10 rivnuts. I think the biggest problem with the factory van rack is the indivdual feet,and as someone else pointed out the factory rack is intended as a rope anchor for tying stuff to the roof NOT load bars.

[Astrophysics]

Good visual with magnet on steel. I called a Thule dealer today to check if Fit kits are available for the installation of Thule aero towers (400XT Aero Foot Set) by the front doors of the Astro. Yes, there is a Fit kit for Astro vans. This way you can install 1 or 2 Thule cross bars above the front doors. Then the 72 inch VanTech rails can be installed with a rear ward bias since the front door area will have cross bars. On the forward most crooss bar i may install the Thule air deflector or maybe some off road driving lights. The Fit kit is the flat sheet metal piece that fits inside the Aero Foot tower. The Fit kit piece follows the contours of the inner front door weatherstripping ,etc.

AP

[Mark C.]

The sun was out today! This is what I have now.



Ladder is visible!