Gallowbraid
Adventurist
Ok. Attachment method decided I'm now trying to locate rivnuts or plusnuts that come with a membrane already attached so that when they flush themselves down to the sheet metal the membrane expands and makes for a tight seal between the fastener and the roof. I've found a couple of German manufacturers that offer such a thing, but have yet to find a US distributor that will sell me less than 1000 at a time. This product seems like it will work well, and is rated for the extreme temperatures a vehicle roof would see:
Just need to find some now.
I've also settled on adding a t-track in the gutter of the roof so that I can make fine adjustments to the positioning of the roof rack (to satisfy my OCD). Having the track vs. fixed mounting points will also make it easier to swap the rack out later because I can't leave well enough alone and I'm sure there will be a version 2, and maybe 3. This will also make it easier to work with the natural contour of the roof line. So now on to the design aspect.
When designing anything other than modern art it's best to decide what the item being designed is going to be used for. Generally the purpose of a roof rack is to carry stuff and that's about it. It's what they carry in our little niche of the world that makes a difference. It's one thing to haul a few 2x4's on top a Prius using a some cross bars. It's a totally different project when you're mounting awnings, roof top tents, lights, showers, antennas and a kitchen sink on top of an already overloaded and lifted 4Runner. So, what am I going to use this rack for? Here's the break down:
1. Hauling kayaks and bikes. With the recent sale of my trailer I need somewhere to put them besides the passenger seat.
2. A place to mount auxiliary lighting. Again with the sale of the trailer I'm going to be camping out the Sequoia and would like some additional lights around camp.
3. Antenna mounts. I'm using a couple of brackets that are attached to the lift gate right now, and while they work well I'd like to get those off the body of the vehicle and up a little higher.
4. Appearance. I'm man enough to admit that a large part of the project is just to satisfy my need to make the vehicle look better. Without a roof rack, or even the stock rails I think the body lines of the Sequoia match too closely to the newer Dodge Durangos...a vehicle I despise. Sort of looks like a surprised tail-less beaver to me.
So where's that leave me? Well...sitting here with photoshop open, that's where it leaves me. So far I'm working out the details for a Prinsu style rack (nothing like what I posted up there in the first post). After I work the kinks out on designing this I'm going to see if I can't photoshop together something similar to the Gobi and work out the assembly for each in my head. Right now I can cut, bolt and weld metal all day long but have no reliable method of bending tubing so I'm leaning toward the Prinsu-esque rack. I could also easily do this one out of aluminum and save quite a bit of weight. I'll update as I go along. Feel free to hurl suggestions my way in the meantime.
Just need to find some now.
I've also settled on adding a t-track in the gutter of the roof so that I can make fine adjustments to the positioning of the roof rack (to satisfy my OCD). Having the track vs. fixed mounting points will also make it easier to swap the rack out later because I can't leave well enough alone and I'm sure there will be a version 2, and maybe 3. This will also make it easier to work with the natural contour of the roof line. So now on to the design aspect.
When designing anything other than modern art it's best to decide what the item being designed is going to be used for. Generally the purpose of a roof rack is to carry stuff and that's about it. It's what they carry in our little niche of the world that makes a difference. It's one thing to haul a few 2x4's on top a Prius using a some cross bars. It's a totally different project when you're mounting awnings, roof top tents, lights, showers, antennas and a kitchen sink on top of an already overloaded and lifted 4Runner. So, what am I going to use this rack for? Here's the break down:
1. Hauling kayaks and bikes. With the recent sale of my trailer I need somewhere to put them besides the passenger seat.
2. A place to mount auxiliary lighting. Again with the sale of the trailer I'm going to be camping out the Sequoia and would like some additional lights around camp.
3. Antenna mounts. I'm using a couple of brackets that are attached to the lift gate right now, and while they work well I'd like to get those off the body of the vehicle and up a little higher.
4. Appearance. I'm man enough to admit that a large part of the project is just to satisfy my need to make the vehicle look better. Without a roof rack, or even the stock rails I think the body lines of the Sequoia match too closely to the newer Dodge Durangos...a vehicle I despise. Sort of looks like a surprised tail-less beaver to me.
So where's that leave me? Well...sitting here with photoshop open, that's where it leaves me. So far I'm working out the details for a Prinsu style rack (nothing like what I posted up there in the first post). After I work the kinks out on designing this I'm going to see if I can't photoshop together something similar to the Gobi and work out the assembly for each in my head. Right now I can cut, bolt and weld metal all day long but have no reliable method of bending tubing so I'm leaning toward the Prinsu-esque rack. I could also easily do this one out of aluminum and save quite a bit of weight. I'll update as I go along. Feel free to hurl suggestions my way in the meantime.