Building a safari/roof rack, need input on material to use.

[dieseldane]

Like the title says, I am planning on building a safari style roof rack for my b2, and I can't decide on what material to use. What I would really like, is for the people who have one to chime in and let me know what theirs is manufactured out of, and maybe even pictures of yours if you're feeling extra helpful. I've been looking on the interweb machine, and there is no way I'm going to pay what they want for a new one, and I haven't had any luck finding any good used ones cheap in my area.

 

[SmokeEater829]

I'm using the harbor freight ATV hitch carrier racks to make mine. You will need 2 of them. Usually about 40-50 bucks each. And some 1"x1" square tubing to tie it all together. No pictures right now, but I can get some soon if you would like. Probably have about $150 or so in it when it's all finished.

 

[straycat]

Do a search here. Lots of info. Check out the Fab section. Got some great photos of racks there, Bro. I have a budy who just bought one on Ebay for his sons 88 BII and it looks really great. It was around $$200 new with shipping. You gotta mount it but if you are good with tools...no big deal. Took him about 45 min. to get it installed.

 

[straycat]

I had my buddy go to this site to see how to install some roof rails on the BII. This might help you out if you need another idea for something.

http://www.broncoii-ranger.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6425

 

[straycat]

Man, I knew I saw a nice looking BII here sometime back with a neat rack. Here it is: Gave me a headache seaching for this, Bro...lol Give me some rep!!!

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106753

 

[dieseldane]

Thanks, that one in your second post straycat is pretty much exactly what I am going to shoot for. I would like to throw my spare up there, as well as my high lift, make a few good places to mount some auxillary and emergency lighting, and be able to throw a canoe or johnboat up onto it as well. The reason I was curious about materials, is that I tend to over build stuff and make it way to heavy.

 

[Lil-Pony]

1/8" wall tube steel should be strong enough, don't do much metal work so I could be way off.

 

[dieseldane]

1/8" wall tube steel should be strong enough, don't do much metal work so I could be way off.

No doubt that would be strong enough, but since this is gonna be on top of the roof, I kinda wanted to see what the lightest material I could get away with, but still never have to worry about tearing up is.

These haven't come up in my google searches before today, and aren't near as bad of a price as I have seen on others. I am maybe thinking about getting this one, narrowing it a little, and adding a little to beef it up under where the spare would go, or this one, but I would get the extension for it. They both cost a bit more than I could build one for, but I don't have access to any benders to make it look like I want either. Decisions decisions...

 

[PanamaExpat]

Depending on how you design it you could use 1/2 or 3/4 EMT.

 

[FlyinRyan]

Don't have a safari rack but can lend a hand in material selection.

By the look of the pre-manufactured units they are built off of a large tube base. The insides are just cheap grating with little or no support.

This isn't a bad idea, but could definitely be beefed up for your custom application. I'd stick with the round tube as a 'frame' as it's going to be stiffer and stronger than square. 1/8" wall is a good rule of thumb, but you can save weight by increasing your diameter and decreasing your wall thickness.

For Example:
OD----Wall----Mass----Bending Strength
3/4----1/8------1------------1
1.------1/8-----1------------2
1-1/4--1/16----.25-----------2
1-1/2--1/16----.25-----------3

This shows the comparison of a basic mild steel (1018, 1020...) based on weight and mass. As I said before, you can cut down on your wall and still stay light and strong, but you need the room!

If you know where you're going to mount the spare I'd design some bracing in. Angle Iron (L-Bracket, Equal Arm, whatever you want to call it) is worth it's weight here. It will hold up to bending and give lots of room for welds & bolt holes.

Hope this helps more than it confuses! Feel free to pm for more info. Good luck!

 

[dieseldane]

Depending on how you design it you could use 1/2 or 3/4 EMT.

Conduit had crossed my mind...

Don't have a safari rack but can lend a hand in material selection.

By the look of the pre-manufactured units they are built off of a large tube base. The insides are just cheap grating with little or no support.

This isn't a bad idea, but could definitely be beefed up for your custom application. I'd stick with the round tube as a 'frame' as it's going to be stiffer and stronger than square. 1/8" wall is a good rule of thumb, but you can save weight by increasing your diameter and decreasing your wall thickness.

For Example:
OD----Wall----Mass----Bending Strength
3/4----1/8------1------------1
1.------1/8-----1------------2
1-1/4--1/16----.25-----------2
1-1/2--1/16----.25-----------3

This shows the comparison of a basic mild steel (1018, 1020...) based on weight and mass. As I said before, you can cut down on your wall and still stay light and strong, but you need the room!

If you know where you're going to mount the spare I'd design some bracing in. Angle Iron (L-Bracket, Equal Arm, whatever you want to call it) is worth it's weight here. It will hold up to bending and give lots of room for welds & bolt holes.

Hope this helps more than it confuses! Feel free to pm for more info. Good luck!

It seems like the few racks that do list any specs on the material just say 1 inch tube. I am kinda leaning toward 3/4 inch though, because I think that most tie-down strap hooks wouldn't fit around the 1 inch. I guess i could make the main hoops out of inch tube, and just hook to the vertical supports or make holes out of plate.

 

[straycat]

Conduit had crossed my mind...



It seems like the few racks that do list any specs on the material just say 1 inch tube. I am kinda leaning toward 3/4 inch though, because I think that most tie-down strap hooks wouldn't fit around the 1 inch. I guess i could make the main hoops out of inch tube, and just hook to the vertical supports or make holes out of plate.

I have done this years back on my Land Cruiser and one of my early Broncos. I used 1 1/2 inch diameter dom. I think it was just a safer metal to use for hauling stuff around up there through the jungles and also in case of a roll over. I see that some companies that sell safari racks offer them in aluminum tubing as well. Just browse photos of safari racks (Google, Ebay, Amazon) and go with the style you think you would be happy off with, and if you think it would be cheaper to buy than build...then buy it.

Keep us posted and show us some photos when you get going, bro.