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Roof Rack fabrication project


ianmayco68

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Well got most of it fabed up yesterday SAM_1356.thumb.JPG.38460a33f219f8dd58ae8984ad41a2f3.JPGSAM_1357.thumb.JPG.f1341ab6a0f68ea47fceb83994a57db6.JPGSAM_1358.thumb.JPG.88ebd89ada889daf8d9ab185466982d4.JPGSAM_1359.thumb.JPG.4a37a599c915af67d42f724d722197f3.JPGSAM_1360.thumb.JPG.f146b858fdc039dd53fa09c1bbe6cbee.JPG

then today tacked it all together and then welded it up .

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Just got a few welds underneath to do then clean them up . Then its on to the roof bars which will be bolt in , but the feet will be welded to the tubes did it like this so I can remove it on my own if needed . As for the weight I can comfortably pick that up on my own as I have done tonight as I needed to clear the workshop for tomorrow as the 110 is getting some new rear springs and some Koni shocks due to the other's being #### .

cheers Ian

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On 18/05/2018 at 5:04 PM, ianmayco68 said:

I bet most people with other vehicles overload roof racks as well , have seen cars stacked high when I’ve been on holiday down to Cornwall they look like they’ve emptied the house.

I'm sure they do.  Most other LR vehicles, like modern RRs and Discoverys, have a meagre limit of 55kg, but its becoming common to see overland (mis)prepared D3s and D4s well overladen.

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Neat jobs on all roof racks here. With regards to loading up the roof rack, I often see people putting the heaviest things at the highest point; spare wheel, hi jack and fuel/water cans. All things I would put as low in the car as possible and put light stuff higher up.

That's why Camel trophy cars used to roll over a lot. My 2p anyway.

 

Daan

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well have put off finishing this due to needing to weld and how hot it's been and other bits I've needed to do , when I've been welding all week the last thing  I want to do is weld at the weekend when it's nice , but today I bit the bullet as I want it finished and fitted so I can carry on with the project . 

So today I marked all the clamp plates out

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drilled the holes 

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then made them into slots with the plasma cutter

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I cleaned all the holes up with a rotary file in the drill then drilled the holes in the feet , then test fitted the bolts and plates on the truck and all was fine .

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then cut some bolts down to size and welded them in

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Tomorrow I will get the cross bars done that will be welded to the feet , hopefully it won't be to hot .

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Will explain how they're clamping on in a bit so , cut the blocks off for the end of the roof bars SAM_1378.thumb.JPG.b51ea3a6e55ec3eae10c1eb5a6340d2b.JPG

drilled and tapped them all , then clamped them to the roof rack and drilled the holes in there

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then bolted them to the roof rack and tacked the rails to them SAM_1383.thumb.JPG.ff83bc8598edb0b1e377342a66dea85c.JPGSAM_1384.thumb.JPG.8e781393e8e570ea0cc469a707c0b41c.JPG

and welded them up

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So the plan is to weld the feet , below

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to the rails above making them into roof bars , rubber channel will be glued to the feet with a small plate for the rack to rest on then bolted to the rails . You will see this later , it's so I can fit and remove the roof rack by myself . Then the feet will bolt to the gutter like this 

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same as a conventional roof rack really , will be welding them up tomorrow .

cheers Ian

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I think what Ross was referring to was how are you going to ensure the vertical clamping force. My suspicion brute force and ignorance. I've seen quite a nifty idea on Pinterest where the bottom is fixed into a threaded holder so as you do it up it clamps vertically on the gutter.

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12 hours ago, Ed Poore said:

I think what Ross was referring to was how are you going to ensure the vertical clamping force. My suspicion brute force and ignorance. I've seen quite a nifty idea on Pinterest where the bottom is fixed into a threaded holder so as you do it up it clamps vertically on the gutter.

That was my interpretation too.  The vertical clamping you describe is exactly what Brownchurch do, similar in method to Ian's, but with a vertical stud instead of horizontal, drawing the clamp upwards towards the rack and pulling the rack foot down into the gutter.  I'll try to find a picture of mine.

 

Plenty of Brownchurch rack photos with good views of the clamps in this link: http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/august/

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14 minutes ago, Snagger said:

That was my interpretation too.  The vertical clamping you describe is exactly what Brownchurch do, similar in method to Ian's, but with a vertical stud instead of horizontal, drawing the clamp upwards towards the rack and pulling the rack foot down into the gutter.  I'll try to find a picture of mine.

 

Plenty of rack photos in this link: http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/august/

That's what I was thinking. The brownchurch ones from memory have a bolt/stud welded to the bottom foot, then a section that passes through on the main part of the rack with a nut to draw it all together. 

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It's probably OK. If I remember correctly my diy roof rack I inherited with my Series 3 was a similar design. But that never went fast enough to find out how handled high(er) speeds.

I think provided your leg that goes under the gutter doesn't hit the side panels you're probably OK. As you do up yours it should clamp against the vertical lip of the gutter. I'd definitely put some lock washers or Nylocs to prevent vibrations shaking it free.

Benefit of diy is if it doesn't work then you can always cut them off and start again, as I'm currently doing with my doors :unsure:

So it'll probably work but I think I prefer the design I posted as if the angles are right it clamps in both important directions and is nice and simple. I suspect yours will need either three hands or a helper to ensure its all tight whilst doing it up. 

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I've tacked all the roof bars up today and did a test fit of one on the roof and it seemed very stable SAM_1386.thumb.JPG.cf6124c80a5531d754080dd666d6570c.JPGSAM_1387.thumb.JPG.2d3595e4525406780ca6b91acfd1c00a.JPG

so they should be ok , can't make up my mind whether I need to put rubber "U" strip along the bottom of the feet , what does everyone think ?

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1 hour ago, miketomcat said:

The rack I made had a similar clamp arrangement but just had holes not slots drilled slightly high so as to pull up as you tightened. I later changed them to brownchurch style

Did you change because you felt like it or because the original setup was ineffective?

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  • 1 year later...

Well I have been doing bits on this on and off but its finally finished , yeaaaaaaaaaaaah one project down a few to go . Right so welded the rack together and legs then made some mounts for the front light bar ,

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test fit ,

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then wanted some slim line LED lights on the side so when camping you can have some light down each side and found these on eBay weren't very expensive at all .

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made up some backing plates and welded them on ,

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and zinc rich primered it ,

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then painted it black this is the best pic I've got .

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Then finally this weekend I've fitted it ,

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I'm well pleased how it turned out and I've no doubt I'll upgrade the design along the way just need to wire the lights in and it's job done .

cheers Ian

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