my soon to be roof rack

hey so i'm designing my roof rack on this 3D modelling program called SolidWorks. just wondering what u guys think of my design so far.



(those block looking things r the lights. they're 5x7's just put em on for looks)

Looks good.  How will you be mounting it to your roof?  You welding it yourself?

thanks! yes i will be welding it myself. and i'm not exactly sure how to mount it yet. i'm gunna see if i can come up w/ something so that it mounts in the factory railing.

Solidworks FTW! love that program, designed a full 3800 supercharged (gtp) motor assembly and it worked too, took about 4 weeks to create each part, and another 2 weeks to assemble and modify finishing touches.

hey man looks good ... I think your best bet for mounting would be to just use 4 U-bolts!

Looks good man, can't wait to see it done!!!

Looks good!  Are you going to be building it out of aluminum or steel?  If steel, I would recommend going with the thinnest wall possible or it will be VERY heavy!!

You should take a look at how the factory rack attaches to the rails on the roof and copy that, cam locks and all.  It would make for a very clean installation that wouldn't be excessively high off the roof of the truck.

I like the sloped fairing in the front! And I would suggest aluminum...you're already gunna lose a mpg or two from the wind resistance, no need for extra weight!  Also the more weight you put into the rack, the less weight it can carry!

thanks for all the comments!
 
ya i will be using a thin steel since i dont know how to weld aluminum and dont have any friends that know how. and i dont wanna pay to have it welded.
 
and ya for mounting im def looking at how the other racks mount. i want to keep it as close to the roof as i can. and taylor i dont think 4 u bolts will work that well lol.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 94blueknight

thanks for all the comments!

ya i will be using a thin steel since i dont know how to weld aluminum and dont have any friends that know how. and i dont wanna pay to have it welded.

and ya for mounting im def looking at how the other racks mount. i want to keep it as close to the roof as i can. and taylor i dont think 4 u bolts will work that well lol.

 
Uhh yeah I have a roof rack, and it basically mounts with 4 u-bolts. I mean, they are not exactly ones you would use to clamp exhaust pipes together with, but its the same concept. Do first gens have the two rails that can slide forwards and backwards between the rails that run lengthwise?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Taymacjack
Do first gens have the two rails that can slide forwards and backwards between the rails that run lengthwise?

Yes.

Nice looking roof rack. Yeah solidworks is a great program. Definately go with aluminum or really lite steel. As far as mounting, you could just drill holes in the rack and your current crossmembers and bolt it thru with a cotter pin (like what you would see on a prop nut for a boat motor).

Here is a link to a Aluminum Welding guide (another one). Hope they help out.

Yeah for custom racks!

I wish I could weld...although I must say...two clicks of the mouse was all it took me to get my roof rack ready to mount 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Taymacjack

Uhh yeah I have a roof rack, and it basically mounts with 4 u-bolts. I mean, they are not exactly ones you would use to clamp exhaust pipes together with, but its the same concept. Do first gens have the two rails that can slide forwards and backwards between the rails that run lengthwise?

 
yes they do.
 
and i was thinking of screwing it right to those cross bars but i still want to keep it in good working condition. but i suppose that wouldnt really hurt or wreck anything.
 
and thanks for the link to aluminum welding but its very tricky to do. and i mean i dont care if its a couple pounds heavier.

U bolts would work pretty good, but you would need to put a piece of molded rubber in the bend of the U to full grab the bar.  Think about an unfortunate collision.  A poorly attached rack will make for quite the effective projectile.

94blueknight, do you have a link to that program? I was wanting to build a roof rack and think that would help me out.
 
 
 
Thanks,Shane

Solid Works is VERY expensive for the full CAD version.  We can get it through NC State University as an engineering student for free...but they check 2 photo id's and you have to take your pc to them to get it installed.

There are a few nifty little programs that you might be able to use...basically watered down versions...but they are all here on the Solid Works website.

quote:

ORIGINAL: sasquatchfound

94blueknight, do you have a link to that program? I was wanting to build a roof rack and think that would help me out.



Thanks,Shane

 
like wolfpack said solid works is very expensive. i get it free on my labtop from school cuz i'm taking engineering classes and we use it alot. but u can download the free trail off of solidworks website. i'm not sure what it is but just do a google search.