Part 1 on the roof rack. First of all why did I do this roof rack. A good question! I really have wanted to do one for quite some time. I looked at a lot of them online, but none of them really caught my eye, and if they did the mounting was horrible to say the least. Secondly I have always like the roof racks on Volkswagen's, they look light and airy, and some even have a lot of style.
This whole process of making the rack took only 3 days. So I grabbed some steel and started to make my own rack. I started out with some 3/8" round bar, and some 1/4" round bar stock. I took 2 of the 3/8" lengths and locked them together and made the outside shape first, that way they would both be symmetrical. Once that job was done and I got the shape I was looking for I got some 1.5" tubing out of the steel rack and cut the 2 cross tubes. I laid out the basic shape of the rack on the fab table, and then bent some flat stock for the legs to hold everything up.
Because I was changing the wrap on the truck anyways I took the tacked assembly to the roof and then tacked the legs on once I was happy with the final placement. Once back on the fab table I added some 1/4" round bar reinforcements on all sides tying the whole assembly together and making it very strong but light for it size.
For the mounting I use the same screw holes that the drip rails use, and the mounting legs simply sit in the trough of the rail. Very simple and easy solution.
Next time I will cover the wood slats and the process I used on them.
Stay tuned!
