Home made roof rack questions.

Hello my fellow wayalifers.... so time to to my first DIY project..... my girlfriend is about to buy an 11' paddleboard.... and although she has a truck(a very nice one at that) i was thinking of making a roof rack for the jeep, now since i have a 2dr with the soft top only, i was thinking of just basically making a skeleton over the frame with a cross member for some extra strength. since this rack wouldnt need to hold much weight.... maybe 100lbs for my small kayak and her paddleboard it doesnt need to be too crazy braced.....

now the questions i have are....

1. do y'all think using the pillar mounts on the windshield like AUX lights would be able to handle that weight?
2. could i (using thicker steel) mount the rear behind the taillights (like some CB mounts) and make something like a quick disco for it so the whole rack could be easily removed?
3. has anyone done this before, and if so do you have any suggestions....

i was thinking of just using square tubing, to make it a little bit easier to square up and match the angles of the jeep. id prefer not to drill into the body if need be and i dont really feel like paying for a 5-600 dollar roof rack

any input would be much appreciated guys and gals!

Cheers
Wethy:beer:

I was actually giving this projeect some thought for my own jk. I was going to use 1 x 1/8 square tubing for the rack its self. My idea was to use slightly larger tubing running to a pillar bolts so I could slide rack on and off as for the rear I was going to make a mount to either my rear corners or rear bumper.

Ill try to draw up a plan so it makes more sense

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Yeah that makes sense and then if you wanted you could leave the front for a light bar or something im nof a dan of that high bar style but it would work well together at least I just dont want to drill into anything maybe even take the rugged ride light bar (seems like decent tubing and already connects to the pillar) and connect to that maybe

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I looked at that option to haha we seem to think alike. My main concern for mine was being able to retain the ability to flip my top back. I was thinking I could use the bigger tubing to act as a spot to slide the 1 × 1/8 tubing to. in front and back also thought of putting some tabs on outer front face for lights. I planed for 6 ft long 4 ft wide and have a 6 to 8 in tall lip all the way around to hold all my stuff. Also to give me a point to mount a shovel and or other stuff to sides. I also was tinking with the idea of hinging the back part and putting pins so I can pull the pins drop the back lip and slide cooler kr what have you in there. I planned to make it strong enough to hold 30p to 350 pounds in the event me any my girlfreind wanted to sleep up there put a piece of ply wood down over bars and pull out the tent and sleeping bags.

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Another thing that I had to consider was my snorkel. Keep that in mind if you plan to get one or have one now.

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Came out to 60ft of tubing in total materials.

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I dont think ill ever need a snorkel but a good consideration I was thinkin the uprights at the front could run along the same lines as the windshield frame then rum outside the roof line the straight down behind the jk itself with 1-2 removable braces so the soft top would still be able to flip back for sunrider mode and then remove the braces so the whole roof could be slid back... theory is that it slides over the rear parr of the cage so as long as the rack is wider and past that point at the back it should still be able to open with only 1 or 2 quick steps

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Thought process seems sound. Id like to see pics or a drawing of what you got planned always cool to see somone elses take on an idea.

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I havent gotten anything drawn out yet ha ha just thought about it as I was posting up this thread. Ill probly see if I cant use autocad tomorrow and whip something up but who knows whatll happen may end up using a picture and just hand drawing over it

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I wish I had a copy of ahto cadd to play with im the opposite I have a full fabrkcation shop at my disposal

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