i have a 2000 Xj, her name is jade. she has been asking me to put a roof rack on her but i dont have 600 bucks to bomb on a pre-made one...

sooo to start, i was thinking a rack that is about 4x5 or so and only like 6''-8'' high, i will be packing camping gear and high lift jack up there (spare tire will be on rear bumper). what do you think the best to build it out of Aluminum or steel?

i dont have any way of bending pipe efficiently so i will be using square tubing. would it be better to put a steel mesh on the bottom of the rack in order to distribute weight and to make it easier to hold gear? any design ideas would be sweet!

I am not really picky on this part but i figure if i wreck my XJ or something like that i would like to be able to pull it off so i can put it on a future XJ (that would be very likely haha), any ideas on how to mount the rack with out making it impossible or very tough to put on and pull off?


i know that is a ton of stuff to ask and someone might not know it all but hey, big or small, ANY ideas that might help me would be awesome!
thanks again everyone!

 

Jade would look good with a new rack.

 

Free bump. I'm curious also.

 

hey I just got done with my roof rack and I think you should make it out of 1" EMT conduit. It's strong and it looks awesome. check out Warthog's, mine looks similar to his. He put instructions and material list on this page...https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ro...-38038/index2/ . good luck with your build for whatever you end up doing

 

i just finished mine like 2 wks ago its made out of 1" square tubing and its 4 x 6 - 5" high

 

lol just do what i did pray for a free one to show up and then go wheeling and find one laying on the side of a dirt road in some bushes take it home and fix it up for free. ya i know it sounds made up but thats how i got mine

 

what do you mean chief?

 

soooooooo i just checked this out and it is cool as h3ll butth only problem i have with that is the streangth, i will be carying stuff up there like coolers and camping gear, and quite a bit durring the summers, is the conduit really going to be strong enough to where it will hold 60 or 70lb of gear?

tunr4life- i have to say that is almost exactly what i want to do! if you could maybe send me like a list of materials and maybe a few tips on how you did some of it i would greatly appriciate it!
and im guessing that the lip that you put on there will eventually be used as a light bar?
and how did you mount that, i dont really want to drill through my roof or anything but if i have to it could be done.

thanks guys!!

 

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ro...fferent-40153/


check out mine. i built it for like $50 (but i got the grid for free and the i had the Thule Load bars aready[but they can be found for cheap on CL])

I hope this helps you. i also had a full sized white cooler up there that it took to full sized guys (myself and another person) to get it up to rest on the corner so we could get the tractor over and load it into the bucket to get it down! (my mistake was loading all of the drinks while the cooler was on the roof. it was FULL of bottled waters and gatorade and then i added 15lbs of ice. it was a bit top heavy driving (on road) but the rack held up fine and did not bend.

 

i looks real good man! and it looks like it is working out very well for you, i like the idea of using the grid, but i think for me its not what im looking for, i think that much of the cage will cost me a little more then im looking to spend, but thanks for the idea! ps i lovin the look of the angle iron over and under the lights, i will probably do something like that too!
thanks man!

 

Here is a pic of what I did. I used 3/4 emt with pre bent corners and then covered the front with diamond plate aluminum. It 4'X6' and 6" high.
I think there are a few more pictures of it on my build page

 

very nice, i def like the look of the dimond plate, im going to be putting some lights up there tho so i wont be able to do it quite like that but i think i am going to do the corners for sure tho

 

Yes it will be strong enough. I have been on top of mine before with nothing creaking, cracking or breaking. I wiegh close to 200 lbs. If you still have concerns, swap out the emt conduit for rigid conduit. Good luck with the build. Also there might be more pics in my album than what was in that thread.

 

yea warthog i hope you dont mind but i copied yours pretty much to the key but i did end up using the ridged conduit for the cross-rails like you suggested, but quick question how did you end up wiring the lights (to the battery or fuse box and did you use one or 2 toggle switches due to the amperage)

 

No problem at all,

I wired them from the battery thru a relay to one switch.

Post pics when you can