For a while now I've wanted to make a platform for the top of my XJ. The interest was for two reasons. One being a space to camp out or simply use as a spectator's platform and the other to link it in to a hatch mounted tire carrier. I'm not a fan of the swing out carrier types nor do I have really any interest in hauling gear up there - so a basket is not what I'm after. So for this build, I aimed to make it as low profile as possible, slightly hang outboard enough to serve as a tree rub rail and maybe eventually tie in an internal cage down the road.

I'm not done yet, but far enough along to show what I'm doing and maybe motivate myself to keep after it.

The det's of the build are as follows: 1.75x0.095 wall DOM tube / 2x2x0.125 angle iron / JCR gen I gutter rail rack brackets. I'm planning to deck with 12GA perforated sheet but not for sure. Trying to keep weight down.

On with the pics!

Hoop bent up and welded - this is a 23' stick simply cut in two and bent to match each other. Sort of works out perfect.





After a bit of notching and drilling, I finally get the 2" angle iron to follow the form of the roof. Forgive the shooty pic.


You can see here with the angle iron notched for the tubing that there is a fairly significant bow to the top of an XJ. I cut 4 slits in one leg of the rail, bent it to follow the curve of the roof and then welded them back closed.




Closed and miter cut the angle ends.


Refitted to the truck and mocked in the tabs.


I'm not actually liking that they'll stick outside of the rail, so tonight I plan to cut these down so they're more underneath the rail rather. I think it'll look better too.


Here's the clearance at the hatch when it's open. This shows why it looks almost shoved forward a bit. I think it'll all come together once I add the hatch mount tire carrier.

 

Very nice!

 

Subbed, very cool. I've though about the hatch-mounted spare too, just concerned about the weight with a 33.

 

Thanks man
It's definitely a concern here too. I've got a few ideas I want to at least throw a try at it before I convince myself it shouldn't be done though.

 

Yeah, my first idea was just super heavy duty struts, but I'm afraid the strain could damage the hatch. At least ours don't have the 'glass hatch, but still.

I really do like the idea of the spare on the back while having easy access into the rear area(lol, bazing!). I may pick up an extra hatch and play around with reinforcing it from the inside.

 

X3, nice work

 

Looks good. I like that you're using the factory roof rack mounting points. I saw someone else do that a good while back on a WJ and that's what I plan to do if I ever manage to build the rack that I want to build.

 

Yeah man, I was a little worried about simply using the gutter rails alone. What's cool is how sturdy it feels bolted down to just those rack mounts. I had a buddy jump up on top of it and stand out on one of the front corners - basically standing over the corner of the windshield and I didn't see any deflection in the roof. After this, I encourage everyone to use those mounts and only have the gutter rail mounts as backups/support.

 

Gutter rail mount tabs burned in. Luckily we've been without rain, so I haven't had to take it down yet. I'm shooting to knock out the deck material and hatch carrier pivots before the weeks out - I got the tabs and bushings from Ruff Stuff Specialties. How many cans of Rustoleum do you think it'll take...?






Also, the ol'girl finally rolled the big 200K - greeted by an airbag light

 

Man this looks awesome! Using the angle to bolt to the factory rails mounts is very slick.

What kind of bender are you using for the Dom? And what kind of welder. Subbing this one for sure.

 

Thanks! I'm using a Rough Fab bender and am welding with a 220V wire feeder on a 75/25 bottle.

 

Man, it's coming along great, looking good

 

Thanks dude

Ruff Stuff brackets came in and I got some hardware together. These are the pivots for the tire carrier tie in to the rack. I'll say, as simple as a plasma cut tab can be, these are done really well. The bolt hole tolerances on the tabs are probably .010" over the nominal, the start/stop initial cut marks are in a consumable location and the taper on the side of the tab is practically non-existent. They almost look laser cut, but I think they're just done on a beefy plasma. Either way, great attention to detail. Can't wait to burn them in.

 

I really like how it overhangs the front a bit. I'm putting together a welding rig right now but it's coming along slowly. Only have access to 110 volts at my house. That Dom looks pretty big. And being a total newb to welding, I'm not sure if a 110 could weld that stuff. I've also been contemplating an EMT rack.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Yeah, you really should look at building an extension cord for an existing 220VAC hook up or get one run. Depending on your current panel setup, it could be really simple and cheap. The DOM I'm using is only .095" thick (so just over 3/32") - not very thick. I'm not a fan of that EMT tubing for this use, it's really just not intended for any sort of structural use. It'll work as a basket if that's what you're after, but I imagine due to the plating, it could be annoying to try welding with.