kelly4

Hey guys, this is my first fab project ever. I'm 16 and I learned how to weld a few months ago in my metal shop class at school but I'd never done anything more than practice beads and joints. So, this is the first real application of welding for me.

I decided I wanted to build a roof rack back in February or March of this year, so I made a plan for it in SketchUp and ordered about 100 ft of 1 inch square tube with a 1/8 inch sidewall. My original plan was to build it at school because I didn't have the right tools or a welder at home...







The plan is all to scale, which made cutting out the pieces much easier. Without the prerunner style portion around the lights, the rack measures 4ft by 6ft with 6 inch sides. The portion around the lights extends the rack 7 inches. I don't have a good way to cut metal at home yet, so I was able to cut out the majority of the pieces at school.



Sadly, the school year ended and my roof rack was still in pieces and I had not made any progress on it. I never had enough time during class or after school to set it up properly and make everything just right. So, I packed up the pieces and took it all home. And then I bought an old Lincoln arc welder for $75. It works great but before I could start using it, my dad and I had to upgrade the wiring in our workshop and put in a new breaker that could handle 50 amps.



That finally brings me to mid July, which is when I actually started building the rack. Before I get into details here, I would like to say that I modified my design slightly so that it would not have so many cross supports as the floor of the rack. Instead I planned for it to have only the three longs supports and intend to give it a mesh flooring. I changed it because the supports didn't seem necessary and they only added extra weight. I started by welding the base together. I used some corner clamps and magnets to get it perfectly square, tacked it all, and then ran my beads.





Here's one of my welds. It's definitely not perfect but I'm still learning. I'm open to any tips/advice as well!



After that, I welded up the top frame of the rack. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of that part but it wasn't that exciting. I just laid it on top of the lower frame and matched them up.

Next I decided it was time to weld on my JCR gutter mounts. I have 3 for each side of the rack. I wasn't quite sure how to go about this because we have a trailer in our back yard where my welder is, and the only way to get a car back to the second garage is to move the trailer out...so after a few minutes of considering other options, that's what we did. My dad made me put new tar on the driveway to return the favor.







After the gutter mounts were on, I put on the 4 inch supports that make up the sides. I also put on the top at this time too. I really wanted to make sure the top fit just right, so I went a little overboard with the clamps...





And that's where I'm at right now. I've ground down almost all of the welds with the angle grinder, and I also test fit it on the jeep. I'm still not sure if I want to do the portion that goes around the lights, so I also cut out the shape/size of the lights I want and put it on the rack.









I have to work the next few days so it should give me time to decide if I want to do the prerunner style front end on it. Right now I think I'm going to do it though.

muddytrck18

That turned out nice looking man. I would not of done that without my mig welder. Im not very good with a arc. I like the pre runner look you had in your drawing, it will protect the lights. or you can set the lights inside the rack to protect them from branch adjustments. Keep up the good work

EagleXJ

Very nice! Looks alot like mine: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ye...f-rack-167257/

kelly4

thanks guys! I actually like arc welding better than mig, and it just sort of came naturally to me when I was learning. EagleXJ, I really like the low profile look of your rack. Do you have it installed yet?

EagleXJ

Unfortunately, not; I'm still finishing the thing up.

kelly4

better to take your time though. what are your plans for painting it? I'm still not sure with mine...

EagleXJ

I'm going to get a quote on powder coating it; if its going to be to much, I'm going to use automotive paint.

kelly4

I think that's what I'm going to do too. A friend of a friend owns the local maaco so he said I might be able to get a deal on powder coating. Otherwise I'll probably just rattle can it or maybe use bedliner

Lowrange2

Good job.

94XjSport94

Where did you get those 90* clamps?

kelly4

thanks lowrange, and I think the clamps are from harbor freight. I got some 90 degree magnets from there for like a dollar and they were helpful too

kelly4

Some more updates on the rack...
The majority of the fabrication is done now. I just have a little bit of filing to do to get rid of some sharp edges, then prep and paint.
I decided to do the prerunner style front end, because it will protect lights and it just looks cool. I also added some expanded metal for flooring and some tabs to mount lights to. I used an angle grinder with a cutting wheel to make the rest of the cuts, and it worked nicely. The front end was the most complex because it had a few compound angles and I didn't have a chance to cut it out at school, but I'm happy with it. All the welds are ground down now too (which is good because I think my neighbors would kill me if I used the angle grinder any more)















I am a little concerned about prepping it for paint though. It's hot rolled steel so it's coated in some oil and then it has mill scale on it. Since this is my first fab project I'm not exactly sure how much to prep the metal for paint...any advice here would be great I know that I'll need to at least clean it with acetone or something, but is it important to take it down to bare metal? I'm just not sure. I'm also considering herculiner for the coating.

CherokeeJake1

This is an awesome rack you're building I'm looking forward to finished product I will be building something similar very shortly

kelly4

Thanks! It's been a fun project so far. Goodluck if you decide to build one!

Domaas

congats on learnng a skill and puttng it to use, keep up with the welding, even if you move on to something else, its a great skill to learn and keep with you for your life. I originally learned how to weld in shop class, and have been doing it off and on for over 20 years now.

the rack looks great, clean it real good with acetone, or evey hose it down with a brake cleaner if your done welding. ( just dont use a clorinated brake cleaner to clean metal before welding!!)ask you shop teacher about toxic clorine gas

then shoot it in a E cote ( acid/self etching primer) then paint away with rattle can of your choice.