I'm getting close to done with my first roof rack. I just welded on the first vertical tubes and I put it up on the stock xj rails (as I'm planning to mount it) and it looks pretty goofy. The more I look at racks on here the more I think I made it way too tall. It's about 8.5" tall. I was thinking I wanted the rack almost as tall as the spare tire.. but now I'm thinking that was a bad idea. It would be fairly easy to cut the existing vertical supports down an inch or two. Any suggested heights?? By the way- I haven't cleaned up the welds yet! I have to get the grinder out. I'm pretty happy for my first welding job though. Thank in advance for any tips.

 

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I went 6" tall which looked way too tall until I mounted the lights and put the spare up there. 8 1/2 seems pretty extreme. I dont have pics on this computer to post but you can check mine out in my albums to give you an idea.

 

Mines pretty high too. I dont know the measurment off the top of my head but ill post a pic for ya later when i get a chance. I thought mine looked goofy too till i mounted my lights. Yours looks good Im curious to see what it looks like mounted

 

I made mine 5" tall and i like the end result. I still haven't put a spare up there yet. Just curious, why do you want your rack as tall as your spare?

 

I was originally going to put sheet metal or aluminum diamond plate on an angle in front so my hwy gas mileage wasn't affected as much. That would have been most effective if the slant covered the whole tire. As of now I'm just going without it.. and I'm going to take the height down to 4 or 5" for sure. Thanks for the comments guys.

 

I think your rack looks good! great start!!!

I have mine at 8" tall i Love the way it looks and keeps everything in.

My first one was 4'x4'x8"

Then i made one that is 6'2"x4'2"x8"


if you want pictures check my rack build

VVVV

 

Thanks! I checked out your roof rack pics- that thing is badass. I think that mine looks a little odd because my xj isn't lifted. For my RWD street XJ I think the shallower rack will look better. I'll be sure to post pics when I'm done! I'm hoping to finish up today.