Roof rack finally done
 

I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. Painting the galvanized EMT was a pain in the ***. I got better with the welder as I went on.. so some of the welds are better than others. It ended up very sturdy though. I took it for a spin last night and it didn't whistle or make any noise up to 55mph. I was pleasantly surprised. Let me know what you guys think.

last pic

nice ,rack.!!!! :thumbsup:

looks good!! is it functionable?....how loud is it??...how much ya got in to it?......keep up the good work....

Thanks! It serves the function I built it for- holding the spare. I don't offroad with it because it's RWD and I don't plan on lifting it so I didn't need room for a hi lift jack. I made it just big enough for a spare with a few square feet left over for bags or whatever I can strap down. As for the noise.. so far there is none! I took it up to 55mph last night with the windows down and I couldn't even tell it was up there. It was also very inexpensive- the 3/4" EMT was $4.00 per 10 ft lenghth. I used 4 or 5. The U-clamps came to about $8. I had the welder, pipe bender, and grinder.

Looks good man. How high is it?

I goin to try to make one like yours,what tipe of pipe bender you have?

It's about 6.5 inches tall. I ended up taking two inches off..which took it to 6.5. I used a Gardner Bender made for 1/2" rigid or 3/4" thinwall.

I'm considering taking it down and adding more floor supports! I'm bummed I didn't get it right. It works well with the tire but if I'm going to haul anything else up there I need more floor support. I still want to make it more aerodynamic with a slant in front too.

how is your tire held down? or is it?

Have any problems with the fumes from welding the galvanized?

As far as the floor supports... maybe try connecting them on top of the lower base, instead of under? Could make it a little more sturdy...

To secure the tire down I welded in two 5" bolts on the center support tube and used large washers and wing nuts. Very similar to how it was stock mounted inside- just more secure.

I should have welded the floor tubes on top..or just made sure that when I hammered the ends they were all even. It will work for now. I'm planning on adding two more instead of cutting and re-welding on top..and then putting cage wire over the floor.

I didn't have any problems with the fumes from the galvanized pipe. I heard that it can be harmful and I was stupid and just went for it.. luckily no problems. I did the welding in good daylight and the fumes were yellowish so it was easy to stay clear of them.

Thanks for the comments and questions! I was excited to post my first fab project. I'll post pictures of the improvements when I make them. For now I have to tune up the engine some..and I just saw that my rear differential has fluid all over it:wacko: