my son wants a roof rack and i was wondering if 1/4" square is strong enough for the frame? expanded metal for the flooring? i noticed most threads show people usin tubing for their racks and thay look heavy.

no..i am not familiar with metal but i have access to plenty of 1/4" for free.

 

if you check out my roof rack build photos i built mine out of 1" square tubing 1/8" thick. if i could do it again i would still go with the 1" tubing but i'd go thinner. it's pretty heavy. here's the finished product but my photos or build thread has the whole project.

 

1/4" would be too little I would think, just my opinion

 

i vote 1" square tubing 1/16 thick

 

I used both angle and square tubing on mine