Stitch

Just wired up all of my lights for my rack. I have two Hella lights on the bumper. The power supply for the "switch" is under the hood. I know I can run the switch power inside the vehicle. But I would prefer to keep the wire under the hood. I tried the fuse box last night with a power tester and tested the 10 amp fuse so I could tap into it but it's constant power.

Anybody know it there is a ignition powered fuse I could tap into under the hood? Gotta be...maybe a 15 or 20 amp fuse would work?? I'll check tonight if they're constant or switched power.

Thanks.

smdirtrider

I know this is almost a year old but do you have any pictures of your finished rack and lights? have you added anymore to it? I saw the photos you had up already. I dont think the lights were hooked up yet tho. Your roof rack is super nice! I did my roof and hood like yours after I saw how well yours turned out. I wish I had the stuff and know how to build one like you did. I've been trying to find a low profile rack that uses the whole roof.

Stitch

The rack has been holding up very well. You'll notice i've left the bottom open on the rack over the seats. Plan is to add a Skyslider or manual soft top in this area. I'll attach a few tight shots of the rack to show details. Had a lot of fun building.

Stitch

The lights were placed in position for fit.

I built it to hold 4 jugs for water or gas (red gas cans shown). The small rack infront of the cans is where I attach my cooler.

Stitch

Attached two bike mounts to the interior of the rack.

Added a couple of locks to keep honest people honest.

And finished off the back with reverse lights and back up camera.

unidentifiedbomb

I have a write up on roof lights but it's been weeks and the mods still haven't moved it from the submission section so once that happens i'm sure you can see it

smdirtrider

I'm really liking the way it's all lookn. Really good job on it. What size and type of pipe did you use for it all and how does the weight in the cans do on the roof? My roof is pretty flimsy. I took out the headliner and all besides those braces. Did you put more braces in? Also from what I'm seeing in the picture, do you put your cooler ontop of the piping then bungee it down?

Stitch

I used 7/8 thin wall round tubing. Not sure of the thickness off hand but mid way I had to pick up more and accidentally picked up chrome molly and had to take it back. Had a hard time bending it. But, after getting the right stuff didn't have a problem. It's got some weight to it but it's solid.
I'd guess somewhere around 80-100lbs empty.

The bikes share the same space as the low profile cooler. The back tire is strapped to the bar with a yakima tire strap.

I Herculined the roof, so I can use the roof as a base for the rack. This help keep the low profile look. I didn't add supports. Plan still is to add a open roof soft top. I could down the road add a few cross members as needed.

smdirtrider

As long as its holding up it looks like it should be good. I guess if it did need any extra support you could put the braces under the roof so you can keep using the roof surface to set stuff on.

I have to ask tho, are you a metal fabricator or just a man with many talents? Haha I'm assuming you just used a hand bender for this all also? I know how to bend electrical conduit. I just wonder how hard it would be to bend by hand the stuff you used. Other then that, I've never welded before so I guess it's bout time to trial and error with it. I just need to find a generous person to teach me and let me use their welder. Ha

Stitch

Yeah, I grew up in a machine shop. My father's company built non destructive test equipment. So, I had a lot of experience building stuff.

The trick is build what you want out of cardboard or very cheap material. I built a mock up of the rack from pvc. Then I took my measurement from the mock up. It's lighter and easier on your tools, ie blades and bits. To create your bends cut the pvc into small sections and tape them together in a curve. This will help you create the curves your looking for. Don't like the curve just re-tape your bend. Do this in steel and your pretty much locked into the curve. I do this with everything I build.

Bending conduit is a little easier. But, you can bend this by hand or maybe two but it can be done. Just pick something thin enough to be bent. It takes skill and a lot of measurements maybe even a jig to build a piece with multiple bends. So, only do single bends and weld the sections together to make one piece. Just take your time. Ask your local steel shop for advise on product, tell them what your looking to do.

Welding is easy and simple. Welding for precision and structural safety does take skill. Heating and cooling and good penetration is the had part. You can tack your work together and have it welded by someone that can finish off your welds. Just talk to them before you hand over the project they may want the steel set up before you turn it over. Make sure everything is square!

I'll find some of my shots made of pvc and throw them up on the site. It's crazy that some people are using this stuff for their final material.

Here's my latest project:

Gas Tank Skid- This is my second mock up with cardboard. Cost me about $3 in tape and about 5 hours. I nailed the design and then fabed it up in 3/8 steel. Fits like a champ. I still have to finish welding it up and i'll get it powder coated.

more pic's to follow.
Good Luck, and have fun with it.

When you build it, you'll become more confident with your skills.

Stitch

more pic's

smdirtrider

All your work looks great. I'm impressed. I'm gunna try workn some things out and seeing what I can come up with. I wish you wernt so far, I'd offer to pay for something like that from you. Nothing else I find really pops out and catches my interest. Especially when so many racks are so dang tall. Just the gap between the roof and rack is sometimes about 5" or more.

Thanks for the tips. Ill be stopping by your page every now and again to see if you have given birth to any more creations. Keep us all updated on your rig.

Stitch

Here are a bunch of shots of the build along the way to completion.

I don't have the drawings with me right now but, it all started with pencil and paper. Then I started building and making a template out of pvc and cardboard. I used a lot of tape!

You'll see I labeled each piece along the way and had measurements for each section. Which coincide with my schematic.

I made a angle bender from a log splitter. Works great! was going to use if for my tool mounts.

Couldn't figure which way I wanted the crossmember for the light bar so, I mocked it up a few ways and finally landed on the look I have now. Could have made it all low profile and went with LED light bar but this jeep is going to be built on lower end from my last project.

I was able to bend all the steel with a manual bender.

I went over kill with mounts. I used the rail bolts and added two more in the front(not needed) and the six gutter mounts. I also used quick discounts for the wiring.

Wish it was lighter, But I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Stitch

I slowly transitioned from pvc to steel double checking each piece as I replaced each section with the steel.

Stitch

Gave it a good coating of Herculiner and Bed liner paint. I used the Herculiner on the roof of the jeep too and painted it with automotive paint and the used the finer bedliner paint to give the rack a nice finish. Turned out well.