h3 roof rack ideas

hey guys,i am going to venture into making a couple roof racks,what i need is some input on how high,what should the bottom be made of,how big of tubing should the sides be,give me as many ideas and pics as you can,after all the pricing,i can do these for about 600-700 before freight.and also,on the ones w/ sunroof,does it pop up,any clearance issues,should that part just be left blank.thanx

i think i might have put this in the wrong area,if the moderators think it needs to be in the h3 section,please feel free to move it

That is awesome that you have the tools to make make them, only hings I've made are rock rails and undercarriage protection.
I would make one like the Gobi stealth.

so im guessing i should incorporate lights into it

I like Gobi's Stealth (low profile) design as far as a basic concept.  I don't like the prominent Gobi logo wind deflector on the front.  I would like to see a short rack one that does not extend over the Sun Roof -- which would also eliminate any need for off-road light bar.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TexH3

I like Gobi's Stealth (low profile) design as far as a basic concept.  I don't like the prominent Gobi logo wind deflector on the front. 

x2
if you add the wind deflector, you could always buy a "HUMMER" winsheild decal off of ebay and have that on the deflector. Thats what I would do if I had the Gobi.
hilljob26:
I think the lights look awesome esp the small rectangle ones.

quote:

ORIGINAL: hilljob26

hey guys,i am going to venture into making a couple roof racks,what i need is some input on how high,what should the bottom be made of,how big of tubing should the sides be,give me as many ideas and pics as you can,after all the pricing,i can do these for about 600-700 before freight.and also,on the ones w/ sunroof,does it pop up,any clearance issues,should that part just be left blank.thanx

Can you make it like the SMA brushguard? About 2" dia. tubing, 5" high, full size like the Gobi rack.

[image][/image]

the sma is 1 1/2 tubing,and i was thinking 4-5 inches high,and on the front put 4 rectangle lights which i would include in the rack

I used expanded metal for the flooring on my roof rack. I think 2" from the bottom of the rack to the top of the truck will give clearance for the sunroof. but you can always leave the area around the sundroof open if you want the rack to sit 1" from the top of the truck for a lower profile. 

I'd  like to see a set of simple rails in 1 1/2" to match the SMA guard.  Attached image should give you an idea.  There should be a flange along the inside edges to mount a rack or cross rails.  Make it compatible with Thule accessories and it would be perfect!
 
I've been looking for a long time and no one has something out there like this. 
 
What do you think?


Thumbnail Image

Mike,

Here are a few different examples (some good, some bad):

http://www.zoneworx.net/productTMR01.html




Real Wheels



Gobi



SMA Roof Rack



ORU Defender




Surco Safari

 
NOW THIS ONE IS THE **** and my personal favorite.....Kind of reminds me of something else....

http://www.boulderaccessory.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=38

Those are just some examples of what's out there.....Food for thought so to speak.
 
I took some rough measurements today and it looks like 50X60 is a magic number...even out to 72.
 

Here is the rack I put together with "Speed Rail" made byhttp://www.hollaender.com/.
You can configure it in hundreds of configurations. This set up cost me about $250.
http://i22.tinypic.com/293ikwo.jpg
http://i22.tinypic.com/20m3k3.jpg
http://i21.tinypic.com/28m1xdl.jpg

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gunner_45

 
NOW THIS ONE IS THE **** and my personal favorite.....Kind of reminds me of something else....

http://www.boulderaccessory.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=38

 
i really like something like this,only bring out the front and leave it open,but bring it out for lights,.....i wonder what size tubing that is.do you guys think that the bottom of that is suffiecient,or should it be expanded metal

Bottom could be either or, even a combo, expanded toward the back half?????   For roof racks, I prefer a smaller tubing like 1", the big stuff starts to look like your advertising for a sausage company???

i guess i shoukld just build it like i did that spare tire rack.1" tubing w/ some 3/8 bar as design and 1 " bottom bars w/ som expanded,pretty much sounds like a winner to me

That would look good if you matched it to your spare tire rack.

I have a Gobi Roof Rack w/ Ladder and I love it. I could not of made it cross country on the Cargo Space of the H3. I also added 4 PIAA lights.

quote:

ORIGINAL: SEMO H3

I have a Gobi Roof Rack w/ Ladder and I love it. I could not of made it cross country on the Cargo Space of the H3. I also added 4 PIAA lights.

I hate to say it but, you have a nice rack
I want the stealth rack, but I went to a local fab shop (Shannon Cambell owns it) he quoted me 700 for a Gobi stealth lookalike but with the lights and mounts where ever I wanted inluding the powder coat. I may just go this rout rather than making it myself. Now to get  permision from the wife

I have the ORU Defender rack and it works great. The dimensions are 4 feet x 5 feet with room for the sunroof.
 
I may add an expanded metal floor and a wind deflector on the front.  Confer type shovel and hi lift jack mounts are also availble.
 
It has tabs for lights (front and rear) that can also be used for CB antennas

that gobi is a nice rack,but im not sure about the look,i dont like how it gets smaller in the rear,but adding a ladder wouldnt be that hard

Here's mine. Kids were extra!
 
 
 
 


Thumbnail Image

something klike that would be super easy,i really need to know who would like one,and how would they like it,that would give me a real life example

I believe that is a SURCO Urban rack.......
 
http://www.surcoinc.com/R-BR_URB.html