Custom Made roof racks!!!!!!

[my034runner]

So I was checking around on eBay for Surco or other roof racks. Then I found this guys post. From what I can tell, he builds a really nice high quality product, all by hand.

I think that this will be my cargo "safari rack" roof top solution.

Let me know what you guys think!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Welde...QQcmdZViewItem



Forget that the auction has ended, keep scrolling down and check out some of the "competition" and what he is building. He's got quite a lot of pictures!!

[bulldog]

I would like a roofrack that replaced the factory rails and botl directly to the roof. ALuminum would be great as well.

[my034runner]

Originally Posted by bulldog

I would like a roof-rack that replaced the factory rails and bolt directly to the roof. Aluminum would be great as well.

I think that he'll make it to mount to the roof as well. Just need to take off the OEM rack and cross bars.

[kdubz]

Those look awesome. And like bulldog said mounting directly to the roof would be perfect.

[Mikestang]

They do look nice, but I have to take personal exception to him using a Surco rack in his ad and calling it out as a cheap piece of garbage. My Surco carried almost 300 lbs on the Mojave Rd. trip with no problems, and this was before I added the extra floor slats and spare tire reinforcement. I haven't had any issues with the bolts "vibrating loose", either.

[my034runner]

Originally Posted by Mikestang

They do look nice, but I have to take personal exception to him using a Surco rack in his ad and calling it out as a cheap piece of garbage. My Surco carried almost 300 lbs on the Mojave Rd. trip with no problems, and this was before I added the extra floor slats and spare tire reinforcement. I haven't had any issues with the bolts "vibrating loose", either.

I didn't know that that was a Surco he had on there, he didn't mention any brands. So he's a little biased. But I agree, he should have taken a little bit different approach in his language as it was directed towards other makers.

I've stuck my foot in my mouth too many times I suspect, when someone brings up how great car brand XYZ is, compared to Toyota.
I was still right, but you're not supposed to bash another brand (by name anyway), rather sell the points that do make Toyota (or whatever you're selling) VS the competition (brand XYZ).

[expat]

Robert, I think he might be able to do something good for us. Please persue it and see what the final cost sould be for him to supply a rack that bolts directly onto the roof.

The only issue I see is that we really need a third mounting point on each side in the middle which means drilling holes in the roof. I don't know if I could make myself do that.

Oh, and I guess I could powder coated in white....perfect! LOL

[my034runner]

Originally Posted by expat

Robert, I think he might be able to do something good for us. Please pursue it and see what the final cost should be for him to supply a rack that bolts directly onto the roof.

The only issue I see is that we really need a third mounting point on each side in the middle which means drilling holes in the roof. I don't know if I could make myself do that.

Oh, and I guess I could this powder coated in white....perfect! LOL

Okay. So, no mount to the crossbar thing, off comes the OEM and mount right to the roof, right?

[my034runner]

Message sent, with a link to this page. Hopefully he'll log in and introduce himself.

[K6UK]

I guess we can just go the Nutsert route for the third mount points.
Have any of you installed Nutserts before in sheet metal?

-Mike

[Mikestang]

Originally Posted by my034runner

I didn't know that that was a Surco he had on there, he didn't mention any brands.

The picture part-way down the page of the "Cheap Ass Aluminum Rack" is the Surco rack. He mirror imaged this photo:




I understand his marketing concept, but feel it's poorly executed in this case. Anyways, they look like awesome racks, hope he can accomodate the 4Runner.

[my034runner]

Originally Posted by Mikestang

The picture part-way down the page of the "Cheap Ass Aluminum Rack" is the Surco rack. He mirror imaged this photo:




I understand his marketing concept, but feel it's poorly executed in this case. Anyways, they look like awesome racks, hope he can accommodate the 4Runner.

I agree, show your strengths, and other's supposed weaknesses. But it does look like a quality rack. I'll post up when he gets back to me, or maybe he'll log in here.

[my034runner]

Speak of the devil!

Here's his reply:

"I read your post and the others and I'll be happy to see what I can come
up with for you.

I can build you a 60" X 45" X 6" rack for $280.00 + $65.00 Greyhound
shipping = $345.00.

I can build mounting feet to attach to the factory holes if you can
measure them up accurately and draw out what you need. Pricing on this
would depend on what the mounting holes look like but will probably run
between $100.00 and $150.00.

Attaching to the factory crossbars would be a bit weaker but as you can
see from the picture in my Ebay auction I had one on my '90 4 Runner and
stood in it regularly to load gear. I would go with a different mounting
system to the crossbars by bolting the rack to them directly.

I read one post about how you need another middle mounting point. You
don't really need it for strength on a 60" rack, they are strong and
will easily support more than your roof with 4 mounting points.

I can work out a deal on a group purchase but that would be based on
buying more than one at a time. Shipping would be great savings if I can
get a bunch of them delivered to the same place.

Let me know what more you need and I'll be happy to get back with you ASAP."

[expat]

Hey blackout-npgcable-com - thanks for tuning in here

Hmmm, so around $500 all up for a single order? What would be the production time from receipt of an order, and can you give us a number on how many you would consider a "group purchase" and what the price would be?

For the members here - I assume some will want a low profile design (fit under garage doors) vs the higher sides as shown in the pictures.

[K6UK]

I read one post about how you need another middle mounting point. You
don't really need it for strength on a 60" rack, they are strong and
will easily support more than your roof with 4 mounting points.

I think the roof strength is the point of the third mount point. We would want to distribute the weight as evenly as possible - so that no matter what we have in the rack we aren't over stressing the mount points.



-Mike

[my034runner]

Originally Posted by expat

Hey blackout-npgcable-com - thanks for tuning in here

Hmmm, so around $500 all up for a single order? What would be the production time from receipt of an order, and can you give us a number on how many you would consider a "group purchase" and what the price would be?

For the members here - I assume some will want a low profile design (fit under garage doors) vs the higher sides as shown in the pictures.

I think that with mounting directly to the roof, having taken off the stock roof rack, that a 5" or 6" basket would fit just fine. Probably not so much with mounting to the current roof rack.

Hey, I was busy so it took me awhile to sign up but here I am. Let me know what you are looking for and I'll get back with you ASAP.

P.S. if anyone has an aluminum rivet rack they want to donate I'll gladly beat it into a flat pile with one of mine for demonstration purposes : )

[Mikestang]

Originally Posted by Blackout

P.S. if anyone has an aluminum rivet rack they want to donate I'll gladly beat it into a flat pile with one of mine for demonstration purposes : )

Lol, will you credit me my original purchase price towards your rack?

[my034runner]

Originally Posted by Blackout

Hey, I was busy so it took me awhile to sign up but here I am. Let me know what you are looking for and I'll get back with you ASAP.

P.S. if anyone has an aluminum rivet rack they want to donate I'll gladly beat it into a flat pile with one of mine for demonstration purposes : )

Be nice now, some of the guys are happy with their aluminum racks. It took a little extra (and accidental) searching to find someone (you) who made anything different.

So lets concentrate on those of us who don't have a rack, and would like another high quality product to add to our vehicles.

Quite frankly, I was just about to buy a Surco, until I somehow came across your eBay post. The Surco does look like a quality product, regardless if it's aluminum or not. But I and others who haven't purchased that brand, would like something built to last.

Welcome to our forum by the way!!

Does anybody here have a picture of the factory roof attachment points or some measurements I could check out? That would help as a starting point for what type of feet you'll need to get the rack matched up with the existing threads.