Roof Top Tent, Roof Rack Build up Thread

[TheBigBoy]

After saving up, its time for me to get a roof top tent. But I need to sort out some racks first. ARB want $1299 for the roof top tent roof racks and ebay is $849 plus delivery = $1000. And there are a few problems I see with these racks.

No 1. Price... Why the hell are they so expensive?!?

No 2. The roof top tents are 1200mm by 1400mm. The racks are made for the roof top tent to sit longways (1400mm) and for the tent to flip out off to the side (annex aswell). I want mine to flip out off the back (annex aswell). Because if its raining, my slide out fridge full of beer and all my other stuff is in the back and easy to access. YES!! You can use the proper racks and mount it this way with only 1200mm running longways with the racks. But there is a big gap between the top tie down bar and the tent. Ugly hey.


No 3. The height. They sit very high off the roof of the truck. I asked about this and was told thats just how they come. And that its for people who like to was under their racks easily. Like most 4x4 owners on here I have a lifted truck (6”) and with the annex maxing out at 2100 from the ground every little bit counts. A lower centre of gravity counts aswell however small it is.

I have been searching but cant find what I want. Nor can I find a build up thread for this item. So I have decided to make my own. Firstly let me just say I am not a qualified welder. Just an average joe who has been welding and fabing my own 4x4 parts for a while (cant buy what I want). So this is directed at all the other joe’s out there who want a custom project and save ALOT of money.

Materials... I got all my steel from Metaland
6x 25nb long radius 90 degree elbows $1.70 each
2x 25nb long radius 45 degree elbows $1.50 each
2x 6.5 metre lengths of 25nb light pipe (blue steel)
1x 6.5 metre lenth of 25 SHS (3mm)
2 metres of 100 x 3mm flat plate
1 metre of 65 x 35mm RHS (blue steel)
1 metre of 65 x 3mm flat plate
1 metre of 8mm round bar
1 metre of 125 x 75 (5mm) uneqaul angle








Tools...
Old $500 special mig welder and all safety gear
4" grinder
4x 4" cutting disks
1x 60 grit flapper





Standard stuff. I marked a perfect right angle on the concrete for a guide (no welding bench :(). Grind off all the blue paint on the ends you want to weld. I have ground the edges off the steel to a 45 degree edge for the weld to fill. I have my mig set to its hottest with 0.6 wire and wire feed at 1/2 to 3/4 dial. Get you 2 peaces perfect and tac/spot weld them on all 4 sides. If you just start welding as your weld cools it pulls to that side hard. But if its taced it wont. After its taced and your happy with it weld it off. My mig is putting out great heat with good penitration and a nice flat weld and hardly any splatter.







Tac everything in place, weld off and now flap the weld down. Use long flowing movement with the grinder instead of sitting in the 1 spot. If you dont you will get flat spots of bumps that you will see after its painted/powder coated.



Here is what I did yesterday in about 4 hours (steel was already precut).
Externals all sqaured, ribs in, flapped. And I have taced my wind deflector (100 x 3mm flat plat) on the front to the correct angle to match my windscreen. I got a bit fancy and cut the sides at 22.5 degree's instead fo just dull flat cuts.





Now to do the upper bar work. I have cut it to sit just inside the line of the lower barwork on the sides. And taced a cross member peace the keep the rear distance correct during install.





Used timber for packer to lift the upper bar to the correct height and tacced it. Now for some side support. The 65 x 35 will do nicely but have to scollop it to fit the round pipe snug. Welded off and flapped.




Time for the rear upper 45 degree joins. A bit fiddly with alot of time getting it to match the lower round pipe. But the hardest part is over now.





All ground back. Time to sit it on the truck and work out heights.
Looking good. And bloody strong too. Weighs approx 25 - 30kg currently.



I have worked out the height to be 15mm above roof height in the very centre. Upon my attemps to stand and bounce on the ribs in the middle while it was on the ground. I am confident it wont touch when fully loaded.



I wasnt exactly sure what to do when it came to mounting it. I had alot of idea's. But in the end I had the welder out so... I taced the uneqaul angle on at the correct height. I have used 3 mounting points on each side. The 3 points are where 90% of the weight will be distributed so didnt see much point for 4 per side. My side annex fits it perfectly!!! The height is awsome.




Wouldnt you know it. Ran out of wire. Enough for today. I will clean up the gutter supports. Re enforce the supports inside out of sight, and work on how Im going to clamp it down (was going to use the 65 x 3 flat plate and fold a 10mm edge and bolt it) But have a few othe ideas now.

I will do an exact cutting list for all the 80 series owners out there. My externals are 1300mm wide by 2200mm long. So my tent will hang over the sides by 50mm and I have allowed for it to over the rear bar by 100mm.

More to come.

[80's_delirious]

just a sugestion, if you are going to use it to carry loose gear, I would lift it higher off the roof.
If you need to pass ropes or straps around the bars to secure gear 15mm clearance will be a PITA to work with to tie things off. IMO you want to be able to pass your hand/fingers under it easily.

[sudso]

Looking very nice mate but how much is that thing gonna weigh? I made a full length for mine from aluminium and that weighs about 25-30kg.

[TheBigBoy]

I dont plan on carrying any loose gear. Thats why I didnt put any mesh down. Jerry can and spare tyre is it for a while. Until I start work on this build over the christmas break http://www.yankeetoys.org/black900rr/rearbumper.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There is PLENTY of room on the sides for strapping stuff down. It weighs stuff all. Although I havent weighed it yet. I go to the gym and I can pick it up and move it around easily by myself. 25-30kg in my guide. The ARB and ebay ones weigh 60kg.

Just used an online steel weight calculator = 35kg all up

[TheBigBoy]

Um..........are you going to be able to get out of your garage?

Might be just the camera angle.........

Na, wont make it out of the garage mate. Thats my dads garage as he nicely let me do some work there as its raining hard in se queensland. I just take it off and drive out.

The good news though. Its 2100 from the floor to the top of the lower bar at the rear!!! Annex will fit and reach the ground.

[NQCruiser]

That's going to be a bloody nice rack when finished!! I've been wanting something similar for mine - knowing now that you can buy the bends pre-fabbed, I might just have a go too.

I'm the same as you and want mine to be close to the roof - I don't like the big gap between them, even though it might be harder to clean. My mate built his on his Rodeo, and mounted it on Rhino Racks - came out to be just the right height.

Thanks for the write-up & pics!!

[sprungupcruiser]

Good write up mate, should be more of it.

[TheBigBoy]

That's going to be a bloody nice rack when finished!! I've been wanting something similar for mine - knowing now that you can buy the bends pre-fabbed, I might just have a go too.

I'm the same as you and want mine to be close to the roof - I don't like the big gap between them, even though it might be harder to clean. My mate built his on his Rodeo, and mounted it on Rhino Racks - came out to be just the right height.

Thanks for the write-up & pics!!

It pretty bloody good hey. A few people scoffed and chuckled when I said I will make 1 myself. But its so easy to do.

[TheBigBoy]

Ok Update. Ive got the nod from a friend to get either the sand blasting and powder coating done for free. Or sand blast, rust proof and 2 pac done for free. Whats the vote. He tells me to go 2 pac as its more durable, chips less and is easy to just sand back and touch up/ repaint.

Votes anyone??

I had an hour or 2 spare today so thought id play with the clamping tie down brackets. My first few ideas where dead easy. But didnt really suit what I was after (looks wise). I had a play and came up with this originally.




But when I test fitted this proto type. I found that 3mm is too thick for the top of the door to clear nicely. So it has to be out of 1.5mm. I then came up with a simple and easy plan that should finish really nicely.



I made it from 65 x 35 (3mm) This is how I made it. With number 4 as the finished product. With 2 bolts straight through the plates. Finish will be very nice. The drivers side will be a little different and no angle. Just chopped and shunted end as my side annex needs to be parrallel to the ground. Plus very easy 1 man fitment.

The bottom peace is jus 25 SHS (1.5mm) and cut off.



Just have to get some time and make them now.

[TheBigBoy]

Here are the plans and cutting list for an 80 series, for those who want to copy.







I left out a few things like the ribs are 210mm centres. Im sure you will figure it out. Ignore all the other idea's. I went with idea number 2.

[v840]

Cool build.

[rowenb]

Can you use 1.6 mm wall steel tube and still be strong enough? Light wall tube is 2.5-3mm wall thickness right? I'd be worried about weight as you're got a limit of 100kgs on top of an 80 roof don't you insurance wise? Any chance you can weigh your job when finished please?

[TheBigBoy]

Can you use 1.6 mm wall steel tube and still be strong enough? Light wall tube is 2.5-3mm wall thickness right? I'd be worried about weight as you're got a limit of 100kgs on top of an 80 roof don't you insurance wise? Any chance you can weigh your job when finished please?

Yeah 25 "light" is a 2.6mm wall. You can use what ever you like solong as its structural and can carry the weight. I dont think 1.6 is structural. I have built mine so I can walk around on it if I need/want to. Its not a tradesman rack, it designed soley for the purpose of my roof top tent, spare tyre and jerry can. A 35" muddy on rim, 30 litre jerry can, 50kg tent and 38.5kg rack is around 154kg.

I wouldnt be too concerned about the weight. As mine has come in @ 38.5kg all up finished. And the same ARB ones are 60kg!!!! That means you can only load 40kg on the arb ones??? Anymore than 2 x 20 litre jerry cans and you over the limit .

Here is the weights calculated. Check them for yourself.

http://www.edconsteel.com.au//prod_mild.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
From my cutting list...
25nb "light" 10.72m x 1.99kg pm = 21kg
25 x 25 (3mm wall) SHS 4.96m x 1.89kg pm = 9.37kg
100 x 3 Flat plat 1.08m x 2.35kg pm = 2.53kg
65 x 35 (3mm wall) RHS .18m x 4.25kg pm = 0.76kg
125 x 65 (6mm wall) Uneqaul angle .39 x 9.16kg pm = 3.57kg

Total = 37.23kg
plus roughly 1 kg for the bends

38.5kg

[rowenb]

Well done its nice to have a no nonsense tuff rack. If you get drunk enough you can steer your truck down the track to the beach and all the way to the end all by standing on top of the rack and rocking the side which needs to turn! Me and my mate got drunk enough to try it but don't encourage anyone else to do it.