[Jeremylerv]

Ok well me and my friend have matching black XJ's and we were talking a while ago about how he wanted a basket style roof rack, and i said well i probly could make one of those pretty easily in my shop class. Well by Monday i had metal and started fabbing up a roof rack. I'm only 16 years old and i'm in my 3rd year of shop class so i have basic fab skills and access to any tool I would need for this project.


Started off with plans and a rendering of what it would eventually look like.



And then i picked up some 3/4" .065 wall square tubing from a local metal shop.



And then got it to school... 20ft metal bars on a jeep looks pretty funny.



Started getting the cross braces cut and measured up.



Got the edges cleaned up really good for a clean welding surface



And then used the rest of that 20ft piece for the upright supports.



Then cut 20 degree angles for a corner piece so the rack didnt just look like a box.



And then the frame mocked up.



All ready to tack in place.





A decent weld..



And then i got the corners cleaned up nicely with a grinder and then with a flap wheel.



And a little test fit.



And then one of my tack weld's was about 1/16" off and i went to break the tack off and this happend...



Dosent look that bad but it was bleeding everywhere and i had to get a tetnus shot.

And another pic of the corners.



Then i just welded another fame piece in the exact same shape as the bottom one and got it tacked in place.







So thats my progress up to today (3/16/11) and everything is in place, all thats left to do is finish welding, grinding, and shining it up and getting ready for paint and eventually diamond plate around the corners. Should have it done by this weekend so let me know what you think!

[Divinitous]

Looks good.

[donthelegend]

Looks nice. Are you mounting it to the factory crossbars or will you be fabbing up some gutter mounts?

[JLC08JK]

Looks great Jeremy
The good news is that tetanus shots last for like ten years, the bad news is that if you keep building stuff you'll need another one in like ten years!
Keep up the good work

[rdsk8ter]

Originally Posted by JLC08JK

Looks great Jeremy
The good news is that tetanus shots last for like ten years, the bad news is that if you keep building stuff you'll need another one in like ten years!
Keep up the good work

Looks great if you get alot of metal cuts like I do its reccomended every 6-8 years lol at least 2 cuts a day 5 days a week lol

[The_Blacksmith]

looks good, and minus the 700$ emergency room bill.

I bet this cost alot less than the 3 - 500$ people pay.
How many hrs labor is this and what did you pay for metal.

I know I seem to get a better deal than most people on metal, but I want to factor paying you for your time, welding gas, material and welding wire, and show how this still cost 1/4 of what people are paying.

Looking good. monstaliner it!

[Jeremylerv]

Originally Posted by donthelegend

Looks nice. Are you mounting it to the factory crossbars or will you be fabbing up some gutter mounts?

Im going to fab up some mounts the hook on the factory roof rails. I should start that today or tomorrow so i'll take pictures.

[Jeremylerv]

Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith

looks good, and minus the 700$ emergency room bill.

I bet this cost alot less than the 3 - 500$ people pay.
How many hrs labor is this and what did you pay for metal.

I know I seem to get a better deal than most people on metal, but I want to factor paying you for your time, welding gas, material and welding wire, and show how this still cost 1/4 of what people are paying.

Looking good. monstaliner it!

Metal was about 56 dollars including tax for 56' of 3/4" sq. tubing and i have a total so far of about 9-10 hours of work.

[The_Blacksmith]

Originally Posted by Jeremylerv

Metal was about 56 dollars including tax for 56' of 3/4" sq. tubing and i have a total so far of about 9-10 hours of work.

so your looking at less than $200 total, thats including paying yourself 10$ an hr to build it.

AWESOME

[minesbetter]

u should add some hooks to latch tie downs and bungie cords to. and add some light tabs up front. great work!

[karlo]

Looks great. Can't wait to see it painted.

[Netpackrat]

That's a good looking rack. I'm thinking about adding some of these to my roof rack once the weather gets warm again.

[95whiteXJ]

Originally Posted by Jeremylerv

Ok well me and my friend have matching black XJ's and we were talking a while ago about how he wanted a basket style roof rack, and i said well i probly could make one of those pretty easily in my shop class. Well by Monday i had metal and started fabbing up a roof rack. I'm only 16 years old and i'm in my 3rd year of shop class so i have basic fab skills and access to any tool I would need for this project.

Started off with plans and a rendering of what it would eventually look like.

And then i picked up some 3/4" .065 wall square tubing from a local metal shop.

And then got it to school... 20ft metal bars on a jeep looks pretty funny.

Started getting the cross braces cut and measured up.

Got the edges cleaned up really good for a clean welding surface

And then used the rest of that 20ft piece for the upright supports.

Then cut 20 degree angles for a corner piece so the rack didnt just look like a box.

And then the frame mocked up.

All ready to tack in place.

A decent weld..

And then i got the corners cleaned up nicely with a grinder and then with a flap wheel.

And a little test fit.

And then one of my tack weld's was about 1/16" off and i went to break the tack off and this happend...

Dosent look that bad but it was bleeding everywhere and i had to get a tetnus shot.

And another pic of the corners.

Then i just welded another fame piece in the exact same shape as the bottom one and got it tacked in place.

So thats my progress up to today (3/16/11) and everything is in place, all thats left to do is finish welding, grinding, and shining it up and getting ready for paint and eventually diamond plate around the corners. Should have it done by this weekend so let me know what you think!

Very nice man...gonna be using this very soon!! Lol except the cut and tetenus part lol jk man **** happens

[Jeremylerv]

Here are the mounting plates i cut and drilled.









And then i posted next to the lunch lady's XJ haha



Getting diamond plate ready to cut..



And then it was done!









Thanks for all the comments everyone and i hope you liked my build!

[m1cha3l]

well done man. look real nice. im debating using round or square tube. i am almost finished with my rear tubular bumper before i tackle a cargo rack. gotta get my posts count up so i can show my pics.