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Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:59 pm

has anybody on here made a home made roof rack? is it doable? can you post some pix? I'd love to try to make one...or at least make plans for one and hire somebody to make one for me. I'd like to get one thats full length. if you have made one, can you give me some plans/advice/measurements??

Sun Sep 20, 2009 2:20 pm

I made these decades ago and have used them heavily from time to time. They just have a #1 treated 2x6 that runs across the van and a bunch of plyboard and smaller wood pieces that fit into the rain gutters and act as braces. Everything is glued and screwed together. They are attached to the rain gutters by nylon "starter" cord that is fitted through holes drilled in the gutters. I have multiple sets of holes in the lip of the gutters so I can mount the racks in various places as need demands. I have carried well over 1000# on them.

Sun Sep 20, 2009 2:51 pm

Home-made roof rack?!? . . . Yeah Baby!!! :lol:

The story of our bus is that it's almost all hand-built from scrap - VERY low budget, and the rack is no different. My wife threw out our old front porch bench, and I saved the teak slats. Add some steel bedframe and some 1/2" EMT conduit, and you've got a custom 4'x4' roof rack! (plus some labor :roll: )

First two pics show it before it met the McDonald's drive-thru sign when I had the kids' bikes up there . . . When I rebuilt it, I added some diagonal braces front-to-back as seen in the third pic.

Very strong & solid, and I think it looks great. Can't beat the price!

-Klauss

Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:34 pm

dude......I'm digging that checkerboard floor.....

SWEET!

Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:39 pm

73kombi wrote: dude......I'm digging that checkerboard floor.....

SWEET!

Thanks! It's actually a very thick grade of residential carpet - pure black / pure white. Feels great under the feet in the mornings.

Couple of buddies own a carpet laying business, and when I told them about our "project" they made me a 6'x6' square of this checkerboard pattern for FREE! Hot seamed it & everyhing. I just cut it down to fit when I did the interior.

-Klauss

Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:29 pm

hey klaus, how hard was that to make? how did you mount it? do you think it would be extremely hard to do a full length one?

Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:58 am

c-mack wrote: hey klaus, how hard was that to make? how did you mount it? do you think it would be extremely hard to do a full length one?

I have it drilled thru the gutter at 4 points (the corners of the rack) and bolted. Really didn't want to do this, but it seemed the only SOLID way to attach the rack, and besides, I don't plan on removing it.

It took me some time to make, but then again - I'm not in the "roof rack business". I just used what I had available, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Main thing is to physically connect the pcs at every joint or crosspoint- that's where the strength comes from. It would be easy to overbuild, but who wants to drive around with something that looks like your back porch stuck on the roof of your bus?!? 8)

-Klauss

Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:38 pm

I really like how your's turned out...I've got a welder, some old conduit, and can get my hands on some angle iron and wood...You dont happen to know your measurements do you?

Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:24 am

c-mack,

Mine's simply 48" square, then the legs angle out a bit to fit the gutters and sort of match the contour of the sides. If you're making something similar, you'll find the bus roof has a higher bow at the front of the rack than at the rear, so design the whole rack based on the clearance needed at the front. I turned the front angle iron crosspiece with the flange pointing up (so it wouldn't hit the roof), and turned the same piece on the rear with the flange pointing down (so it didn't look so far above the roofline.) These main crosspieces extend out about an inch past the top of the legs on both sides and are drilled with a 1/2" hole to create tie-down points. My slats run front-to-back, and are spaced according to how many I had available. The slats are about 2-1/2" wide, and are spaced with about a 4" gap between them.

By the way, I don't currently have a welder in my shop, so this rack is entirely bolted together! ** Locknuts are your friend! **

Hope this helps. Remember- It's your bus, so create what works for you! :wink:

I'd love to see some pics when you get it together . . .

-Klauss

Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:02 am

Here is mine

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=343565&highlight=roof+rack+ladder[/img]

Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:13 pm

I'm thinking home-made, and also considering mounting an earlier full rack on my '73. Anyone done that? Photo?

Sat Dec 13, 2014 5:52 pm

This is a home made rack...

Mon Dec 15, 2014 9:05 am

Hey Jeff, That's SHWEEEET!

-Klauss

Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:44 pm

My rack is homemade, but not by me. Planning on shortening the legs about an inch all around and adding 1" or 1.5" slats running front to back in the next month (for aesthetics). Sorry for the poor images, these are just on my phone. Let me know if you want better pic or angle of something.

Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:04 pm

Here's mine that was crafted by the PO.

Mon Dec 15, 2014 5:21 pm

Mine isn't much of a rack, but I can ad a rack to it.

In this pic, I have a bike carrier attached to it.

With bike and surfboard.

I got into kayaking so we had to modify the rack so I could slide the kayak up the side to load it by myself. We added more square tubing and some pvc pipe so the kayak could slide easier.

Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:56 am

Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:46 pm

Jeff Geisen wrote: This is a home made rack...

@Jeff Geisen- Do you have dimensions that you would be willing to share if one wanted to duplicate this rack?

Thanks

Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:08 pm

house of dubs wrote: Jeff Geisen wrote: This is a home made rack...

@Jeff Geisen- Do you have dimensions that you would be willing to share if one wanted to duplicate this rack?

Thanks

That whip is hot! It looked damn good in my driveway!!!

Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:43 pm

shouldn't be that hard to duplicate on the cheap. Nice looking rack.