jschenck
Full Access Member
Thinking about building a custom roof rack in the spring. Not sure if i'm going to build it to mount in place of the factory side rails, or just build it to mount to a set of cross rails. However, I have a couple questions...
Firstly, what is the best way to remove the factory side rails? And, if I did put new stuff in their place, what would I be required to do to mount it? Obviously I'd be bolting it to the vehicle, but would I need to pull back the headliner, drill the roof? Stuff like that. Etc.
Secondly, what kind of metal would be best to use? I'm looking for a basket that could support 200-300 pounds (i know the factory side rails can't hold that much, but i'd like to have that metal in case i pull the factory rails). I've heard some people using aluminum tubing, but i'm not familiar with the strength qualites of different thicknesses of aluminum versus steel. I wann go with 1" tubing, but don't know whether to go with aluminum or steel and what thickness to use.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Firstly, what is the best way to remove the factory side rails? And, if I did put new stuff in their place, what would I be required to do to mount it? Obviously I'd be bolting it to the vehicle, but would I need to pull back the headliner, drill the roof? Stuff like that. Etc.
Secondly, what kind of metal would be best to use? I'm looking for a basket that could support 200-300 pounds (i know the factory side rails can't hold that much, but i'd like to have that metal in case i pull the factory rails). I've heard some people using aluminum tubing, but i'm not familiar with the strength qualites of different thicknesses of aluminum versus steel. I wann go with 1" tubing, but don't know whether to go with aluminum or steel and what thickness to use.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!