round eyes

Just saw a great write up about the Garvin roof rack but I just don't like the idea of punching holes into the body of the jeep. I like the rest of the Garvin but....
Anyways I was thinking that a rack mounted to the rear bumper (I would have to put a REAL bumper on not the plastic OEM) would be ideal so long as it can be removed.

Do I hear a or am I just a little bit more

luisjg

you can do mount s for a rack to the frame ,making holes in the rear stock bumper, however you will need to put a hole just one each side of the gate on the body to bolt the bars "stabilization" otherwise it will vibrate.

round eyes

I see what you are saying (thinking about it).
My objective is to NOT punch holes into the body of the JEEP. I don't really care about a bumper (it can rust all it wants).

Plan "A" was to attach to the hitch but the bumper seems a better choice for a couple of reasons.

I will have to think a bit more. Also gots to learn me how to weld a bit better too!

greggradwohl

I am trying to come up with a good design for the same thing. Nothing satisfactory thus far.

Gear

Well I am working with a local fabricator to build a roof rack similar too what you are talking about. Here are some photographs and my thoughts.


First off here are a few pictures of my 03 Rubicon. I have had two racks like this over the past 11 years and have had no problems with attaching to the rear bumper which is to the frame and the front attaching to the body. Do to the length of the bars any twisting has not caused any sort of problems for me personally.




Attachment point in the rear is to the bumper(Jeeperman).


The front attaches to the stock A pilar exterior bolts. Custom bracket was made to do such. The cool part about this rack was that the windshield still folded down. This will not be possible with the new JK

Now on to the JK --

I will be attaching to the rear Jeeperman Bumper right behind the rear fender flare hopefully matching the body line seam. Looks like I am going to be using a similar bushing to the 03 Rubicon rack.



Now for the front I went ahead and purchased new hinge plates at the A Pilar. That way if I decide to sell the Jeep without the rack I can simple reinstall the nicely painted ones.



Here is where those plates go on the JK



Other thoughts - In the past I have use tubing sized similar to Yakima(1 1/8"). This allowed me to attach all of my Yakima parts directly to the rack. I use to carry alot of sea kayaks, mtn bikes and a Thule box up top on the first Jeep 97TJ. On the second rack, the 03 Rubicon, I thought the fabricator was using the Yakima sized bar but it turned out that he was using 1 1/4". To solve my attachment problems I ended up adding a few extra cross bars that were the 1 1/8". The top picture is how I run with the 03 Rubicon on a daily basis. I have attached a sheet of tread plate to the rack using the Yakima quick clips(5 of them). On the 03 Rubicon the rear top bar and the center top bar are removable so that I can simple slide the hardtop out the back of the Jeep. The greatest part about having someone custom make a rack like this is you control were you want everything not the manufacture. Price is usually 50% more than an off the shelf rack but you get what you payed for.

Now on to thoughts about my JK rack --

I am leaning toward going with a larger diameter tube 1 1/2" because of the larger spans. Almost 9' on my 4 door. Instead of using the Yakima clamps I am probable going to just install tabs were I need to attach things. I still want the tread plate on top, makes for a great sleeping/ standing platform as well as insulating the roof from the sun. Now I am just tring to think of all the cool attachments that I want to add and exactly were I want them. I need 2M, CB, backup lights, Race Yellow light, Rearview Camera, ladder, and possible a high lift mount. Looks like it is going to be a busy month.

round eyes

NICE RACK!!!!!
Did you sell it or can you add some extension bars to increase its length to accomodate the JK?
I like the idea of incorporating the Yakima rack into it (why reinvent the wheel?) I have to see what tubing I can get at a good price and start to get serious.
You have proved that the concept works (thank-you) now I have to refine it a bit.

Again thanks for your idea- it has re-energized my thinking.

plugman

what did the front brackets run you?

Gear

Plugman wrote- I did a quick search for the invoice and came up emty. If I recall correctly it was around $28.00 a piece. Or just over $60.00 for the 2 brackets. Well hopefully I pay now and it saves me some time latter.

luisjg

do you have a part number
thanks great idea

Gear

Here is a photograph of my 97 TJ with the first custom rack. Just thought you might like some more ideas. This rack is attached to the rear steal bumper with a simple L bracket that fits the top and back of the bumper. Custom A pilar plates were built similiar to the 03 Rubicon. I really like the low profile of this rack and with some Sun Performance removable soft top brackets I was able to lower the soft top without removing anything other than the center cross bar. Center cross bar was Yakima spaced for Mtn. Bikes.



One note of caution. Keep the front cross bar low and back so you can put some sort of fairing on it or you will find the noise unbarrable. I like to use a rack pad to take up the space between the roof rack and the top of the Jeep. Also a word on pricing I had this custom rack built with the back baskit made for me in 1 day. The Master Welder only charged me $600.00. Well I gave him $700.00 -- without the rack the Jeep would be useless to me. At that time I was transporting a lot of Sea Kayaks.