Needed a Roof Rack so I custom DIY made one (used for Kayak)

So I've been waiting for this truck a while now and I have lots of truck things I need to do. I need a roof rack and I couldn't wait so I found a couple of old garage door operators in the bone yard and I got to work. Here's the final poduct now I'm off to pick up a kayak!




Mission accomplished!

Lovin’ the ingenuity. Great job!

well done

Agreed, well done!

Looking at easy it is to remove panels and work on this truck, I think people are going to be surprised at how great it is for modifying and fixing.

Lowcoe said:

So I've been waiting for this truck a while now and I have lots of truck things I need to do. I need a roof rack and I couldn't wait so I found a couple of old garage door operators in the bone yard and I got to work. Here's the final poduct now I'm off to pick up a kayak!

Click to expand...

This is simply outstanding work

Lowcoe said:

So I've been waiting for this truck a while now and I have lots of truck things I need to do. I need a roof rack and I couldn't wait so I found a couple of old garage door operators in the bone yard and I got to work. Here's the final poduct now I'm off to pick up a kayak!

Click to expand...

This is outstanding work! What materials and where did you get them from?

Everything I used was sourced from two old liftmaster screw drive garage door operators that I'd been intending to throw away once I had a truck...if you look closely the beams are covered in mud and dirt from sitting for a while. I intend to clean/ sand the rough edges and maybe paint them black. I will only run them when I have a need. They've been taken back off already.

Appreciate the ingenuity but I may have some advice on carrying that kayak. I've transported similar kayaks and racing canoes many tens of thousands of miles.

1: The bare metal bars on the fiberglass covered cedar strip kayak hull is not the best idea. Even padding from a cut up yoga mat will help a lot.
2: An attachment point with ropes at the front of the kayak is a very good idea. The ropes in the rear are FAR less important.
3: Using the more forward rack attachment on the CT would give much greater stability.
4: If you can rig up some "ladder stops" to help eliminate the tendency of the kayak to slide sideways it would help a lot.
5: Quality cam straps are the way to go for carrying boats, not ratchet nor any type of bungee, no matter how strong they feel.

Anyway just some suggestions that might save your kayak, from someone who carries boats almost daily and over long distances. A boat flying off a vehicle is extremely dangerous.

Lowcoe said:

So I've been waiting for this truck a while now and I have lots of truck things I need to do. I need a roof rack and I couldn't wait so I found a couple of old garage door operators in the bone yard and I got to work. Here's the final poduct now I'm off to pick up a kayak!

Mission accomplished!

Click to expand...

Love it!

Good points. For the next guy... I looked at using the front most attachments but figured this is where the promised light bar will attach eventually. Also I had limited amount of bar stock and wanted to have a shorter distance for most other applications. I stopped after a few miles and double checked my tie job. The rear tie was tied in such a way that the end couldn't slide side to side. The front was double tied for redundancy. Poor kayak is sun beat and needs some rehab after being out on a sailboat for about a year so I wasn't too worried about scratches. I looked for a good front attachment point and normally I would use one but I didn't want to booger up the DLR in the first week of ownership.

It was bad enough when my wife came out into the garage and found me hacking and whacking on the new truck. If I woulda scratched something I would've never heard the end of it.. The rack has been removed and stowed away so she's happy!

American ingenuity.

Lowcoe said:

So I've been waiting for this truck a while now and I have lots of truck things I need to do. I need a roof rack and I couldn't wait so I found a couple of old garage door operators in the bone yard and I got to work. Here's the final poduct now I'm off to pick up a kayak!

Mission accomplished!

Click to expand...

If l was your Tech School/metal class teacher, that's an A+
Reused....repurposed....renewed

Lowcoe said:

Everything I used was sourced from two old liftmaster screw drive garage door operators that I'd been intending to throw away once I had a truck...if you look closely the beams are covered in mud and dirt from sitting for a while. I intend to clean/ sand the rough edges and maybe paint them black. I will only run them when I have a need. They've been taken back off already.

Click to expand...

Kinda like that CYBERSURFER Silver that Alu_min_i_ummm brings to the party!