My VX roof rack crossbar solution!

K, after alot of thinking and brainstorming (and determined not to spend $300 on our stock Yakima bars plus have to buy a basket etc lol), I decided to order a universal Rage Motorsports aluminum roof rack and see if I could "make" it fit our factory roof rails. I thought about using some universal raingutter style bars but most of them sat up ALOT higher than I wanted. So here is how my quest went:

I started by test fitting the rails across the top of the truck, turns out that you can't adjust the "clamps" in far enough for our roof rails. So I measured out the distance I needed plus the total width of the bars I wanted and started by taking apart the locking/clamping mechanism on the bars:

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5042.jpg

After taking them apart I also removed the rubber pads on the inside of the clamps:

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5043.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5044.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5045.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5046.jpg


After prepping the clamps I proceeded to shorten the total length of the bars and then I drilled a hole where I needed to "lengthen" the adjustment channel for the clamps and used a 4" cutoff wheel to cut the channel out to the drilled hole and just pulled up on the loose metal and bam, new adjusting channel!

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5047.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5048.jpg

I then took the clamp and had to modify the outer portion. It's designed to clamp around a stock roof rack and therefore was too thick to slip into the channel in our roof rail. I also had to cutout the ribs inside the clamp to give plenty of space to slide the clamp inside our roof rail opening:

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5049.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5050.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5051.jpg


and here is the bar test fitted on the roof! I also cut a channel on the inside of my roof rail for the inner clamp to slide into. Not sure if it would have been strong enough without doing this but I felt it would be alot stronger with it.

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5036.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5041.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5040.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5039.jpg



So here is the finished product!

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5052.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5053.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5054.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5055.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMG_5056.jpg


After getting everything mounts and strapping my tire down I pushed and pulled on the roof basket with all my might and it felt strong and secure, just rocked my truck back and forth lol. I'll update this later on after some real-time road miles but I think if your willing to do a little modification, this would be a great alternative for the hard-to-find and expensive factory bars

Oh and they also offer these bars in black I believe, but they were out of stock when I ordered. I paid about $160 for the crossbar setup AND the basket :evil:

Great job! I think the aluminumumum looks very good with your paint.

Where is the snorkel, or am I mixing up trucks again...

Looks great! I used the yakima low rider bars and they fit great with no modification. I got them for $50 on craigslist with no basket so i'd say $160 for bars & basket it a pretty good deal.


http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/105_0135.JPG

Looks great!

Man, wish I had the patience to do that.

Solid man, I like it a lot. Any idea what they're rated at?

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Originally Posted by RickOKC

Great job! I think the aluminumumum looks very good with your paint.

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Thanks man, I thought so too. I originally wanted black bars but I am glad I ended up with the silver ones now, and whenever I change paint color I can always paint them or have them coated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marlin

Where is the snorkel, or am I mixing up trucks again...

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mixing them up, but one is in the works for the big truck, except it won't consist of bendy straws lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VXorado

Looks great! I used the yakima low rider bars and they fit great with no modification. I got them for $50 on craigslist with no basket so i'd say $160 for bars & basket it a pretty good deal.


http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/105_0135.JPG

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I was looking for those for a little bit and didn't have much luck in the used market, plus these sit a little lower to the roof I believe and I couldn't pass on the price. Yours look sweet though!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mile High VX

Looks great!

Man, wish I had the patience to do that.

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haha ya when it comes to car stuff I have alot of patience but it really didn't take me too long to mod everything. Especially after I got the first one figured out

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ascinder

Solid man, I like it a lot. Any idea what they're rated at?

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Thanks man! They are rated a little less than the Yakima's at 120lbs but I'm not too worried about it, I don't plan on having anything heavier than that up there, it's main use was for my spare.

They do look great! You're so damn handy I can't stand it!!! What I'd do to have 1/100 of your skills! :thumbup:

Thanks Kat! And I have to say thanks for all the times you offered me those Yakima bars you are so great at finding. I wanted to buy them on a few occasions but kept telling myself I could figure something else out and use that money for another mod lol. Speaking of, my winch came today :evil:

Also after 2 trips down my bumper dirt road and about 55-60 miles of highway driving (speeds between 60-75mph) today, the rack is still safe and secure. I hit a good bit of bumps on the roads by my house and even drove through some low hanging "brush" and didn't seem to phase anything. So far so good!

That's pretty awesome and looks great. Can you post a link to where you ordered them? Or did you and I missed it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mile High VX

Looks great!

Man, wish I had the patience to do that.

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I wish I had the skills to do that

RamAirZ,

Thanks for this. I may try to do the exact same thing myself. Hmm... and I see Rage has another rack, RB-1004, that's carbon steal and supports up to 200 lbs. Similar price. Think this one would fit as well? http://www.discountramps.com/roof-bar.htm

I am very curious to see your winch solution. I am also planning on doing a winch, as I'll be doing a lot of solo off roading and getting stuck would suck! My friend who does lots of fabrication of custom car parts took a look at the front of the VehiCROSS and said it'd take some work to get it to work. He'd have to make a custom bull bar and cut up the bumper pretty good to make it happen. Obviously for a winch to really be set correctly you basically need it to be able to support the whole weight of the truck (i.e. be able to dangle the truck upside down from that point)... this should take quite a bit of work, but yes, of course it's doable. Please document your installation well! Thanks,

David

Thanks for the link DBP, I was going to post that, I ordered through discount ramps for both the cross-bars and the basket. They didn't have that carbon steel one up when I ordered dangit, or I would have gotten that one but that one looks like it would work as well. The clamps actually look like they would take less modification but that's what I thought about mine until they arrived lol. Thanks for the compliments guys. And yes I will be taking alot of pics of my winch installation. I already have a few pics of stuff I've started on but gonna wait until it's all done to get a thread started on it.