custom racks

[varova87]

is anyone on the board making custom racks? i see these full size racks going for $800+ and cant help but think they could be made much, much cheaper. id kill to have a nice rack (thats what she said) but cant afford those prices.

if noone on the board is up to it, what could i expect to pay a local shop to make a simple one up for me? ill be doing the painting and such, i just need someone to bend and weld.

 

[crown14]

Two best things about roofracks: 1. the day you buy it 2. the day you sell it.

 

[varova87]

i owned a surco before and used the hell out of it. sold it because i ended up deciding i wanted a bigger, more sturdy one. i understand what you're saying, i was glad to get that surco out. i also think i'll use it enough for it to be a worthy purchase.

 

[kennith]

I've been down that road. They are reasonably priced. Have you bothered to look at just how much tubing is in these things? All those welds, and it still has to be very light on top of that. Any ding dsong can build a strong rack, but it takes tome design to make a strong rack that doesn't weigh too much. The length of tubing in a SD rack is flat out staggering when you figure it all out.

Simple can be relatively cheap I suppose, but it's still going to be expensive.

My advise is to save your pennies and get a good one. If you can come up with 400 to have one hacked up for you, than you can wait longer and have the one you want.

The expensive racks, if you use them, are worth their prices. They are very useful, and very lightweight.

Most fab shops I have talked to will not touch a SD replica one off for less than 2 grand. One quoted 1300, but he is a friend, and it's not really worth their time. They have bigger jobs to pay bigger bills, so this stuff is quoted higher.

They can monkey weld 500 iron posts into rails to make lots of money, or in the same time they can crank out one rack with the quality people demand.

Just buy one. Save up for a year if you have to and buy one. I don't see than racks can be made too much better than they are for the price they are going for. And they don't get too much cheaper, even if you have one made.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[robertf]

What if money isn't a problem? where do you even find a SD rack? I rarely see them for sale anymore, and almost never within weekend driving distance

 

[Moses]

Hey Robert, I'll be selling my SD rack here pretty soon if your interested. I can't let it go for less than a G but let me know.
Mo

 

[robertf]

sweet, is yours the high or the low version?

 

[AU_88]

im glad i paid $425 for my SD a few years back...

 

[loudbay]

I think the cheapest way to do it if you can't do the bending welding yourself or on the cheap is to a. buy one or b. design one similar to the hannibal. Almost no bends, much easier (read: cheaper) to cut and weld for most shops. You can go aluminum for the same price I'd bet just because the design is so simple. If you need the sexy SD rack, then look to option A.

Matt

 

[Robbie]

honestly, it seems every month someone pops off on here about how they can or will build custom racks like the SD rack and sell them for $200-$300. so far, I have not seen one person follow through. there is definitely a market for them if you can do it, but I think people don't realize the amount of work and cost of materials it actually takes.

 

[Mongo]

There's really no cheap way of making a rack. We estimated that between design, material and fabrication that it's not worth it unless you build 15 to 20 racks. Then, they still would be close to, if not more than 1200 bucks for a full size rack. A one off rack, could be done for less than that, but it really depends on what you want it to look like. I can build a square or rectangular rack, out of 1' tube in a couple of day's, but it would look like shit.

 

[Moses]

sweet, is yours the high or the low version?

Its the D1 high version. Its got the expanded metal flooring and the highlift mount Heres the best pics I could find with the rack on...
If you come up for the next meeting you can take a look at it. Its on a buddy's truck right now.

Holla,
Moses

 

[ZONE ZERO]

Im almost done building mine should be finished sunday. its not alot of work if you have the tools I jsut used a very basic design I had all the steal anyway if I dont like the final product Ill hack it up and make another one. so far the only thing I did not do that I wish I had done was step the front down to match the lines of the top of the DI better.

 

[Mongo]

Im almost done building mine should be finished sunday. its not alot of work if you have the tools I jsut used a very basic design I had all the steal anyway if I dont like the final product Ill hack it up and make another one. so far the only thing I did not do that I wish I had done was step the front down to match the lines of the top of the DI better.

it really depends if you want it to look good like a sd rack, or are happy with a some thing that looks like a shopping cart...

 

[loudbay]

The SD racks do look great, but there are flats that look ok too (Hannibal, I'm addicted to that rack). IMO more usable space is better. I've never had to have that much stuff up there, but if I did the 'step' might just end up being a PITA. Someone with a SD could chime in and let us know... Everyone be sure to read the chicken coupe flooring thread too. Ha.

 

[varova87]

kennith - :cheers:

that's why I'm a member of this board.

as much as I would like to get a rack for cheap, I see now it's not the best option. I've always been a big fan of the SD racks and the like. I looked at one last night from "urbanoffroad". seems to come with all light tabs etc for a decent price. anyone have experience with them? im sketchy about anything that i havent heard alot about on dweb. anyways, i guess ill start saving, and wait for one of you lucky bastards to get rid of yours :victory:

 

[kennith]

I saw that Urban Offroad rack on Ebay. It looks decent enough, but you have to wonder just how much it weighs. Our trucks are tall, very tall, and while they are not top heavy per se, they can be made so, very quickly.

I don't remember how much it was, but when around 800-1000, and even far less if you look hard, can get you a SD, I've got to wonder if I would make that move.

For a long time I wondered just what made the SDs so darn great, then I just went out and bought one, figuring I'd just sell it if I didn't think it was worth it. I loaded the crate from the freight hub on an over axle trailer by myself, which I thought was strange. When I got it home and out of the crate, I reached down with one finger, and picked the whole thing up over my head with no effort.

It is very light.

Later theat year, I bashed it off of every support beam in a parking garage, without a dent, just scratched paint.

It is very strong.

That's what I wonder. Can some shop fab up something in that price range, that's equally light and tough? I don't think so. I don't even know my SD is up there unless I look. I could easily load it until the truck couldn't take it, and it wouldn't have a single issue.

I looked, man, I really did. I wanted so bad to have something different. Something that every other dolt with a Disco didn't have, but the more I looked, the more I realized that it couldn't really get any better. The price, especially used, is great. I paid 1500 for this thing. Most of these are selling for half off. Remember, it was designed speciffically for the vehicle. Usually that means overpriced junk, but not here. Here it means you get a great rack that won't adversly affect the handling of the vehicle.

If the other options are as light, I suppose it's all good, but I really, really doubt they are. I'm well prepared to be wrong, though. I'd love to be wrong on this.

I don't want to tell you what to do, I'm just relaying the thoughts I had when I was out looking for mine, after giving up on building one for less. That Urban Off road rack did look decent, though, if I racall, but I personally wouldn't bank on it until I saw one in person and picked it up.

Of course, you could just take a risk. Nothing wrong with that, so long as you know it's a risk.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[crown14]

After seeing a drunk college kid flip his D2 and land it on the SD rack, and not even break the fucking sunroofs, I am pretty convinced it is the best rack out there. The hannibals are nice too...

 

[Ballah06]

When I got it home and out of the crate, I reached down with one finger, and picked the whole thing up over my head with no effort.

It is very light.

Cheers,

Kennith

Dude, i got an SD rack for my D2, and i wouldnt exactly call it light. Maybe not as heavy as some of the other ones, but it def takes at least two people to put it up on the truck. Hmm maybe its just the 4 4000 Hellas on the front weighing it down?

 

[Ballah06]

Just to bring this up, i ve posted it before, just havent had a chance to stop by this one dealer on Rt 17 in VA. I believe they still have a, i wanna say D2 with an SD rack mounted on it. I was going to stop by and ask if they were willing to sell the rack separately, just havent had a chance. Once i do, i ll post their contact info and what they want for it, if thats the case, so whoever is local to the area can hopefully snag it.