roof rack progress

[evldave]

I am a pad whore, deal with it

[jp's-h3]

Sweet rack!
Next on list of chores, CLEAN GARAGE!

You need to powder coat it black.

[H3less]

Sweeet, Would love to do the same but I am a perfectionist and don't weld, yet! Tell me when your going into business! Love the gobi racks but...someone has to pay for the overhead!
You should build a ladder for the back now and mount it to the holes left behind when you take your spare and put it up top! I e-mailed Gobi about building a similar rack to the one they make for the H2, no answer yet!

[timgco]

Originally posted by H3wanabie:
Sweeet, Would love to do the same but I am a perfectionist and don't weld, yet! Tell me when your going into business! Love the gobi racks but...someone has to pay for the overhead!
You should build a ladder for the back now and mount it to the holes left behind when you take your spare and put it up top! I e-mailed Gobi about building a similar rack to the one they make for the H2, no answer yet!

still haven't got an E mail.
I'll ask Sandra.

If you are wanting a rack that holds the tire like the H2, it will be released next month.

[H3less]

Thanks, got the e-mail, hope to see photo's as soon as you have them.

[CampMaster]

That looks great! Can't wait to see it after you get it coated.

Are you going to run wires for lights before you get it coated?

[evldave]

Sorry for the delay in getting back, been busy the last few days....

I'm likely going to line-x the rack. I called around and am looking at $200 or so for the powdercoat - it's a 4'x8' rack and to get 90% black is expensive. 20% black is cheaper, but will be duller and I don't think it will look as nice with the black H3. Plus my welds are strucurally sound, but my finish work could use some work. I'll get my grill line-x at the same time, so that's the way I'm going as the line-x will cover some of my incompetence.

After the rack is up, I'm going to make a removable rear ladder that doubles as a sand ladder. Haven't got the exact design yet, but shouldn't be too hard to come up with something that does dual purpose.

There will be light tabs on the front (x4) and the back (x2). I won't wire it for awhile as I want to run it up top with gear to see what other wiring I might need. My current plan is to run a single 6 or 8 gauge wire up for power, along with 4-conductor trailer wiring for control and have a water-tight relay box in the rack. That's an easy way to set up to start, and if I include enough extra power wire, and I'm so inclined, I can run a 2nd battery up top and use the 6 gauge wire as charging wire, then run rooftop accessories off the backup battery. I don't do a while lot of off-camber wheeling, so weight isn't much of an issue, and there will be plenty of extra space for a Viar air compressor (400 series) and 2.5 lb air tank (VIA91025).

And for anyone interested in having me make them one, I work for beer

[saleen779]

any updated pics?

[evldave]

None yet, but the rack is primered & painted, mounts are done and it would be on the Hummer right now if I had bought the right length bolts to mount to the roof rails.

I'm splitting for the weekend (headed down to the redwoods for a weekend of camping and some hiking - I'll be pics of the hummer!), but I'll take some pics of the rack installed mid-next week. Got a quote from the Line-x dealer for $250 to have it line-x's - gotta wait for payday, so will be another couple weeks before it's finally done and fully ready to go.

[saleen779]

lol, well post 'em up when it's done!!! wish you lived closer to dallas to make an h2 one.

[NEOCON1]

looking good great project

[alex3d]

hey nice poster in your garage, hotty girl

Nice rack (on the H3). Wind noise okay at highway speeds?


S.

[evldave]

It's actually pretty good. There's a low frequency wind noise you can notice at lower speeds in the wind. But once you get up to highway speeds the tire noise actually ends up louder unless there's a heavy crosswind. Fortunately, there's no whistle sound, and even the little noise there is can easily be ignore with the radio...

I'm also planning a black diamond plate fairing for the front and will eventually plate the sides as well. That should help with any leftover noise from the wind.

I have noticed after driving it for a week or so, it's a lot more susceptable to crosswinds, even though it's an open rack. I've had numerous other more 'boxy' racks that don't have this problem (on my suburban and my jeep), so it's taken some getting used to so I don't accidently overcorrect into other lanes.

But it looks cool and it's functional and that's all that really matters!

[z]

That is as a nice Job! The Goby Boy is over priced so I decide to make my own as well. I just stuck to the basics but it is 51in wide by 8ft long. I still need to add the steel mesh. Total cost $60.00

[z]

I've been pricing Safari racks for some time now but either they are too expensive "Goby Boy" or just don't fit the full length of the hummer. So I made my own.
I went to an iron supplier in town and I purchased 1in angle iron and 3in for the legs. The box is 8ft 1/4in in length and 51in inside width. For the legs, I cut a piece of a 3in angle iron at 1-1/2in wide.
The difficulty was squaring the box and spacing the legs. I used a small wire feed welder to put the pieces together so that I would be able to break off anything that did not fit once I measured it against the H3 roof. Once I was happy with the fit I simple used a good welder and secured the welds properly.
Then I simply went to Lowe's and found 3/8 metal body clips that are often used in fender wells and used 3/8 x 1 1/2in hex bolts to mount the rack. I did have to put 2- 3/8 x 1 1/2 wide washers to space between the rail and the legs. This was to keep the legs off of the molding of the H3.
I also had to cut off the top part of the metal clips because I only needed the treaded side. The metal clips will not fit whole inside the mounting rail of the H3. Once I cut the clips with a grinding wheel, I simple dropped the clips inside the rail and twisted them into position. The clips will not slide in from the front of the rail because they will hit the existing bolt inside the rail.
I still have modification to go like mounting brackets for axle, shovel, jack, lights and steel mesh, But for now it’s a start.

[HummerNewbie]

Looking good z

[z]

Here is a side view but my cell didn't do a good job of taking the pic.

[DDWH]

nice!