Custom DIY Roof Rack

Wanted to share the roof rack I designed for my 5th Gen TRD OR Premium. I based the design on LFD Offroad's rack that uses the factory raised roof rails. However, I wanted my cross bars to be wider than the raised rails, so I modified some and then designed my own front fairing.

In total, this ran me about $250 (with a few mistakes on wrong screws, etc.), but not including shipping of the main parts, like the 80/20 or the aluminum for the fairing. Those shipping costs would vary based on where you are, so figured I would share baseline material cost.

Crossbars:
I wanted the functionality of other roof rack systems and the ability to modify and add in mounts, etc. so I went with the classic 80/20 crossbars. These are 1x2s and are 47" long with tapped ends. I order the bars untapped and did the tapping myself (runs about $1.50/end tapped, so in retrospect I should have just paid for this). I also got each end drilled from the top, thinking it would be large enough to slide in various fittings, but that did not work, so might not do that if I ordered new ones. In total I went with 4 crossbars, evenly spaced ~11-12 inches apart.

To attach to the raised rails, I used corner brackets, which allowed me to bring the crossbars above the height of the rails (which was my intent), so I could get the wider bars. The other benefit was this height brings the rails above the height of the fin antenna, so if I ever load anything long, like lumber, it will comfortably sit above and not risk damage. The bars sit nicely above the roof, so this will make it nice and easy to clean the roof -- as you can see, at the closest, it is about 1 7/8" and furthest is about 2 1/4"

Everything is attached using standard fittings and hex screws 1/4-20 at various lengths. As mentioned, I miscalculated some of the screw lengths, so had to reorder a few.

Fairing:
For the fairing, I was able to find a great supplier for custom cut aluminum, in all sorts of lengths, widths, and thicknesses. I opted for 3/16" thick, at 4" in width, and a length of 39.5", which fit perfectly (maybe 1/8" on each side) between the rails and the front end caps. This was a raw aluminum piece, so I had to drill in the holes for the brackets (which I found on Amazon) -- basic angle brackets (45 degree, 2" upper section and 4" lower). I also had to clean, prime, and paint the aluminum, which I went with a gloss finish. I used a Rustoleum Professional spray paint enamel (hopefully provides some strength against random road rocks, etc.). The gloss is not bad, but again, I think a matte finish would have been better.

I attached this with some simple 1/4-20 screws and fittings to the top of the front cross bar. I also added in a rubber trim at the bottom, in case of any movement and to close the gap just a hair. In total the fairing sits ~3/16" from the roof.

I also think the fairing would look a little better if it extended the full length of the rails and had cut outs to accommodate the rail caps. Also, a singular piece would eliminate any front screws, drilling, and add some strength. So naturally, as an engineer, I decided to design one -- may get this custom made and powder coated for an upgrade.

Let me know your thoughts! Would love to hear recommendations or questions!

 

Nice job! How's the wind noise at highway speeds?

 

@auspilot Noise is not bad at all, pretty minimal. I have not done a ton of highway speeds since installing, but overall wind noise is pretty minimal, so I'm satisfied!

 

Nice work. I'd have thought you bought it.

 

Thanks @Grandpawmoses, appreciate the compliment

 

Mountain4Runner, I think that looks great. I may have to play around with that front fairing idea!

 

Awesome job!

I'm using stainless steel unistruts.

 

very nice, looks good

 

That's awesome !do you mind putting links up for the 80/20 rails and the brackets used to attach them to the factory rack.

 

@java, nice, I had considered unistrut, but decided the 80/20 was more universal for future. But the unistrut is very strong so it's a great cheap option to work with.

@hossler1788 I got the 80/20, screws, covers, brackets, etc. from t-nutz (https://www.tnutz.com/) -- the shipping can be a little high for the aluminum extrusion, but also depends on where you live. I've also thought of designing my own bracket to attach to the rails instead of attaching via the t-track, which puts the weakest load point on the shear strength of the screws. I think it'd be better to put the bracket so it rests on top of the rail, but in my research I couldn't find anything that would sit on the rail and attach to aluminum extrusion -- everything from yakima, rhino racks, etc. were feet that fit their load bars.