roof rack mounting

hello, so this is my first thread forgive me if its in the wrong place.

ive recently repaired the roof on my 2000 4r (found some terrible rust whole and shotty bondo repairs at the roof rail mounting points). i welded in some 16 ga steel patches as well as i could, being a novice welder. roof leaks have stopped so id consider it successful.

ive now built a roof rack and am in need of mounting advice, as i now dont have the oem roof rails. seeing as my rig is a bit of a sh*tbox ive thought about just welding mounting brackets directly to the patch panels.

any suggestions, questions, ridicule, or mockery is welcome

 

I haven't owned a 4Runner in a few years but when I did, I remember the Sherpa I had installed just used small brackets to attach to extruded aluminum from the factory rails.

You say you don't have an OEM rail but are there any holes for mounting such a setup at all to incorporate any old rails?

Old picture -

 

Did you figure out a solution. Bout to take off existing and fab my own mounts to existing holes.

Ordered new Gaskets to replace when remove

 

If you have an existing rack, it would be a thousand times easier in your case.

Just take some metal, bend it, drill some holes, and you've got the mounts.

 

thanks for replies, i ended up just bending some l brackets and welding straight to the roof. i decided holes werent worth the trouble, pulling the headliner is quite the tedious job. didnt get good pictures of the brackets but in the attached photo you can see my quick and dirty welds