An alternative to Thule racks

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J.K.
Posts:93
Joined:Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:53 am
An alternative to Thule racks

Post by J.K. » Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:25 pm

I drive an american Jeep, and found sourcing a rack for it an awful problem. The racks that came with them as standard are known as ski racks, presumably for tying nothing heavier than a few sets of skis on to them, so I set out trying to find an aftermarket pair. I also didn't like the bend that was in the regular bars.The local "prestigious" Jeep dealers didn't want to know me as it's an older model, and wouldn't order in a rack from the states from Jeep, so I tried Thule directly, asking them what I needed. I was told to get part x, y and z, but I then couldn't get any of these parts from dealers in Ireland, as that's not what the online thule part finder recommended them to sell me. I was in a bit of a quandary.
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The original rack, and rails
I went to a local engineering place in Galway looking for a quote for them to weld a set of bars to the roof, but was told it'd be around the three hundred euro mark, and they wouldn't really know what they were at, having never welded to a car roof before.
I thought I was up shit creek until my brother in law told me he'd have a look at it. He had access to welding equipment, and had an idea how to bypass the problem of welding to such thin metal.

The jeep rack sits on standard rails, which are bolted to the roof. He removed the rack and rails, and bolted on a strip of steel the length of the roof into these original bolt holes, and welded the bars to these much thicker lengths. He also added loops to pass additional straps through.
A problem did arise though, when we were using a ratchet strap to go over all the boats,and in through these loops. One loop was not right beside a bolt holding it to the roof, and pulling the ratchet tight meant that the loop started lifting the strip of steel bolted to the roof, pulling it away. So either don't pull too tight, or put a bolt beside every loop. Rivets will also do the job, but won't come out so easy.
For the price of NoMoneys, I now have a rack capable of carrying a lot more weight than a Thule one would ever carry. It's definitely worth considering if you don't have the cash to splurge on a rack that might cost €150, or want to carry more weight than a standard one. Or if you don't care about welding straight to your roof.
I don't know if it'll pass the NCT with it, but I don't see any problems arising. And because it's bolted, not welded, I can remove it if needs be.
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Jeep with new rails
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Joining the bar to the foot
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Loops for additional straps, with bolt adjacent
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Straight bars

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