Roof rack feet

[rejeep]

can sombody post up how they mounted there rack to the rain gutters?

[SafeAirOne]

The rack they built or the rack they bought?

[rejeep]

ahh good question I guess...

Im unsure...

I guess I can post what im dealing with and we can go from there....
I jsut cant seem to find a good picture of a roof rack mounted to be able to tell the difference

[SafeAirOne]

I guess what I'm asking is, 'do you need to know how to mount your existing rack to the roof' or is it 'do you need to know how to design some feet to mount to the gutter'?

If you already have something, I'd just post up a pick of what you have and a million answers will pour in, I'm sure.

[HybridIIA]

Some examples in this thread... http://forums.roversnorth.com/showthread.php?12111-building-a-roof-rack/page2

I made a dimensional drawing of the bracket shown in the photo I posted. If you PM me your email address, I can send you a pdf.

[ThePhotographer]

Honestly if I were to make my own, they would be as wide as possible. Depending on how many feet you're using, the wider the better. It puts the least stress in individual spots on the gutter. Here's a photo of one of the legs on a patriot rack that came in yesterday.
http://i.imgur.com/hb9vg.jpg

[osajaj]

Not trying to steal the thread, but i am curious on mounting as well. I have an existing roof rack but it seems that you just bolt the rack via the feet onto the rain gutter, drill holes in the rain gutter. Is that usual? The rack does not have any marking on it and the only mounts i have seen in the past were those with bolt on clamps. Thanks in advance for the help.

[rejeep]

yeah thats not how mine mounts...

I have feet that fit into the gutters and seem to bolt into the gutter....

[SafeAirOne]

Yikes. I don't think there's any need to drill holes in the gutter when you can easily clamp it to the gutter. Even if your rack doesn't have clamps, a small bit of ingenuity will have you going without a hole in the rack or the gutter. Show a pic or two of what you're working with and there'll be 5 different solutions posted in no time.

[rejeep]

these are the feet on the rack...
its square tube, galvy already...

there is a hole already in each of the feel from the PO...
and unfortunately there are 4 1/4" holes in my gutter from the trip home....
they have since been sealed up when I painted and caulked the gutters... hence the present question.

http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee343/rejeep/IMG-20120802-00200.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee343/rejeep/IMG-20120802-00201.jpg

[Revtor]

If the holes are already there from the rack/PO, you might as well just use 'em..

[parrie]

Looking at your pictures I would guess that there should be a bracket that fits into the gutter w/ hold-down clamps and then the rack would bolt to it. The hole in your rack appears to be very large to be bolting through a gutter, can't imagine there would be any strength left. I have a Brownchurch rack on my DII and it is similar to Photographer's photo above...the rack fit's into the gutter then there is a hold-down clamp that clamps under the gutter. Can't say as though I've ever seen any rack that bolts through the gutter.

[Revtor]

yeah, on second thought, if all you have are 4 of those little tabby leg things with bolts, its not going to be too sturdy.. The patriot rack pictured above has it right. I'd attach wider feet and fab up clamps.. Especially if you plan on really using the rack.

[SafeAirOne]

My first instinct says to do something like this, though with a little more thought, this could be greatly simplified:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7705212506_230367246d_z.jpg

[o2batsea]

I put in a call to Brownchurch about this very subject a short while back. The holes in the feet are from the factory, the feet are designed to be bolted to the coachroof gutter. They intend for you to drill holes in your precious gutter!
I used to have little one inch c-clamps holding it on, which worked OK. I am going to come up with something different for remounting my rack (just picked up from galvy with a shiny new coat of zinc) which will be as effective but less invasive than the Brownchurch method.

[osajaj]

O2batsea, like to see you ideas or solutions. I have the same exact rack with holes in the feet. About to paint my roof and want to make sure I have the best option for securing the rack. If its drilling holes thats ok too, but I want to make sure it is. Thanks!

[o2batsea]

Well, honestly the best way is to poke a hole in the gutter and bolt the thing down as they tell you to. This has several good points to consider. One, there is no hardware on the "outside" of the rack feet to snag on obstacles. Two, it's pretty darn secure an non rattling. And finally it's a really simple solution.
All that said, I am not going to drill holes in my newly galvanized roof gutter. What I may do is take advantage of the holes that are already there; the rivet holes. Since they are located every inch or so I can make a simple bracket that is L shaped in profile, and put holes along the bottom of the L that match up to the roof rivets. 4 or maybe even 6. A single hole in the top of the L for a turnbuckle or j bolt which will attach to one of the square tubes, probably in one of the relief holes. I have to think about this a little more as I might have two holes in the top of the bracket and run two turnbuckles one angled forward and one angled back. That would prevent the rack from creeping.
These brackets can be permanently installed, so that removing the rack is just a matter of undoing the turnbuckles or j bolts or whatever. The nice thing is that these will also stay "Inboard" of the gutter so will be less likely to snag. They can be installed with pop rivets or 5/32nds machine screws and nuts (are those size 8 or 6? can't remember). A little 5200 under them to seal out the water and that's that.

[luckyjoe]

I'd modify it to some sort of clamp. Below are pics of how RN used to build their SS racks. Not sure if they still do this or not.

Foot side view:
6905

Foot inline view:
6906

Foot with clamp hardware:
6907

I'm about a month away from actually installing this rack (roof rebuild not yet complete). so I' cannot say how well they work.

[JimCT]

There is nothing as secure as the through bolted feet. The clamps tend to get hung up on trees and branches .





I'd modify it to some sort of clamp. Below are pics of how RN used to build their SS racks. Not sure if they still do this or not.

Foot side view:
6905

Foot inline view:
6906

Foot with clamp hardware:
6907

I'm about a month away from actually installing this rack (roof rebuild not yet complete). so I' cannot say how well they work.