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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Jluck on May 30, 2011, 10:15:53 PM

Title: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: Jluck on May 30, 2011, 10:15:53 PM
I need to mount a roof basket on my 92 kick and am wondering how others have mounted rails to the pinch weld/seam. I don't have any factory rails and don't like the idea of drilling holes in a roof. is there any handy-dandy kit out there?



oh yea.....I did a search already and had no luck.

thanks  :)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: honkey_2.0 on May 30, 2011, 10:39:23 PM
 alter ego has a roof rack set up for four door kicks...
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: schaney on May 31, 2011, 07:06:50 AM

Jluck, I'll post about my rack setup here to.  They are PerryCraft, although they requiring drilling holes through the roof.

(http://s3i.dotphoto.com/iA664646D-F9BD-4AFA-A414-619A35E92C6E.jpg)

(http://s3i.dotphoto.com/i7687524F-CA55-403A-9A98-3F74AD0FAAD7.jpg)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: jeff1997 on May 31, 2011, 02:36:19 PM
I mounted mine to the pinch joint. I used 1/8" steel plate on 4 corners and 2-1/4-20 bolts and nuts per plate. PM me your email and I will send you some pics.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: noiseyjack on May 31, 2011, 04:33:14 PM
Cheque this out some nice racks ;D


http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tracker-armour.html (http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tracker-armour.html)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: bentparts on May 31, 2011, 06:06:38 PM
I mounted mine to the pinch joint. I used 1/8" steel plate on 4 corners and 2-1/4-20 bolts and nuts per plate. PM me your email and I will send you some pics.

Almost the same setup i did. Plates, crossbars welded to plates, .25 bolts through pinch welds. Trim to fit moulding and it almost looks factory, almost. ;) seal the holes after you drill them, paint, glue, whatever and let it set before you run the bolts in permanently and you'll be golden. I think mine ended up costing about 20 bucks for steel and a can of paint.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: Trackerprts on May 31, 2011, 09:41:59 PM
I used rivnuts worked great.
here is the tool.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200308963_200308963 (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200308963_200308963)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: Jluck on May 31, 2011, 10:00:08 PM
thanks guys and double for the pics Jeff. I hackenbutched something together this eve but will do something better if I have time before this weekends wheeling/camping trip.....time to wheel it!
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: djlantis57 on June 02, 2011, 12:26:09 PM
Yup, I heard the same thing.  The pinch seams are extremely strong.  When I was looking at building my own roof rack before I gave up and abandoned all hope, I was going to mount it that way too. 
PM incoming to you, jeff.  Curious about the pics.  I recently acquired some nice round aluminum tubing that may have resurrected the idea of building my own (just need a spool gun for aluminum now $$$).
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: Jluck on June 02, 2011, 01:35:56 PM
jeff, if you want too just post them on this thread. it seems to be pretty warm.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: bentparts on June 02, 2011, 03:22:03 PM
Here's a couple of shots of how I did mine. One with the Elcheapo ebay basket I got, which turned out to be pretty damn good.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: Jluck on June 02, 2011, 03:38:19 PM
as always.....very nice! I wont even show the cobbled mess I have going! :laugh:


your the only other one I have ever saw with a ceiling fan it the shop. (maybe a geographic location thing) I put one out it the party are of my shop.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: jeff1997 on June 02, 2011, 06:05:17 PM
jeff, if you want too just post them on this thread. it seems to be pretty warm.
I am having trouble posting them, could you Jluck?
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: Jluck on June 02, 2011, 08:01:28 PM
you betcha.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: schaney on June 03, 2011, 01:05:26 PM

Hmmm, interesting just bolting onto the pinch weld.  Looks like it works out nicely.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: jeff1997 on June 03, 2011, 02:16:08 PM
It did work great. We had 3 people sitting on the rack watching the mud drags one day. It worked great!
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: bentparts on June 04, 2011, 05:22:49 AM
as always.....very nice! I wont even show the cobbled mess I have going! :laugh:


your the only other one I have ever saw with a ceiling fan it the shop. (maybe a geographic location thing) I put one out it the party are of my shop.

Ceiling fan helps somewhat with heating and cooling since there's no real air management other than gas heater for winter and big window AC for summer. So hot and humid here it makes it unbearable in the summer months working out there. You have a " party area " My shop IS the party area! :laugh:
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: jeff1997 on June 04, 2011, 08:05:42 AM
as always.....very nice! I wont even show the cobbled mess I have going! :laugh:


your the only other one I have ever saw with a ceiling fan it the shop. (maybe a geographic location thing) I put one out it the party are of my shop.

Ceiling fan helps somewhat with heating and cooling since there's no real air management other than gas heater for winter and big window AC for summer. So hot and humid here it makes it unbearable in the summer months working out there. You have a " party area " My shop IS the party area! :laugh:
I have a ceiling fan in my shop also. The only reason I have it is, it got kicked out of the house. It is painted black and yellow to match Matt Kenseth's DeWalt Ford. I agree with bentparts, it is unbearable in the summer, 95 deg and 90% humidity!!
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: hcgalvin on June 05, 2011, 08:13:12 AM
Yakima's Q-Towers for the Sidekicks attach via a mounting bolt/hole on the pinch joint. Here's what they look like installed.

(http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/274/dcp0743y.jpg)

(http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6637/dcp5077.jpg)

Man, sometimes I wish I wouldn't have SAS'd it. It looked pretty... tits there. Oh well... gotta work on the GV now.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on August 16, 2011, 10:10:05 AM
Looks good everyone! :)
I LOVE the OEM racks as they look so nice, but its much easier and cheaper to just make your own and be happy.
Thanks for all the pics... I'll be doing mine soon.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on September 25, 2011, 11:36:53 PM
I went ahead and built mine, similar to others, with the pinch seam mount.  Only thing I did different was the instead of mounting the vertical plate steel feet directly to the seam, I welded them to 3/4" square tubing sections, and bolted that to the seam.  Going for improved weight distribution.  Also put thin rubber strip under the square tubing to avoid metal to metal contact.  The rack is just a platform (42" x 76"), with 6 central cross bars, and mounted 3/4" above the peak of the roof line.  I crawled up there and it feels very sturdy.  Will mostly be used for mounting a Thule rocket box and/or carrying camping gear for weekend trips...

 (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a217/darnold87/Sidekick/rack1.jpg)

 (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a217/darnold87/Sidekick/rack2.jpg)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on September 26, 2011, 11:16:38 AM
One more pic to better show how it mounts:
(Getting new mounting bolts soon, then will mod the rubber trim piece back onto the seam)

Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: chevytracker on September 26, 2011, 03:55:01 PM
I know you guys have different mounts than mine, but the Garvin rack mounts perfectly with the OEM tracks on my 01 4 door.  Mine has what I like to call coefficient drag accessories or air brakes with all the crap mounted on it, truth is you can't get anything over the sides without a small step stool. I like darnold87's rack, the way it angles out, they all look good. 
(http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z340/zukizilla/light.jpg)

Here are more pics of the Garvin rack
http://photobucket.com/roofrack (http://photobucket.com/roofrack)

Also look at Alteredegomotorsports.com, their racks look good!!
(http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/uploads/3/6/5/2/3652259/8204114_orig.jpg)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: bentparts on September 26, 2011, 09:09:32 PM
One more pic to better show how it mounts:
(Getting new mounting bolts soon, then will mod the rubber trim piece back onto the seam)


That there is some nice work. Looks stout and I like the 1x1 along the seam. How much weight you puttin up there anyway? These things are already slow enough  :laugh:
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on September 28, 2011, 04:14:56 PM
One more pic to better show how it mounts:
(Getting new mounting bolts soon, then will mod the rubber trim piece back onto the seam)


That there is some nice work. Looks stout and I like the 1x1 along the seam. How much weight you puttin up there anyway? These things are already slow enough  :laugh:

Thanks :)  It's super lightweigh but I wanted it to support a rooftop box or 2 adults...

So what are you guys using to trim the rubber seal that covers the pinch seam?  There's a spring steel center inside that isn't all that easy to cut... I tried dikes but that did't really work.  Suggestions?

Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: ebewley on September 28, 2011, 04:47:39 PM
One more pic to better show how it mounts:
(Getting new mounting bolts soon, then will mod the rubber trim piece back onto the seam)


That there is some nice work. Looks stout and I like the 1x1 along the seam. How much weight you puttin up there anyway? These things are already slow enough  :laugh:

Thanks :)  It's super lightweigh but I wanted it to support a rooftop box or 2 adults...

So what are you guys using to trim the rubber seal that covers the pinch seam?  There's a spring steel center inside that isn't all that easy to cut... I tried dikes but that did't really work.  Suggestions?



Chop saw... windows open!

-Eric
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on September 28, 2011, 05:34:56 PM
Chop saw too big!  :) Gotta leave the rubber connected to go around the rack mount.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on September 29, 2011, 12:43:28 AM
Chop saw too big!  :) Gotta leave the rubber connected to go around the rack mount.

I got one side done.  Used a razor blade, needle nose pliers, tin snaps, and a 4" angle grinder... Looks much better with the rubber back on!  :)
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on September 30, 2011, 09:29:11 AM
Here's how it turned out... much better with the rubber.  :)

Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on December 08, 2011, 02:24:34 PM
Well, I came across an OEM factory rack and decided I liked it better that the one I made...  8)
The mounting is well designed and easy.   It's all steel with a grippy rubbery coating... and its very strong.  I'm pretty confident it can handle some weight if need be.  I plan to add more crossbars (maybe flat instead of arched) for more usability and even more support. 
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on December 12, 2011, 10:44:59 AM
I've decided to sell the rack I made...  I'll post this in the classified section.  $150.

http://salem.craigslist.org/pts/2748676754.html (http://salem.craigslist.org/pts/2748676754.html)

Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: stock93tracker on December 12, 2011, 03:40:26 PM
I recently picked up one of those awesome sturdy OEM racks you have darn old.  Cost me ten bucks at the bone yard.  Score!  Its really an awesome piece.  I dont even have a 4 door to put it on yet, but im lined up to go look at one soon.

What are the specs on your 4 door, looks pretty much perfect.
Title: Re: roof rack mounting? 4 door kick.
Post by: darnold87 on December 12, 2011, 11:23:43 PM
I recently picked up one of those awesome sturdy OEM racks you have darn old.  Cost me ten bucks at the bone yard.  Score!  Its really an awesome piece.  I dont even have a 4 door to put it on yet, but im lined up to go look at one soon.

What are the specs on your 4 door, looks pretty much perfect.

WOW!  10 bucks huh... thats a steal! :)

Thanks, my Sidekick is pretty simple but works well for most adventures.  Here's a quick breakdown:
1994 Suzuki Sidekick JLX (16-valve. 5speed)
-Old Man Emu medium duty 4door springs (~1.25" of lift)
-Sky's 1.5" Spring and Strut Spacers
-Napa factory replacement front struts and '91 4Runner rear shocks
-Trail Tough 4.24 t-case gears and Rock4xFab twin-sticks
-30x9.5x15 MTR's on old-school slotted mags
-Modified Trail Tough front bumper to accommodate one of my Warn 8274's (I restore them).
-Calmini Full belly pan
That's about it... I ran a Spartan rear locker for a while but couldn't dial it in for good street behavior... This is my daily-driver so auto-lockers are not preferable.