Roof racks for a Toyota hilux may 97 model.

[JDarvall]

Thats what I've got. 4 door with a tray on the back.

Dropped all our savings into it so we could finally have a tray whilst still having seats for the kids.

Problem is, I want to mount a decent strong roof rack over it... I'm getting the odd site job lately and I really need something strong for timber/ladders/fibro sheets etc. ( i can't keep borrowing me mates truck).

BUT, this bloody model of hilux doesn't have gutters, so the only kind of roof rack I've managed to find for it, is this poofy looking 'sports' model of roof rack. Weak aluminium #### to put surf boards on I guess.

So, I'm playing with the idea of welding up my own.....any ideas on how to mount two racks around the doors...... I'm ok with making a rack off the bull bar and tail gate, just unsure about the ones in between.

any ideas ? ta.

[Schtoo]

My Hilux (92 model) had some threaded inserts in the roof where the door closes on them.

Can't see them till the door opens, and no problems with leaks/rust since they aren't a low point and I think the door seal covered them up. With screws in them, no problem.

Mine was an old electric supply truck, so I guess there was a light bar up there, so not much weight.

Other than that, no idea.

If you can, take a look at the 4WD mobs and see what they do. They are prolly all too light, but it might give you some ideas too. Going full length is a good idea, but if the thing is 4WD, it's ^%&^% high to get to!

(My towing hitch was mostly used as a step.)

Which brings up another point. If you do have a hitch, get some pipe that slides in there, drill a hole for the pin in the pipe and stick something on the other end, like a vise. Simple, and gives you something to work off when you need something solid.

Good luck. :D

[bsrlee]

Mate has a similar problem, but he is a Wiz with metal & welding. The problem lies in the front end connection - apparently you can't have one as it interferes with the airbag sensors & operation and then they won't re-register the vehicle. At the moment he still has a 3 tone Daihatsu van to carry long stuff,

I was suggesting that he bend some bars into '[' shapes and bolt to the under frame just in front of the front doors and at the back also.

So far he hasn't had to bite the bullet.

[Guy]

try rhinorack have these on my holden, but had to fiddle with parts till we got some to match the holes

[JDarvall]

Thanks for the help everyone

...... I enquired about rhinoracks but no luck. But maybe I should try harder.

Bsrlee.... glad you mentioned that '[' idea. I not sure if we're on the same wavelength though.

The idea I was playing with was laying those '[' brackets into the little gutter that the top of the doors overlap.....meaning the upright part of these brackets would have to be no thicker than 3 or 4 mm to fit into the gap between the door and the roof,,,,,Then just weld on some heavy hollow tubing to it accross the roof. .... but my only fear with that, is ....' will it be strong enough.....3 - 4 mm is pretty thin '. ....anyway.

Schtoo....thanks....but no threaded holes in my roof. But I will pinch that hitch vise idea. Ta. (tell everyone I thought it up myself :p ...I'm just joking uno)

[bsrlee]

My idea was to bypass the door frame altogether and go from the roof rack to the underbody of the vehicle. Much less restriction of the cross section of the uprights that way, plus it gives a tiny bit of side panel protection in the car park.

[Groggy]

If you come to MLB I'll give you a set at the BBQ - seriously..

[JDarvall]

My idea was to bypass the door frame altogether and go from the roof rack to the underbody of the vehicle. Much less restriction of the cross section of the uprights that way, plus it gives a tiny bit of side panel protection in the car park.

Thanks for the replys.

Oh, you mean from the existing rack that comes with the tray,,,,just behind the back seats ? ........straight accross the roof toward the front of the car,,,,,to some kind of upright setup that bolts onto the holes under the radiator that normally take the bull bar...

Sounds like a good idea if thats what you mean... The only problem with that is,,,,there's no existing rack behind the back seats. The toyota is designed to take a removeable shell canopy ( or whatever there called ) that sits on the tray..... which wasn't present when we got it.

Thanks Groggy. appreciate the offer. Can't make it though. Bit frustrating. :)

[bsrlee]

Bzzzzttt...Erorororor....

A big bracket goes from the underbody, up the side of the vehicle just in front of the front door hinge line, and bolts to the roof rack unit. Another big bracket goes up the side of the body in line with the join between the crew cab and the tray unit, and bolts to the roof rack unit. If needed, a third big bracket goes up the side of the vehicle beside the back pillar of the lift off roof of the tray cover.

And another set of brackets on the other side of the vehicle. The bottom end of the brackets are bolted to the floor pan/ pseudo-chassis to stop them dragging on the ground ;)

Nothing covers the front or rear of the vehicle (and therefore does not interfere with the airbag sensors, and the RTA will continue to register the vehicle).

[Doughboy]

I have seen what brssly is suggesting and it works a treat. I have seen them made from 2 inch gal pipe and they never missed a beat. Pretty sure other materials could be used in place of the gal but why reinvent the wheel???

Pete

[Tonyz]

I kid you not just wished I'd had the camera but yesterday at a field dat I saw a late Hilux that a local 'identity' was driving.

2 bags of sand on the roof and a load of steel pipe sitting on top and had travelled about 80k from Lincoln. Didnt move either and then pulls the pipe off then sand bags and aho;la standard roof again. He was fairly sober when he arrived.

Solve all ya problems mate.

Tony

[JDarvall]

Ta Brslee and pete, got it finally.....sounds like a great idea. Gal pipes cheap enough.....have to work out the spot to bolt the plates on underneath......I'll stick my head under tomorrow and have a think.

:D Tony, hellova story about the sand bags. Not many cops about I'm guessing.

[Tonyz]

the lacal constabulary have been trained well. Either drink with us or stay away when we drink. He stayed away

Tony

[JDarvall]

the lacal constabulary have been trained well. Either drink with us or stay away when we drink. He stayed away

Tony

Your on a good wicket then... the coppers here will book you for picking your nose.....

I found some cash ! ,,,,, and am all ready to buy that gal pipe. .....

However, this being my first roof rack, theres a chance I'll stuff it up, or overlook something...... hoping to go over with it further with you guys.

I took a couple of photos of the car and drew pictures on them of how I'm picturing that idea brslee gave.

Basically 4 upright bars....with elbows at the base, to a welded on bracket.....so they can be bolted onto this black supporting thingy ( :o I'm not into cars...I don't know the jargon) .

See the general idea in first picture.

Second picture shows these black supporting thingys(my hands on it)......Their hollow and about 5 inches accross I guess.....so I figured I could just drill through and just bolt and nut the brackets on.....Guessing it'll be ok, because there are other holes and cutouts in this black thingo.
But I really don't know.

So the process I'm thinking is.....

Bolt these uprights on first.....then just clamp the rest of the supporting pieces (that form the rack) and just weld in position.....and must remember to cover the car with something to protect it from the welding #### falling all over. :D

I like to know what you think. ....whats worrying me, is the place I bolt the bracket too...... is it ok to drill them holes through that spot described ?

Thanks
Jake.

[DJ’s Timber]

G'day Jake,

I wouldn't be drilling holes in the chassis, I would be trying to bolt the bars down lower near the sills. If you look at most 4WDs, they have sidesteps on them. You should be able to utilise the existing holes for these. Have a look at the revise drawing I did for you

ps. I noticed that yours is only 2WD, but the chassis is the same as a 4WD

[JDarvall]

Ta DJ for going to that effort.

I have a look for those existing holes tomorrow.

I noticed you've got those blue uprights hugging the body more, rather than going straight up. Is that important you think ? .....cause I was thinking of having them go straight up, so theres a greater distance between the racks.......meaning, I wouldn't have to bother about uprights around the tailgate and bumper bar uno.....just having the two racks that far apart should be able to support long timber well enough I would have thought. But I'm open to suggestions.

See, I've got a torno cover ready to be installed over the tray.....I didn't want to have to complicate getting the thing on and off by having upright bars coming up around the tailgate. (if that makes sense)

Thanks mate for your help.

[DanP]

Go with DJ's design.

Yours would not comply in Vic and more than that, would be a vision obstruction. Keep the pipes as close in to the body as possible.

Don't weld anything while attached to the car. You will probably fry your electronics.....

Dan

[JDarvall]

Ta Dan, if it won't comply I definetly won't do it.

Bit confused on how it'll obscure vision significantly though. The upright closest from the drivers seat is hiding behind the right strut (if thats what its called) to the roof.

For welding, I was intending to unhook the battery. Would have thought that be enough. But I'm no expert so wont do it. Shame though.

Had a look under the car today. Still not sure which existing holes I should fasten the uprights too...anyway.

[bsrlee]

DJ's pic is pretty much what I was talking about. You could double the top side rails and weld some zig-zag rod between them to make the rack more rigid, so you can extend it further forward/backwards from the uprights - just be wary of loading it heavily at the ends as the overhang will increase the force on the chassis connections due to leverage.

I think you should be able to get a third set of 'legs' at the side between the rear wheel arch and the tail lights, so it should not interfere with the tailgate operation and a 'tonneau' should be able to be slid off if it is one of those new rigid plastic/fiberglass lockdown ones.

Also, good call about frying the electrics - most of the cars I have worked on didn't have anything more complicated than a clock.

[JDarvall]

Thanks mate. Appreciate the help.