What I am inclined to do right now is bolt some 2x4s into the roof (its a 90 bronco II, two door), with big fat washers and some rubber gaskets on there. Commercial rack options for this particular ride are pretty shady. It has rain gutters, that are about two feet long and only located right over the doors. Whatever I do to this thing is bound to be permanent, so, anyone have any advice?
i personally wouldn't use wood there has to be some scrap metal or buy some square bars. make sure you use fatty washer cause it could still rip through a thin roof if not attached properly, especially not good on interstate. the bases on the yakimas are pretty wide were they connect to gutters. id suggest fabricating a mounting bracket that the bars sit in that is like a yakima but sits flush to roof where you want it so you have multiple bolts on each end of racks.
Yakima makes a nice offset mount that you can utilize with the NRS clamp mounts, forget who they're made by. I made a nice roof rack with this setup and 5/8" x 6' oak planks for my truck's camper shell. I doubled up the oak planks, then treated them with Thompson's water seal and then covered them with that icky green indoor/outdoor carpet. You just have to drill them to match the width of your vehicle. They're absolutely bomb and will carry three times the load any yakima or thule bar can take.
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I used to drive a 1988 Bronco II, that was my kayak rig for years. Does your bronco have the factory rack rails on the roof? If so, get the Yakima gear that fits in those. It works great, I had my racks on for 5 years and never had any problems. Prior to my using yakima racks on it, I built a 2x4 racks and used the old metal raingutter clamps (forgot the names) and clamped one rack above the doors and the other way back on the tiny 3 or 4 inch raingutters in the back... not recommended at all.
Yeah, the sliding channel rails on the factory "rack" are what has failed, when it has boats tied to it, the back-right one jumps up and down and beats against the roof. There was some sort of insert in the roof which the screw which held the rail onto the roof was screwed into. When I noticed for the first time that something was wrong, I also noticed for the first time, "Rack rated to 100lbs" .. Not quite what the weight I was carrying at the time but factor in high speed driving, wind and rain.. there goes my waranty (as if).
Someone suggested bolting strips of steel on the inside and outside of the roof, then bolting mounts to those. Thats probably what I will end up doing. Thanks folks.
Someone suggested bolting strips of steel on the inside and outside of the roof, then bolting mounts to those. Thats probably what I will end up doing. Thanks folks
i suggest 3/16 x 4" x 5' ...........per side (inside and outside) ( drivers/passanger) use carriage bolts, (1/2") and 3/4" washers on both sides.
strap 4 open boats on top......and haul ass.... if it "moves" it will be a full time convertable .....
good luck.....also use silicon cauking ti fill drill holes
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if cost is a concern, don't hesitate to use scraps of treated lumber or even some redwood or cedar. those are very resistant to decay. Just spread the load out over several square inches and have a large metal plate or really stout frender washer on the inside. If you dont need bike mounts 2x4s are great. you could even staple some black outdoor carpet to finish them off. Use some silicone in the holes and use a carriage bolt head on the inside to keep it smooth.
Yeah, the sliding channel rails on the factory "rack" are what has failed, when it has boats tied to it, the back-right one jumps up and down and beats against the roof. There was some sort of insert in the roof which the screw which held the rail onto the roof was screwed into. When I noticed for the first time that something was wrong, I also noticed for the first time, "Rack rated to 100lbs" .. Not quite what the weight I was carrying at the time but factor in high speed driving, wind and rain.. there goes my waranty (as if).
Someone suggested bolting strips of steel on the inside and outside of the roof, then bolting mounts to those. Thats probably what I will end up doing. Thanks folks.
Don't do that....look for Yakima PlusNuts.....they are the nut that collapses inside the roof when the screw is bolted in. Invisible from the inside. I would get a couple and see if you can fix the factory rack or use them to put on a new rack. Rack systems seem expensive until you loose your boats. A lot of stuff can be found on ebay and sales to save a bunch of dough. I think 100lbs indicates the dry weight of whatever you're putting on there and the rack should hold up going down the highway regardless of what it is. From the sound of it it was probably just old and and that nut broke. A good rack is cheap insurance. Or take it to one of the dedicated rack shops like Rack Attack if you get up to Denver and they can probably fix your factory rack cheap.
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