Exoskeleton Roofracks

[RobertJ]

Hi all,

I've got a 92 removable hard top sierra for which i've decided to make up some roof racks atop an exoskeleton.

There's an American company that does something very similar to what i have in mind.



However i don't really want to drill holes in my car's body if it can be avoided as this rack will only be on the car occasionally. So do any of you have any suggestions? I've considered drilling a hole in my rear bumper and mounting some permanent fixtures with vertical rods which would slot inside the hollow frame, like these:



Which go with this frame:


Which is a bit closer to what i want to do. However, what are your thoughts on this method for the rear mounts?

Also, what is on the other side of the door hinges? Do the bolts go into something solid, or is there a nut floating on the other side which will drop if i remove the bolts?

Any input you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Rob

[Billjohn]

You may want to consider some corner armor and attach the brackets to them. They would have more strength than a couple of thin brackets.
Example of corner armor:

DP Corners
The door hinge mounts have welded in nuts, so you don't have to woory about loosing anything behind the panels.

[my996duc1]

The rack you are talking about is a calmini rack.
Safari Rack

They attach at the front overtop the door hinges. You can take these bolts out and the threaded part will stay there.
I just helped a friend put one of these on a tintop. It mounts differently on the rear because it clamps to the rain gutters on the tintop.

The only problem I would see with mounting the rear to the bumper and the front to the door hinges is vibration.
The bumper is hard mounted to the frame and the door hinges/body is not hard mounted to the frame. This may not cause any problems but that is the only problem that I can think of.

Good Luck with your build.

[Pilsner Pig]

I use the rack you first posted with my removable hardtop. I like the rear mounting system on the body and with some quick release pins it can pop right off. I'm in the process of fabbing these pins up but otherwise I drive on logging roads all day long and have had no problems. I even had to use the rack to protect my top while I pivoted on a tree to get out of a jam.