Roof Rack: Steel or Aluminum?

[Thatcajunguy]

For the last few months I've been back and forth trying to decide on a metal to use for my rtt /gear rack. Steel pipe is stronger but it adds to my weight and aluminum being lighter, but a little harder to work with. Just trying to look for some extra help

 

[Mike W]

Do you have any design drawings you can show us? What vehicle is it? (the vehicle roof itself has a load rating). If you can list/show 1. vehicle, 2. mount point type, 3. roof load rating, 4. intended roof loading and uses.

Really depends on the rack design and what you want to be able to do with it. What kind of mount points will you use first.. that determines if its worth building a rack that can hold whatever amount of weight. If its just for super light loads and you don't want to have a ladder and get up on it yourself, then the aluminum would probably work well and save weight. If you want to walk on it or store jerry's and tires, you might want steel to reduce flex under load.

My rack was made by Voyager Offroad, its 1" (25mm) .40mm wall thickness Cold Rolled Galvanized Zinc Steel, 8 mount points using straight through bolts into roof. 900lb capacity. Probably weighs about 100 lbs, but with some plastic polymax chicken coop flooring, I can easily walk around on it with very little flex. And I do worry about flex because my LR4 has a glass roof.

Basic design:

My dad walking on my rack... hes 6'4" i think. On the polymax, flexes maybe 1/4" if you kinda jump on it with 200+ lbs....( on glass roof!)

 

[Zargon]

From what I've read and from my experience, I say that the aluminum isn't worth the weight savings over steel.

I have a steel safety devices roof rack on my land rover, and I can easily stand in the center with only a tiny about of flex (it's more impressive even you consider I'm about 6'6 and 250lbs). The roof rack can also be used as a recovery point, (see the camel trophy footage of them righting Discovery's) and the extra weight is minimal.

Just my 2¢

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[4xFar Adventures]

I also have an SD rack on my D2 and would opt for steel if I were making my own rack.

Roof racks are designed for a vertical load, not a side load, and I would not recommend using one as a recovery point. Those CT trucks had the roof rack attached to the roll cage, which was welded to the frame, so it was all integrated with each other. If you need to keep a truck from tipping over, loop the strap around the B pillar, or around the roof, through the windows.

 

[Zargon]

I also have an SD rack on my D2 and would opt for steel if I were making my own rack.

Roof racks are designed for a vertical load, not a side load, and I would not recommend using one as a recovery point. Those CT trucks had the roof rack attached to the roll cage, which was welded to the frame, so it was all integrated with each other. If you need to keep a truck from tipping over, loop the strap around the B pillar, or around the roof, through the windows.

Thankyou for the correction, I always thought it looked a little brutal on the discos (then again, that is the camel trophy)

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[4xFar Adventures]

Yeah, while the trucks used in the Camel Trophy were in mostly stock form, the addition of the rollcage was the biggest mod done at Solihull. The D1's were also given the "Camel Cut" on the bottom of the rear fender. Everything got HD springs. But the drivetrain was all stock, open diffs and all.

 

[Glenn]

I used a light wall steel 1 1/4" pipe. Bends easy, welds easy, its cheap and really wasn't heavy at all in the end. I primed and rattle canned it so if it ever gets ratty looking or scratched, its easy to touch up.
Aluminum was just going to be more expensive and welding it I would have needed a better welding machine than I have.

 

[Thatcajunguy]

Sorry about that guys, been a busy couple of days! I just did a quick sketch of the bed rack. Kind of in a rush, it's party season here in New Orleans.

Vehicle: 2007 GMC Sierra 1500
Rack type: Bed Rack
Not sure on a load rating yet, but I plan on using it for a CVT, Maxtrax, 4g rotopax, and maybe a few other items.

View attachment 17645View attachment 17646

Now I have a wilco tire gate on my rig and it's made of 2" OD steel tube. I'd like to keep the bold (thicker) parts of my sketch two inch pipe just to match.


View attachment 17647

Now the thin lines in the sketch I was thinking 1.25" pipe. (Again, sorry for the inconvenience of a quick sketch)

I'm choosing to go with steel pipe. A little bending , welding, and a couple hours of free time(if I ever get any) and I'll be posting pictures of the finished product

 

[Jeff Graham]

This is a older thread, but I thought I would offer my $.02. I think it depends on several factors. I'm from the school of thought, that you should Overland at only %80 of your GVWR cargo limit. Since I Overland a Jeep JK unlimited, weight savings is always hi on my priority list. This is one of the reasons I chose an aluminum rack. I like fit for purpose design. The two products that seems to integrate the most cargo mounting assesories was Front Runner, and Rhino Rack. I used a Front Runner on Defender 110 in the past, so I tried the Rhino Rack on my Jeep. The aluminum structure is much lighter then most other racks. So far have been very happy with the Aluminum rack by Rhino Rack