# Suburban roof rack



## oilcan

I'm looking into building a fairly serious roof rack for the Sub, but the attachment points are making me scratch my head a bit. I know the body will flex like wet spaghetti off road, so there's no way the mounts can just be bolted to the roof. Cash is tight, so buying a production rack is out of the question. And I've never seen a good close-up pic of how it's done.

What's a guy to do?


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## Tirediron

The stock ones bolt to the roof , and the roof section that is ribbed is very solid , the body won't flex behind the rear doors to the tail gate . I can prolly get you some pics of how /where the factory (73-90) roof rack mounts


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## NaeKid

What year of 'Burban is the style in question? If it was delivered from the factory with a rack, you can make your own rails that will attach to the factory mounted ones.

If it doesn't have the factory mount, you can take some 3/16" plate and match-drill (or in my case, laser the plates) to the section of the 'Burban between the window and the top of the roof. Then weld-on 1x1x1/16" tubing to the 3/16" plates and then finish off with some mesh and you have a basket (rack) to haul your stuff.

See picture below for an idea on a rack.


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## gypsysue

What's the round black thing to the right side of the spotlight in the picture? 

Awesome rack!


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## NaeKid

gypsysue said:


> What's the round black thing to the right side of the spotlight in the picture?
> 
> Awesome rack!


That would be the snorkle so that the engine can get air into the engine without sucking water at the same-time when crossing water-ways. It also allows the engine to get cooler-air (dense) than ground-temp air (hot and thin) for a bit more power through-out the power-band and when driving on dusty-roads, the added filtration-system keeps the air cleaner so that the cylinders are less likely to get scored from the dust.


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## OldCootHillbilly

I had a 80 model, that wasn't gonna flex enough ta ever bother a roof rack! Loved that truck, was a tank. Got rear ended on a icy road, woman drove me clean through a intersection an did zero damage ta the burb. Her's was hauled off on a flatbed.

I think if ya mount it where the factory intended, yall be fine.


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## oilcan

Hmmm, I see how I'm going to do it now. That rack is almost exactly what I'm looking to build. (Minus some height!) I dig the full length mounting rails, as opposed to individual plates at each foot.

So no body flex with the Sub? It seems a bit hard to believe, but I'm gonna take your word for it until/unless I see othewise.  I don't plan to hammer this truck, but I've found myself in sticky twisted-up situations before!

Oh, the thing is a '77 model with no factory rack... Pics are in my other thread.


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## Knotted

I can only say that after buying production roof racks for a heavy load the roof of my car was all pushed in at the end with a slight warping...


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## wrk80

how do you attach the runners to the roof without them leaking or drilling through your headliner?


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## NaeKid

wrk80 said:


> how do you attach the runners to the roof without them leaking or drilling through your headliner?


If there isn't a rack already mounted, you will need to drill through the sheet-metal of the roof to put the mounting plates into place. Using a liquid-sealant will help keep moisture from entering the cabin-area of the vehicle.

For my '88 YJ, I took the roof-rack from a '88 Chevy Cavalier wagon and mounted it directly to the hardtop. I lined everything up, used double-sided foam-tape and placed the runners into place. Then I drilled through the hard-top, dropped the bolts through and inside the roof I then used "Plumbers Goop" on fender-washers to seal from the inside. The double-sided tape sealed from the outside.

After that, the sliding-bars of the roof-rack would move properly down the length of the hard-top.


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## sailaway

wrk80 said:


> how do you attach the runners to the roof without them leaking or drilling through your headliner?


Follow Naekids advice and use 5200 marine sealent by 3M, good luck ever getting it off. WD40 will take it off your skin. It is inevitable that it will get on me whenever I use it. 5200 is the best below the waterline sealent there is.


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