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| The top picture shows the custom roof rack as it appears in transit, the second picture shows how it looks when I access my stuff. To make the rack, I purchased a 4' long extended wire shelf from Home Depot (~18" long), some rubber stoppers, 10 endcaps, and 2 cans of semi-flat black spraypaint. I cut off the 2 wires on either end of the backing part using a dremel. I then grinded the cut areas to smooth them out. This allows the ends to fit into the ceiling tie down hooks (as seen in inset picture). Then I placed on the end caps (to proctect the windows from the rack), and spray painted the rack black. After spray painting the rack, I unscrewed the 2 ceiling clips closest to the back seats to rotate them 90 degrees. I screwed one down tightly, and then slid the rack into the clip. I then placed the other clip on the other end of the rack before screwing the clip back into place. If you do not do this, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to put the rack in without cutting the rack shorter. I then crazy-glued the 2 rubber stoppers to the wall of the X where the free end of the rack comes to rest. This prevents the rack from making a ton of noise when I go over bumps. To secure the free end of the rack, I used a red 24" x 9 mm Bungee, and 2 blue 18" x 9 mm bungees. The bungees attach to the ceiling tie down hooks closest to the gate. The red bungee prevents the rack from dropping down and causing everything to fall off, and the blue cords hold the rack up to keep everything on while I'm underway. I have added a small metal bin to hold smaller items, and I attached it to the rack using some small bungees. I plan on adding a mesh guard on the passenger side of the rack to prevent things from flying forward into the cabin during a panic stop. I have noticed some flexing in the shelf, so I am considering options to strengthen it. I have to thank Geoff Varosky for this rack, as he told me how to create this rack. The original idea for the rack appears to have been from Sgt. Lobo. Ben Dawson also has a Box Mod which can be used instead of the rack. You can find this mod on the XCanuks Xterra webpage with instructions on how to install it. The total time to make this rack was ~11.5 hours. The time is deceiving, however, as it took ~30 minutes to cut and grind the rack, ~50 minutes to spray paint both sides of the rack, and ~10 minutes to place the rack in the truck for a total of ~1.5 hours. The other 10 hours were taken up waiting for the rack to dry to the touch (~ 1 hour) and then sleeping while the other side of the rack dried. |
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