Safari rack?

[Trev]

Anybody put a safari rack on their Tercel? I would love to do this, but my Tercel doesn't have roof racks to begin with. And I'm not sure about drilling right through the roof.

Some lights would also be really cool!

Thanks, Trev

[Petros]

I would not recommend mounting lights by drilling through your roof. Mount the rack, and than mount the lights to the rack, or if you desire, have a separate light bar mounted like a roof rack to attach the lights to. the lights are vulnerable to damage and can bend the thin roof metal, and also cause leaks.

[Trev]

Yeah, but would you drill through your roof to mount a rack? Would it even be strong enough to hold anything?

[Petros]

I would not drill through my roof to mount a rack, unless you hit a frame or cross member in the roof there will not be much strength, and it could leak as well. If you ever remove the rack you will have holes to patch too. I do not like making changes to the car I can not undo later, in case I want to sell it and keep the custom item I wanted to mount.

The rain gutter is a good place to mount a rack, it is structural (where the roof is welded to the rest of the body). Newer cars eliminate the rain gutter so they often will have seams or rack mount "hard points" to compensate. Presumably eliminating the rain gutter cleans up the body and improves fuel economy (which would be lost with a rack anyway). I would think the rain gutter would get lost in the boundary layer of air, but it would be nice to know how much a difference it makes. I have thought about grinding the rain gutter off, fill all the gaps, make new streamlined bumpers and grills, to up date the looks and see how much it might improve economy. But than I think of better things I have to do with my time.

[Trev]

so tercels indeed have the gutter?

[scotisha]

I have something similer to a safari rack. The rack is as wide as the tercel and runs from the front window all the way to the back hatch (when the hatch is up it rests against the rack).

I got some of those gutter bars for $80 (or something like that) and then a Rola roof top carrier with extension for $250ish. I then drilled some holes in the rack and mounted lites to the front and back (not hooked up yet but they are on there). The gutter rack is good for 150lbs and the rack weighs 50lbs so I can carry about 100lbs of shipe.

I have some pics posted in the gallery here:
http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/gallery ... browse&c=9

Let me know if you need suppliers, etc

I have used this rack alot. I have carried drywall, privacy lattice, fence sections, outdoor furniture, etc with no problems.

[takza]

I made one out of 2x2s...mounted to the sheet metal roof with wooden pads set in RTV...using 6 heavy deck screws. Took some engineering because the roof isn't exactly flat. Have used it with a tarp for camping and to carry plywood, etc.

[Dirtmagnet]

Hope everyone is doing well.

My son and I put a rack on the Rover. We got a roof rack off of a Ford Explorer and mounted it. We had to cut the cross rails off but other than that, it went with no problems. We pulled the headliner down, drilled through holes and bolted it on, using a lot of silicone. We did it to mount a bikerack. That is the reason we chose the Explorer, because I had purchased 2 new bike racks that we made to fit an Explorer. He has since mounted some driving lights on the front of the rack.

Here are some photos.





The Redneck Rover in its element.