Roof Rack for Hard Top

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:00 pm

Anyone come up with a clever roof rack for use with a hard top? I was looking at the one on the Manx Club site and it looks like it could be modified to fit on top of one of the fiberglass hard tops. I was thinking of setting one up for extra storage on trips and wanted to see what others had done.

Thanks,

--louis

jsturtlebuggy · Post by **jsturtlebuggy** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 3:57 am

In an early Dune Buggies & Hot VWs magazine, I think it was in a 1968 or 1969 issue there was an article installing a roof rack from a kit made an American Motors Rambler. It used the tubing and brackets on the outer sides and back from the kit and did have to be shorten and bent to fit. There was also pieces to install on top to keep from things from scratching the paint.

Maybe there is something made for today's cars that could be adapted.

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:40 pm

I am thinking something like this buggy from another forum:

It doesn't look too hard to make even without a tubing bender. I could probably get away with some heat and a plywood form. The main thing would be the best way to mount it to the roof.

--louis

MyBlueBuggy · Post by **MyBlueBuggy** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 3:14 pm

Louis,

Have you looked at the roof rack setup in the Garage section of the main Manx Club site? It's a fairly basic rack that can be modified easily.
Here's a link.

5150bossman · Post by **5150bossman** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:03 pm

I was able to convert a Harbor Frieght aluminium trailer hitch rack to a small roof rack. Not as much room as a full roof rack, but for under $100, 4 roll bar mounts from CIP and a little drilling, we had a usable rack.

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:42 pm

MyBlueBuggy wrote:Louis,

Have you looked at the roof rack setup in the Garage section of the main Manx Club site? It's a fairly basic rack that can be modified easily.
Here's a link

Yeah I like that one but was thinking something more tubular. Plus I don't have access to a metal brake. (yet) I was originally thinking of modifying a bug roof rack but the more I look at it, its probably easier to build one from scratch.

Thanks,

--louis

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:45 pm

5150bossman wrote:I was able to convert a Harbor Frieght aluminium trailer hitch rack to a small roof rack. Not as much room as a full roof rack, but for under $100, 4 roll bar mounts from CIP and a little drilling, we had a usable rack.

That is a pretty nifty idea but a little to modern looking. The roll bar clamps are a good idea.

Thanks,

--louis

manxvair · Post by **manxvair** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:44 pm

Try http://www.discountramps.com I found several possible storage options there for what i thought was reasonable prices, even look at some of the stuff for utility quads they come in more compact sizes.

Ed-Chenal · Post by **Ed-Chenal** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:18 am

I second the suggestion.

http://www.discountramps.com/car-top-st ... OVNDID=ND1

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:18 pm

Yeah I like the looks of this one but not so much the price.

I could probably modify it to mount to the roof.

Thanks,

--louis

Grumpy One.rbcdunebuggy · Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:12 pm

On my MANX, I modified Dave Helland's plan from the garage section of the manxclub.com. His build instructions are very good and work great.
We could get 2 medium coolers of food & beverage, 15 gallons of fuel, 5 gal. of water, a tent, 2 folding chairs, 2 sleeping bags.
I would estimate we carried over 350# on the 2000 "Manxes to Margaritaville" run.

I used a Yakima 'Load Warrior' for the basket, and fabricated a simple bridge between the windshield top and the poll bar.
I also added a sheet of thin plywood for shade and a bit of rain protection.
The rack also provided a good location for the CB antenna

The box in the back was for heavy, not often used items, spare parts, tools, folding table, etc.

jaymanx · Post by **jaymanx** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:25 am

I always liked Bill(old manx) roof rack

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:24 pm

There is not much to not like about that buggy, other than mine doesn't look that good yet.

I am going to try and bend one up without a tubing bender once I get some 1" tubing. I will probably just end up making modern art but it will be fun to try.

I also like his single tube front push bar. I wish someone would repo those.

--louis

Lee-Hoffer · Post by **Lee-Hoffer** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:35 pm

Louis,

Here are some of the pics I mentioned that show how the rack was mounted. You can kind of see the windshield mounts, and
you can also see the feet at the rear of the cage. I used rubber blocks that are normally used for mounting shock reservoirs
between the hard top and the roll bar. Stainless steel u-bolts went around the roll bar, with the threaded portions sticking up.

This is the gap that had to get filled with the rubber blocks.

The 'ears' of the hard top kept banging against the sides of the buggy, so I made these pieces to keep them in place.

I used pieces of a buffing wheel to go against the buggy's body, and they ended up digging into the gel coat. The FG top also
acted as a noise amplifier at best and a drum at worst! I am much happier since we modified the cage so it can be used
without the hard top.

Lee

louisb · Post by **louisb** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:39 pm

Thanks Lee, those pics help a lot. I have some concerns about the top keeping the noise in so I am actually thinking of having it upholstered to help with that. I am probably going to end up mounting my top higher like this car:

At 6'4" I need all the head room I can get and it should also keep the top from rubbing on the body as well. (Actually I am hoping my Manx ends up looking a lot like this one. I love this Manx. ) I am going to try and work some Aux lighting into the rack as well. Now I just need to lay my hands on some tubing. I really should just break down and buy a tubing bender.

Thanks,

--louis