DIY roof rack cross bars

[Jaspratt]

After a few outings with the kayaks my friend is determined to purchase a kayak and join the community. but first he needed to figure out how to transport a kayak from point A to point B. Since hes driving Subaru crossbars would be the best bet and after pricing them out, making them would be a lot cheaper.. so a trip to lowes and $20 later we got started. The idea is to keep a clean look and strong design so we got some stainless bolts and heavy walled electrical conduit..

So far this is what we have after day 1..
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going to work on the clamps tomorrow then weld the conduit ends shut and grind them smooth, then finish it all off with some durable black satin paint.

[Jaspratt]

just finished the clamps and everything holds nice and solid, ill weld the ends of the conduit tomorrow.
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[jet]

sure wish i could machine stuff in the garage!

[Jaspratt]

Ha yeah it does have its perks at times.

[Sun]

that looks really good, Jason. i'm going to need to get a welder now...

[Jaspratt]

Thanks! Never hurts to have a welder around when you need it.

[PigPen]

Knowing someone with a welder is a pretty good trade off.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[mweber02]

sure wish i could machine stuff in the garage!

+1

[Jaspratt]

Finished the bars. My buddy painted them with some kinda epoxy paint. Now he can officially transport a kayak on his own.image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

[MrJB00G13]

Definitely a pair of solid homemade crossbars for less than half the price of OEM/Aftermarket products!! I am allowing the epoxy paint to cure and then I will be mounting them on my Scoobie tomorrow morning and provide some photos.

Thanks to Jason for all of the machining and help.

[MrJB00G13]

Here go photos of the crossbars installed and with its first kayak on top!

[Cowpokey]

Finished bars look really good.

[MrJB00G13]

Finished bars look really good.

Thanks Cowpokey!

I forgot to mention that I added 1" heater hose over top the crossbars for padding when needing to transport a kayak or anything else that requires some padding. Much credit again to Jaspratt for the awesome machine work.

[Cowpokey]

Didn't notice the hose until you mentioned it. You could slice some pool noodle and use it for a little more cushion if needed.

[MrJB00G13]

Didn't notice the hose until you mentioned it. You could slice some pool noodle and use it for a little more cushion if needed.

Definitely thought of that as my first option. So far this has worked and actually provided a good deal of cushioning for how little material it appears to have. I will be sure to keep the pool noodle in mind though.