Roof Racks for your RAM?

I am looking at roof racks to carry bikes, surfboards, etc. With a SB, 5er Hitch (Easily Removed) and Aux Gas Tank, there is no room for much of anything. I know I could use the bike rack on the back 2" receiver, but it still leaves me with a need for the surfboards.

After searching online...my search came up with the usual manufacturers. Yakima,Thule, and Rhino were around $500-700!!!!! Hoping someone has a more affordable rack system. Hey you never know until you ask, right!

 

I did something different... I mounted aluminum aircraft cargo system on my roof. I have Yakima carrier that mounts to them I carried 14 ft canoe on it when towing my former 5th wheel.

#ad


I think I purchased off Amazon. Attached with industrial adhesive and flathead sheetmetal screws. Should be able to mount bikes too.

Cheers, Ron

 

That's the same stuff was used in Boeing Cargo Freighters used on the floors for holding bulky items down use for many years have found many other uses.

 

Yep, it's great on the my truck bed.... really holds. low profile and lots of attachments available.

 

comrade larry - i have a " trac rac " on my work truck. its made by thule. not cheap. however, its on a rail system that mounts with NO drilling into the stake pockets. the best thing is that i can carry long items on it when its " expanded " and i can remove it easily or slide it forward when i need to load something like a pallet of wood pellets. very well constructed. could not be happier. good luck on your search. cheers!

 

Check out loadmyboat.com or 4boys manufacturing in Canada. We bought a rack from those guys with a small electric winch and we can launch and load our rowboat in the picture easily with one person. You can haul up to 14' rowboat, surfboards, canoes etc. Very stout built. Front hitch on truck accepts a vertical post. I was worried about seeing stoplights with boat over hood of truck but that's really not an issue. We took the boat all over through the Ozarks and down to Lake Lanier for a while. Sweet setup. Hard to find good boat racks for over-the-cab.

 

Better picture of the boat rack. Campground on Snake River, Burley, Idaho. Heyburn is the other small town. Love that area.

#ad

 

Wow! Thats awesome. Very interesting/ For the front vertical mount? How was this mounted?

 

I like it. Very low profile when your not using it. I will search Amazon. Thank you

 

Just a heads up skip the low end stuff, most cheap.stuff will cause road noise constantly even when empty, check the reviews for that, friend got a rack mount and it extends over the cab and the whistle from it makes the truck almost un-driveable.

He's now messing with adding some plate deflecting thing to it. Maybe a bug guard, who knows but it's a waste of time chasing that vs buy something engineered a bit better.

Just operating the widshield wipers and spraying the water changes the pitch of his install.

Alot of the better companies or the solution Ron posted look great.

Good luck, try to post back what you decide.

 

Absolutely cheap doesn't work. My solution is mostly the attachment to the cab... you still have expense of what you're going to attach to it. I have Yakima bars and towers with its attachment hardware that attaches to the aircraft attachment system. Noise is one consideration, but safety is the biggest one. After all said and done, $600 or more might be the cost. I got zero noise when transporting my canoe also. Angled front of canoe down a few degrees so it didn't have lift.

I found great roof rack for my Wrangler for $128 that I use I conjunction with my Yakima bars/towers. It has wind deflector on front of it that I matched the rake of the windshield. Amazingly, I get zero wind noise.

More info on aluminum cargo system... I like it best as it distributes load/stress on roof over larger area, adds structural strength to roof, and is very adaptive to different attachment configurations. Older passenger planes used this aluminum cargo system to attach seats in planes.

Hope this extra info helps some... please share what you decide and of course feel free to ask more questions.

Cheers, Ron

 

"Wow! Thats awesome. Very interesting/ For the front vertical mount? How was this mounted?"

90 degree on bottom of post slides into front hitch receiver. Very easy to install front hitch receivers on these trucks which are useful for a few things.

 

comrade timd32 - you are 100% CORRECT on some of the cheaper stuff and wind noise. i bought a " kargo master " rack for my cc 2500 awhile back. similar to one on my 2001 quad cab. put it on. next day drove to work. almost got sick on the way from the strangest wind buffeting noise i have ever heard. similar to a 1/2 open sunroof. my ears vibrated all the way to the job if i went over 45mph. made me dizzy. did more investigating - turns out the crew cabs are prone to wind noises with the racks and quad cabs are not. ( if its a over the cab rack ). to this day the rack is on my back deck. just sitting there. i did add a deflector piece, sold for that rack, and it didnt help all that much. total waste of money ( i think 600 at the time ). your post is good info. cheers!

 

Sorry @Larry Sciblo, didn't show the front of my 2017 Ram 5500 canoe rack system... front is part of Northern Tool ladder rack system attached to my front grill guard and front bumper...

#ad


There is a front receiver solution for our trucks, but it blocks the front of the intercooler too much IMHO if you tow really heavy, which I did at the time. I don't recall if it worked with my SS front grill/brush guard and with my chromed tow hooks. Also, at that time, I transported my spare tire mounted to top of headache rack that wasn't connected or touching cab at all.

#ad


Later had bed modified to bring it off the top.

Anhoo, just needed to give my FULL rack solution on my truck... not sure but likely yes Yakima has a bike carrying solution for their mounting system. My transporting requirements solutions were pretty complex and a tribute to Redneck engineering.

Cheers, Ron

 

Is that a satelite? Wow! You are fully decked out with that rack system. I am still researching options. I like your low profile aerospace tracks, but it scares me to drill holes in the roof. Question? besides the adhesive did you seal it with anything or?

 

Oh by the way. I love your garage/RV garage. We almost pulled the trigger on a RV Cover and then all the metal prices went up 30%.

 

Thanks Tim......that is good advice!!! And I hate noise in my truck...besides the Rock n Roll Oldies station.. LOL

 

Thank you

Got it.. Thank you

 

I am liking your setup more and more. Question #2 - What length/size screws did you use? Did you use all 18 holes or every other hole? Did you also use their Double lug Threaded stud? or were you able to mount the Yakima towers w/o the studs? Question #3 - Industrial adhesive? Tube or tape? Thanks for all the help in advance =)

 

Larry,

I used industrial adhesive and either number 12 or 14 cone head 3/4" SS sheetmetal screws, that are about 4" apart. I marked and predrilled them, manually screwed them in. I prefilled to mounting system holes, ran bead down middle, and attached them. Never coming off. I kept Yakima gutter mounts on, held on by aircraft mounting hardware that have bolts sticking up. I had to form the aircraft system in to a curve that matched the shape of the roof. About a week of planning and prep went into this project.

#ad


I got pretty happy adding this mounting system to my bed in addition to the 4 corners that came with the bed.

#ad