Does anyone have any advice for building a custom roof rack for a 2-door 2004 Pontiac Grand Am (looks like these)
Ideally the rack would be able to support a few 4x8 sheets of plywood, some 2x4’s, or some sheetrock
Ideally the rack would be able to support a few 4x8 sheets of plywood, some 2x4’s, or some sheetrock
If the trucks that Lowes and Home Depot rent are out of the question, I’d suggest using a small utility trailer for hauling that kind of cargo and weight with your vehicle.
A trailer is also much easier to load and unload.
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I’ve actually looked into that before. From what i can tell, the Grand Am doesn’t have a lot of towing power, and needs some moderate modifications that look like they’re beyond my capabllity in order to attach a trailer hitch to it. If I’m wrong, please correct me. My knowledge of automobiles and associated fields is middling at best.
I recently picked up a Harbor Freight 4x8 trailer on sale for $250 (normally $350). Looks like you can get a tow bar for an '04 Grand Am for ~$150. Anything you planned to put on top of the car would be able to be towed behind it just as easily.
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the problem that i came up against when considering towing, was that i would also have to account for the weight of the trailer.
not gonna lie, i’ve done similar stuff to that. Not to that degree, but i have loaded about a half dozen sheets of plywood on before
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Thule has a good product something like this is probably a good starting point.
Though if you don’t care about the roof paint forgo the Thule and just use the straps.
Others at DMS gave up on this problem and bought a cheap truck.
If you’re trying to rent a trailer, that’s a problem. I’ve learned the key is to know your product and specifications. Most rental trailers in this class (5x8 foot and smaller) weigh in the 400-600lb range, leaving you about 400-600lbs payload capability within your car’s stated towing capabilities.
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If they ask you, yours is a frame mounted hitch (because the rental desk staff cannot conceive of a non-frame vehicle with a hitch, and, technically, yours will be, since the entire unibody is the frame); they’re just trying to weed out someone with a trailer ball mounted to a plastic step bumper on their pickup truck (seen it done…).
Pay attention to tongue weight, because it’s important, too. Class II hitches appear to be readily available, such as this one from etrailer.com
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Pontiac/Grand+Am/2004/36288.html?vehicleID=20042189
They also have a video on installing it. Usually their videos are pretty accurate…
https://images.etrailer.com/static/images/video/Hitch-install-2002-Pontiac-Grand-Am.webm
If you have a place to keep the trailer, I’ll second this as by far the easiest and most conducive to occasionally carrying. I never had a place to keep one, so I, too contemplated a rooftop for years, but never actually ponied up the $$ for a “real” one, and never could be bothered to cobble one up. I’ll see if I can dig up the old bookmarks I had on home-made, though, just in case. I DID acquire a trailer hitch (class I always worked fine for me on my compact) for $20, though, and used it with rental trailers several times over the years…
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for occasional light duty use use the harbor freight trailers will do, and most importantly are folding for upright storage (like a ping pong table)
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Just a thought, I can legally park a truck that only really is needed every other week on the street in front of my house. Storing trailers is generally much more restricted.
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legally you may park a trailer that is attached to the towing vehicle for as long as you are “allowed” to park your truck on a public road.
you may not however leave a trailer disconnected and parked on a public road - that is a collision / safety issue.
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Might I introduce you to takl the doordash/uber of delivery and odd jobs?
If takl doesn’t work for you then there’s also TaskRabbit
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dude, those are my competition
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Zach,
A kit type small utility trailer is most likely the most economical and safer way to go for you.
The key is don’t over load the trailer, secure your cargo properly, make sure your lights function properly.
Do practice towing the trailer in large empty parking lots if possible (if you have not towed a trailer before).
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Before putting any significant load on the roof, consult the owner manual for a weight limit. This especially goes for SUVs.
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Fixed that for you.
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That’s the one I got. You do have to remove bolts from the axel mount frame pieces to fold it up though. But it can be folded with plywood floors which is nice.
Because I like pictures.
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must. not. comment. on. chains.
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do it! give in!