Building a roof rack

Which part, that they are more for show or that I have them in the d ring pins :smile: Picked up bigger hooks that fit the d rings on that trip

the fact they’re not crossed under the hitch

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It’s important to point out that the entire point of the safety chains are for two things:

  • Preventing the trailer from spiraling into traffic
  • Catching the tongue of the trailer if it disconnects, preventing your trailer from pole vaulting
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I believe you would need to support your roof rack from points on your front and rear fenders as well as the roof in order to make it support the size and weight you want in a safe manner. Depending on the size of the gaps to the sides of the hood and boot lid you might be able to fabricate and mount brackets that will not leave any visible marks on your car(if you are not too concerned about this, things will be way easier :wink: ) .

I encourage your idea fully and think it is totally in line with the DIY spirit. Modify the equipment you got at hand in inventive ways to accommodate your needs.

It doesn’t look like that car has any gutter rails that can readily be attached to. That will make it a challenge. Items like plywood or other large flat objects tend to generate a lot of up lift from the air coming up of the windshield - so you need a very secure way to attach to vehicle.

That maybe another reason to consider a small trailer like HF has.

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Zach,

If you opt for this route, please make sure you are well insured so that if or when a piece of your plywood flies or falls off at freeway speeds and kills someone, it doesn’t leave the rest of your family homeless while you spend the rest of your life in jail.

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This is going to vary by municipal jurisdiction. I know at least in The Colony, for boat and RV trailers, and any trailers derived from their frames, they can only be parked on residential streets a certain number of hours per week. I’m not sure if utility trailers fall under the same ordinance, but my recollection suggests that they do.

That said, even if utility trailers were legal on the street, I guarantee you that if I kept one there, my HOA (don’t get me started) would suddenly start applying the strictest interpretation of the regulations on a daily inspection, and in the summer, it would include starting the violation process every time a weed got over 12 inches.

Fixed that for you…

Do practice towing, backing up, and parking the trailer in large empty lots if possible.

It’s a trick to back up a trailer straight and it takes practice. Parking is closely related to backing up, but if you want fun try to parallel park one. :slight_smile:

YOLO


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Nah, don’t do that. Was a one-time trip at incredibly slow speeds … on the bump stops.

As a kid I remember dad finding out about some amazing deal on some wood paneling he needed for a renovation project at the lumber yard some ~30 minutes from the house. It’s Christmas Eve. My father, my sister, and myself trek down the highway to the local small city. We load the minivan up with some sheets of 1970s style dark wood paneling (it was the early 1980s) using the last gasps of twine the yard has available as the employees flee the scene. Pull out onto the road and it starts vibrating. Slowly accelerate to something approaching the speed limit and it starts humming. Not long after that there’s a thump and a WHOOSH as the twine calls it quits and the paneling lifts off gracefully, pulling 360° of rotation to land inner side down on the highway. Dad pulls over, waits for traffic to clear, then retrieves it. There’s no way to secure it to the roof, but it will miraculously fit inside the minivan, on our heads. My sister happened to have some stuffed animals in the car that padded the thing for the ~30 minutes it took to get home. One of the most memorable Christmas Eves ever.

Now, as an illustration to @zacharymarkson - the minivan had a roof rack roughly the footprint of typical sheet goods that could offer reasonable-ish support all around. The leading edge would have had some slight windbreak from the windshield that a sedan simply isn’t going to offer. I would explore the hitch / trailer route for reasons of aerodynamics and weight.

Find yourself using terminology that others don’t understand? Feel like you might have ended up in the wrong country? Perhaps this will help :stuck_out_tongue:
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If DMS had a utility trailer (to be used only for transport of raw materials to the space or finished products home) I’d use it!. Even if there was a $20 fee each time.

https://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/RatesTrailers/

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