Trooper Roof Rack

tsongus

Just inherited a 96 Trooper with 112K miles on it from my brother. The truck runs great but feels bit stiff on potholes. Maybe new softer shocks would do the trick. It's also bit sluggish than i had hoped. But my immediate need is a roof rack. I prefer having a permanent rack instead of Yakima or Thule. Has anyone had good experience with installing permanent roof rack? If so, where to go? Thanks.

tsongus

spencerc6

I had a 95 and now still have a 93 and I made the racks for both of them. Can't show you a picture b/c my hard drive crashed last week. Those rubber moldings that run along the roof pop off and there's 3 pairs of mounting screws under there. I made a pair of racks to bolts to those. They work great.

atfdmike

The second post is correct. The latest trend for home built is to buy one of the aluminum fold up ramps used to load ATV's in a pickup and convert it to the framework for the roof rack. Just cobble the brackets that attach to the roof fastener postions and customize as desired. If you search google I bet you can find more info from others that have done this.

boxtrooper

I have roof rack brackets that were made for the Trooper. They were intended for holding an expedition roof rack. They are made of very hard steel, 1/8 inch thick, very difficult to drill. The brackets were called T-100 and were from a company that sold on-line, but seems to not be there anymore. I do not recall the name. I bought mine in 1995 or 1996, they have served well on two Troopers so far.
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The holes under the roof trim are 6mm threaded bolt holes. Two holes per bracket position, six bracket positions. I believe that the holes were used to bolt the Trooper body to a robot in the factory so it could be carried around for painting before being bolted to the chassis. The holes are covered by masking tape and painted over. Look for the slight edges of the tape and slighter indentations of the bolt holed below the tape. The roof trim just pops off and back on. Be gentle so you don't snap off tabs of the clips that hold it down. It is easy to stand on top of the rear tires while looking under the trim.
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I suggest having a set of brackets made for your Trooper by a local machine shop. Locate your bolt holes ahead of time. Locate the roof rack front to back bars that you want - I suggest 1 inch stainless thick walled hand rail tubes from the local marine shop. Ask the machine shop to make brackets for you, from the holes you show them to the bar you are holding above the Trooper's roof and specify how high. Ask that all of this be welded and polished to remove weld discoloration. Then you are good to go. If you arrange for these roof rack wleded brackets to be made, ask how much that machine shop would charge to make more sets just like them and post the price and contact info here on this discussion.
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Considerations:
1.) The roof bracket threaded bolt holes are at a slight angle off horizontal, maybe 10 degrees to twenty degrees.
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2.) The Trooper's roof is around 2cm wider in front than in the rear for aerodynamics. You must decide between a roof rack that follows the contour of the roof or one that has parallel bars that you can slide mounted things back and forth on. The front of the roof also slopes down a bit.
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3.) There was once a dealer installed Trooper Ski rack. That was a Yakima product I think, made just strong enough to hold a couple pairs of skis. The T-100 brackes with Thule bars horizontal between each pair and no front to back bars are what I have, they are strong enough for my 250lbs body (including my sandals that weigh 25lb each ; ) to walk around on.

muttley1

Great info - thanks.
I would be interested in buying a roof rack if someone is able to cobble them together as described, though I have a 2002 Trooper and would still need to fit in the parking garage at the office.