Aluminum Jeep Cargo Rack Made at Penguin Manufacturing

On the weekends my friends and I go offloading and we are going farther and longer and i did not want gas cans in the back of my car after other incidents with my friends cars, so I set out to build a cargo rack and learn to TIG weld

What I found to be neat about this project is that as you go you can see your progression in welding

I have looked at many other designs from companies and used parts that worked the best for what I wanted to do. Then measured the top of my Jeep and the spacing of the roof racks on it then started a design.

When making my design I changed the angled front to a flat face with the 74 inch frame so I could mount trail lights and my air horn because I don't like to drill holes in my car.

If you are following my design then the parts cut would be
10x 6 inch uprights

2x 68 inch upper beams

2x 74 inch lower beams

3x 72 inch lower supports

4x 43 inch cross beams

I started with the lower section which is the longest then the top section and welded all the top section corners to the 6inch upright supports then welded the whole upper assembly to the lower rectangle making a frame then welded the corners and lower cross beams and measures for the middle 6 inch uprights to hold my tools that will be on the outside of the rack.

This frame is designed and fitted to the OEM roof racks on a 1996-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, So your mounting with this design may be different.

I used a 6 U clamps to hold the cargo rack on the roof racks at the farthest distance apart.