Anyone done any sort of crossbars that arent the GFC beef bars?
I followed this write up for mine a couple years back. Still working great.
exactly what im looking for!
I did this exact thing, followed their lead. I built 4 for the price of 2 beef bars.
I also spent a lot of time researching cheap sources of aluminum extrusion and landed on AutomationDirect
due to lower cost, free 2-day shipping on orders over $50. Bars came nicely packed and on time.
Also, it wasn’t clear when I began, but I did have to drill the back-sides of the flat plates to accept the t-nut sticking out of the GFC rail, but it was a quick and easy thing to put together.
This is my design to mount Solar panels. It uses full size screws for mounting (1/4"-20), not 10-32. I would not recommend the smaller size to carry anything heavy, though if they are working for people that’s great (I am paranoid these days about securing loads after a bad experience that easily could have resulted in deaths).
This design sits slightly lower than the Beef bars so I can still mount and carry items on the Beef Bars, such as wood or pipes when needed without interfering with the solar panels.
Using the larger size screw requires a notch to be cut in the plate to tighten down properly. Incorrect mounting can cause failure, especially if off roading due to extra stress. The Beef Bar system is rated for considerable weight and the crossbars are well engineered and very strong. Most of our design will not match their capability so be cautious.
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I’ll add that I used Yakima HD Bars with L-brackets. I can assure that I have loaded several hundred pounds of wood on top with lout issues. I used three bars to distribute the load.