GOBI roof rack???

[motorcityxj]

I built mine and it was similar. I built it out of 1" Square Tubing Steel. It was freaking heavy, used 8 Thule Gutter mounts for the feet. Overall I was able to load it down to about 650lbs before it started to make noises at freeway speed.

As far as selling it, I got tired of the weight, and sold it for $450.00. Although I did graduate with a welding degree, and all the welds were perfect, the design wasn't very smooth, yes it looked good, but it was just a rack.

I'm going to spend some time in the next week, to mock up another one, this time using thin walled steel, and less of it, for a lighter rack. I'll take some pictures and add them to this thread, as my progress goes on. As far as you making them? ya it could be done, but you'll want to watch out for "stealing" their design, as that one could bite you in the ass.

If you have a pipe bender, i'd say more power to you.. Just a word of advise though if you dont' have a certificate in welding, i'd better make sure your welds are good and will hold or you may end up being in court one day when someones rack fails and your held accountable...

just my .02

no doubt you would not want to brand it as a gobi, thats fraud, but you can borrow heavily from their design to the point of blatant copying as far as i know. Its not a copyrighted design, much the way car makers copy each other all the time. As long as you dont buy a part make a casting of it, then sell the EXACT thing, i am 99 % sure you are ok.

 

[stoneattic]

As long as you dont buy a part make a casting of it, then sell the EXACT thing, i am 99 % sure you are ok.

I the industry I work in (not automotive) companies do just that. Really unbelievable the pirating I've seen. I've even seen foundries use the SAME pattern to cast different competitors parts and just grind the logo of one company off the part.

Apparently it's not worth legal action in most cases.