Ideas to lock down Safari rack...

[XJeffro]

I just put on my new Surco safari rack (thanks to a steal on the great site of ebay). I have the rack mounted to the factory roof runners and I wondered what the best way to lock them down was. I know that there are locking mounts, but that costs the ever dwindling $$ supply.

Does anyone have a home-brew way to lock down their rack?

I also fashioned a spare tire holder with some simple stuff from Lowe's, but there too, I wasnt sure the best way to lock the tire down.

Also, do the factory roof cross rails just slide off the end of the runners? Anyone know the easiest way to remove them? I dont really have any use for them now...

If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate the input. Thanks.

 

[JKTXJ]

An alarm with a motion sensor can be had for pretty cheap. That would stop most thieves, but it's not foolproof either. If you use gutter clamps you can tack weld the nuts on. Not sure how your Surco mounts to the factory bars.. maybe a possibility??

 

[2xtreme]

I can not tell from the photo how your rack is attached to the roof but I will assume that you are useing more than your stock cross bars. In which case a simple padlock and cable will lock everything down to the cross bars and most after market cross bars are lockable?? So maybe I am missing something. To be honest I have had safari style racks for years on many vehicles and I have always had them bolted to the cross bars. It would take someone longer to steel the safari rack this way than it would to steel the entire car. Personally I lock everything that goes on the rack, but not the rack.

Michael

 

[JKTXJ]

I have a Garvin Wilderness Rack.. two guys could unbolt the gutter clamps and take the rack in 5 minutes easy. I have a sensitive alarm though and it will definitely go off, so I am not so worried. I am getting ready to fab my own rack and it will be mildly welded on at the attachment points just to deter the average thief. Someone with tools can get whatever they want

 

[XJeffro]

Basically the rack is attached in four places on the roof. it is not mounted to the factory cross bars, it is not mounted to the gutter, but it is mounted to the factory roof strips that the cross bars are attached to.

I can take the rack off with an allen wrench in about 30 sec. if i wanted. you definitely need two people though. I thought about a lock and cable, but i didnt want anything to rattle too harshly. If i pull it taught i guess i could manage.

i was just wondering if anyone had a simple home-brew way they locked their rack down...

 

[TOZOVR]

Basically the rack is attached in four places on the roof. it is not mounted to the factory cross bars, it is not mounted to the gutter, but it is mounted to the factory roof strips that the cross bars are attached to.

I can take the rack off with an allen wrench in about 30 sec. if i wanted. you definitely need two people though. I thought about a lock and cable, but i didnt want anything to rattle too harshly. If i pull it taught i guess i could manage.

i was just wondering if anyone had a simple home-brew way they locked their rack down...

In 3 weeks the allen bolts will be a huge PITA to remove (corrosion from the salt on the PA roads) and it will be a huge bear to get off...just be careful where you park until then

 

[2xtreme]

I think that the cable is really the best way to go, it is a visual deterant more than anything else. Keep in mind that those rails (the ones that allow the stock cross bars to slide in) are not that strong and having much weight up there is probably not a great idea for too long. It will loosen up or shear or damage the bolts that hold those down to the top of the truck. Holding on the rain gutter would be a much better solution if you want to put any significant weight up there.

One other idea I have used is to change all of the allen keys to different sizes or different heads. So that you need different tools to steel the rack. It makes is more of a hassle for anyone to try to take it, including yourself.

Just my .02

Michael

 

[Ivan]

.....I can take the rack off with an allen wrench in about 30 sec. if i wanted. you definitely need two people though.....

A simple plan for your allen bolts would be to just simply dab some JB weld in the heads. Might be a pain later on if you want to remove it, but at least it may deter thieves somewhat, if time is a factor to them.

You can also do a search on securty fasteners.... Click here for an example of what is available....

 

[Planetcat]

I have the same surco rack on my '96 attached to factory roof rack rails. I used Kargomaster brackets to mount the rack to my factory rack and the Surco spare tire adapter. I left the factory rack bars on and slid them to each end, just up against the front and back of the rack. I bought 250 lb. tensile strength zip ties (www.cableties.com) and then zip tied the rack to the factory rack bars. It's rock solid. If you want to remove the factory bars, just remove the little black end caps on each end of the rack rails with allen or torx screwdriver and slide the caps off. The rack bars with then just slide out. Also, I used a bike lock cable to secure the spare and surco rack to the factory bars. It'd take someone about half an hour to steal it, with the zip ties, brackets, and lock, assuming they had a bolt cutter for the lock.

 

[XJeffro]

thanks planetcat, that was exactly what i was looking for. that is the perfect solution!

i will start the collection of items now...

Sweet!