roof rack question

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Has anybody made a roof rack for a Suburban, the old one, 1992? It doesn't have to be fancy, just a functional thing for carrying long pipes, angles and other rough stuff. I was thinking of using square steel tubing ¾ x ¾ . I guess my main question is how to attach it to the roof. Should it be bolted through? Do you have any pictures?Thanks a lot!
Reply:Hey! I am working on that project right now. Mine is not a suburban, but might as well be, it's an 82 Chevy C30 Crew cab long bed dually. I am fashioning mine to look like the rack on top of the Nissan Suv. I has black landings that meet the roof and then silver tubes that come out of the landings at an angle, from front to back and then into the rear landings. I had a rack on my old baja bug and I can tell you that one of the best mounting methods if you want this to be permanent is the nutsert setup. They are flush with the surface so that when you take the rack off, there is nothing protruding up. The are pretty durable and if you place them right, they will be plenty solid. The hard part for me is making the landings. I think I will use solide aluminum and just cut and file to the shape I want. I don't have the means to do casting. Although that would be neat. The nutserts work like a pop rivet, but give you a threaded hole to bolt into.Hope the idea helps. But send pics of whatever it is you make!
Reply:Your rack sounds quite nice Joker11. Do you think blind rivets will work the same way as nutserts do? I just got a blind riveter with 3/16” stainless steel rivets. Look kind of thin though. What diameter of nutserts  do you use? Are they stainless, aluminum, or just steel?Thanks for the idea.I definitely post the pictures, when I'm done with this.
Reply:I don't think I'd be afraid to use up to 1", 1.25", or even 1.5" square tube.  We once had a van for our sign company of 1.5" square. we attatched it to the drip rails, with a bracket clamp, in 6 points, as you might find in van equiptment catologs.  Keep the clamp wide to spread the load.  We carried ladders, & walk boards on it & could stand on the walk boards to work.
Reply:Thanks, huntindog. I also think that 1.25" or 1.5" square tube should work well.
Reply:Sorry I took so long to reply. I missed the thread somehow. I think the nutserts that I had used a 1/4 inch bolt in it. So it was pretty good size around. I have no idea the specifics on them. I still need to get some for this project. The rivets (if you use enough of them) should hold, but the nutserts let you unbolt the rack and do maintenance or whatever. I would take the rack on and off once in a while just to change the appearance, yeah, I know, that's like my grandma re-arranging the same furniture in the living room.....Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Thanks Joker11,1/4 inch nutserts sound good. I also like the idea of taking the rack off. Unfortunately I had to postpone the whole project – other things came down on me. Life, I guess.  I promise to post pictures as soon as I finish it.Again, thanks a lot for your help.