just finished making a roof rack (90%) and installed. still need to make a wind deflector (lights will be hidden behind the deflector while not using,flipable), a rack ladder and mount some lights.

rear section is for my roof top tent, front section will be used as a "pee" platform so I don't have to climb down the ladder during the cold nights...

3/4 plywood sealed with waterproof stain (not shown in these pictures) will be used as the floors for the front section. reduce weight and strong enough to walk around. anchors are installed for tie-downs. also the wood looks classic compare to metal mess. just personal preference.

the rack is designed for my roof top tent. I won't carry a lot of stuff there

overall its strong and relatively light weight. and most important it is lowprofile, air down the truck a little bit I can fit it in the garage.

will use some plastic nut caps to cover these m10s.

will post more pictures once I installed the wood floor.

Cheers

thanks all!

here's the crappy cell phone photo of the floor, I only installed one piece, but you got an idea.

and here's the rain gutter mounting plates

finished making a wind deflector. flippable. rack lights will be mounts under the crossbar. when I go off roading, just flip the deflector up if I need to light up roof rack lights. On hwy, these lights will be hidden behind the deflector.

from my personal experience, most roof rack noise is caused by wind passing through the roof and roof rack, especially if you have a low profile rack, closed by cross bars, or a floor (whether its a mess floor or the solid wood deck floor like I have). Frontrunner racks have wind deflectors mounted underneath the racks. I had one of their racks and never figured out why the wind deflector wass mounted under until I removed it.

some low quality photos