DIY Roof Rack system for my 1998 Subaru Impreza

I Decided I needed roof rails and crossbars on my Impreza so I made some...
This car is a "project car" that has featured in episodes 01 and 02 of Drive Nova Scotia over on that channel here: / drivenovascotia
In episode 02 The car gets modified and the roof rack is part of that modification. Have a look at the show to see what went on.

[@FixTechStuff]

Very good. This is pretty much exactly what I was imagining for DIY heavy duty roof racks for my Forester.

[@froshmasta]

Awesome!

[@modernedc]

Dude, not only was that video nicely made and very informative. I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong here but I got a decent amount of laughs off the video as well. Such as "pseudo wanna be off road type guy", and "then give this side some love" I was also impressed with u tacking it with it on the car with no welding blanket. Sweet vid man

[@froshmasta]

Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed my nonsense :) Cheers!

[@modernedc]

Made my night man, especially when I was only looking for a roof rack how to

[@dannygarcia9248]

Dude! This is exactly the video I've been looking for! Thank you so much for the informative step by step process. Cheers!

[@froshmasta]

Glad you liked it!

[@bikerusl]

That bending technique is genius! Well done.

[@froshmasta]

+bikerusl Thanks, just a little bit of down home Git R Dun!

[@kjamison5951]

"Here we are in the paint booth..." LOL! I was dumb, I went and BOUGHT a roof rack! I have a welder too... Great job, Sir! Especially like the flat black paint job.

[@person50315]

Awesome, thanks heaps bro! Gonna try this out on my little corolla hatchback :)

[@Shannon-wg8pv]

This is Exactly the Video i was Looking for. Cheers brother well done. Going to copy your design on my little kia... if you dont mind :P. Thanks again mate

[@DreamInColorYoutube]

Nice job. Probably very sturdy and could hold a lot of weight.

[@getoutsideoregonadventures9875]

Thank you bro, I'm about to do this with my 93 Impreza.

[@froshmasta]

Glad I could help!

[@megg7558]

You have a video on how to bend a rod. How you screw the first two bars on your car?

[@Radnally]

Seems like you could have used the same bolts that fasten the bars to the roof to fasten the cross bars as well?

[@Sirskibumsalot]

Great Job .....rack will serve you well !

[@froshmasta]

Hey thanks! The rack worked out very well and was very strong. Sadly the car has moved on to another owner due to the amount of rust on it that I didn't have time to fix anymore. cheers!

[@77subiedo]

Nice work man

[@froshmasta]

Appreciate it

[@gabrielbivens581]

Very cool

[@CameronChaney]

Whoah sweet! how's the sound when driving?

[@megg7558]

You not showing the most important, how to attach the first two rods to the car roof.

[@ibanezgera]

Looks great

[@Joert04]

Awesome! It’s hard to find a decent roof rack for a 2005 Chevy Malibu sedan and I’m a surfer who lives on the gulf 🤦🏼 I want to be able to take my board to the east coast Would this work for a 2005 Chevy Malibu?

[@16mmDJ]

That looks excellent... I dig your bending approach :) Surprised you have the alloy wheels on the "Brighton" trim level. I've got the US "L" trim SEDAN and it's as bare bones as you could have it. I'm curious to see if there are any mounting points similar to your wagon on the roof of my sedan. Not holding out much hope considering how much shorter the roof is than on the wagon. I'm afraid there isn't much that could be done in the way of production roof racks, either, what with the frameless windows on the first gen Impreza.

[@froshmasta]

I only had the alloys on that car because I bought them separately and put them on. Otherwise it came with steel wheels and hideous oem hubcaps. Thankfully old used 15" Subaru alloys don't cost much! Good luck with your roof rack options. I don't think I've ever seen an old Impreza sedan with a factory rack.

[@n8rad3]

Do you think they sell mounting points like the ones that came stock on this car? Thanks!

[@froshmasta]

I'm not too sure. You might want to check with a Subaru dealer to see what they say and maybe get a part number... that you can shop online with :)

[@KennyPerx]

So did those runners run all the way over the front windshield. My Subarus do and I don't want to pull them up if they are keeping the windshield on

[@aydanruscheinski653]

Ever figure out a solution? Mine goes all the way down windshield aswell

[@JosephPonikvar]

I have a 1996 Corolla wagon. I don't see a strip of plastic that I can take off to get access to any mounting holes. They made Corolla and Camry wagons with and without roof racks. Do you have a suggestion on how I can mount the 3/4 bars to the roof of the Corolla wagon?

[@froshmasta]

+John Smiith Hmmmm. I wonder if the factory racks were bolted through the roof steel. My 98 Forester parts car had that arrangement. I wouldn't want to do that to my own roof though... What about a set of those universal ones that hook in the drip rail or top of the door opening? I was considering those before I found the mounting points on my car.

[@JosephPonikvar]

I could do that but the ones I found that are compatible with my vehicle were like $275. I can keep looking. I was also thinkable about using foam insulation board so I can transport plywood on the roof without it scratching it.

[@froshmasta]

That sure is a bigger price than I'd want to pay for them too... How about an old comforter or a moving blanket or something that could be folded up and kept in the trunk?

[@TufRiverboards]

It doesn't leak having the trim pieces out? I have a dodge carvan and was thinking about doing basically the same thing. I just was worried it may leak with the trim gone.

[@froshmasta]

No leaks that I can tell. The trim really just serves to smooth over those channels in the roof if there is no rack installed. They don't seal against anything. At least not on this car, your mileage may vary of course.

[@MrRockaroundtheclock]

You can rubber seal or rubber sealant but be clean cause they could be messy

[@RedfishInc]

Very cool, you are savage bro!

[@froshmasta]

Thanks, dude!

[@mrsnack]

Is the "other youtube channel" DriveNS? Or something else?

[@froshmasta]

Indeed. The info was in the description but thanks for reminding me to make an annotation on the video itself.

[@yunglean6552]

Genius, genius geeeeeeniussss

[@froshmasta]

Thanks!

[@glodre-uk8lg]

I love this guy lol

[@froshmasta]

Thanks!

[@terryyouth]

To bend a hollow pipe without dis-configuring or folds, try filling it with sand ;)

[@froshmasta]

+terryyouth Good tip, I've also heard of filling the tube with water and freezing it solid first as well. Since I was only bending this stuff a small amount I didn't run into any kinking or folding issues. cheers!

[@EarthToTroy]

slagg is good for paint :)

[@froshmasta]

+EarthToTroy Super good for paint. Even better for windows :)

[@EarthToTroy]

+froshmasta lol xD

[@MrStatic101]

It always pains me to see people that had to buy their metal at a big box store. I am fortunate enough to have a place called fazios by me that sells metal by whatever length you want. Fazios also sells just about everything under the sun you could possibly want. I remember buying metal at depot and it was astronomical. I don't know if you had to buy it or not but I saw the painted end and the sticker and said "ohhhhhh nooooo" great video!

[@froshmasta]

Yeah... it always pains me to buy metal at a big box store. Unfortunately I have very few options in my immediate area here and didn't want to make a whole road trip for such a small simple project. thanks for watching

[@davidbuckalew4308]

is this seth rogan?! haha great video though. Thanks for th epost

[@froshmasta]

+David Buckalew Ahah! I think if I were really Seth Rogan I'd have a little higher dollar project car though :) thanks for watching!