Inexpensive DIY Roof Rack on my 05-20 Frontier Pro-4x

[@TheCabrooster11]

Nothing quite like having a slightly disinterested daughter help you with the video, especially like the edit at the end of her goofing around 😂

[@meineliebste]

more of a distraction when i was trying to concentrate on what Donald is saying. :P

[@cliffarnold7463]

That was great. 😆

[@stoneblue1795]

Priceless performance by teenage daughter.

[@MsPetra2009]

Yup. Came for the information. Stayed for the bored teenager. So relatable. ;-)

[@MarcillaSmith]

Clearly a labor of love over self-interest.

[@hybrid902000]

Searched for “how to build a roof rack with a complete stranger you picked up from a Walmart parking lot” and BOOM, your video showed up. You can find EVERYTHING on KZbin! Would definitely watch again! 👍🏿

[@thomasquigley7040]

Daughter checking for split ends... relatable. Great that you're including her and helping her get the message out about her startup.

[@langdons2848]

Love the Lock Picking Lawyer reference - and the acknowledgment that padlocks are basically crap for real security. Great video thank you. I'm about to buy a Forester and will be setting it up for off-road adventures and this video (and your others) have saved me a *heap* of time by pulling everything together.

[@darksideemt]

Lucie is priceless in this one....LOL. Great looking setup so far though

[@joshlovestwinkies]

I’m extremely appreciative of how humble you are and exhude the true diyer mentality. Unique. Creative. All around fantastic channel.

[@hammhawkadventures9861]

I love the versatility of electrical strut. I built one that I interchange between two separate rigs...one for soft roading and one for not so soft roading and when not camping I simply hoist up to the rafters in my shop loaded .... then I can utilize my strut cross bars for more daily duties or for my traction boards on day trips. I used some vertical 90 degree brackets and a short piece of strut to mount my boards and high lift on opposite sides if the rack. Also use strut to mount the power tank and rotopax inside the off roader on day trips ... strut rocks! As,always enjoy your character and content glad to see you back at It!

[@thejohnlin]

These moments you have with your daughter are as valuable if not more valuable than your overlanding.

[@ezntertainment3601]

12:26 magic 🪄😲 lol! I say this in the most respectful way possible, I love your daughter she is hilarious. You can tell she loves being with you!

[@zlot4hire]

As a daddy to a daughter I absolutely LOVE the interactions between you and Lucy! What an awesome combo! Will be ordering a ring soon!

[@doctorcXanthophyll]

As a former Forester owner (just gave it to my 16-yr old daughter) and a new Frontier owner.... I'm excited to see where you are going with the build.

[@landminehopscotch3617]

Yes! Two great vehicles

[@landminehopscotch3617]

I keep waiting for her to ask a question and before you can get a word out she just goes "K, byyyyyyye.....". you guys are awesome. Probably going to do something similar with the rack. Prices are getting kinda crazy

[@garycloud9631]

Donald, you are a master at DIY projects for your vehicle. I love seeing what you come up with and actually hope to use some of your ideas some day. And using your daughter was a classic idea. Thanks

[@33jayy]

I enjoyed the bloopers more than the actual video! 🤣

[@bajasoobnut]

Same here! lol and for your daughter, she can also look into the local farmers markets as well to sell her wares, I for one make chainmaile jewelry and other bits and bobs and know a few people that do the farmers markets, in fact one of my friends will be at the Tillamook market on the 12th under the name ravens chainmaile

[@edross109]

Thanks for sharing. Your original rack video was one that gave me the confidence to use unistrut for some areas on my Tundra . Luci's's involvement gives me hope that maybe someday my now 13 year old daughter will again share an interest in what dad is doing like she did when she was younger.

[@havefunbesafe]

Nice! The family that makes together, stays together!

[@jakefrechette3224]

We think it's so cool that Lucy shares your interest in softroading. Can't wait to see the evolution of the new rig but also really looking forward to seeing her behind her very own Subie!

[@softroadingthewest]

I think her interest originated more in getting seen on KZbin, but in the process she has definitely grown to appreciate getting out into nature and is definitely eager to be piloting her own trail-capable vehicle now!

[@punktexas]

In the out takes I was expecting rapid fire clips of everytime Luci said "so". That gas can rack looks great.

[@inakilrg]

I love how you guys have fun of each other and together! 😄

[@brunobeaupre1072]

Interesting video, I like the fact that your do your best with what you got and you make it work according to your need, well done.

[@therealsolo23]

Love that idea. Really convenient and easy to come by. Also functional and affordable and slim that can be mounted to the stock roof rack. Ive been following your journey with the forester. Keep it coming 👍🏽

[@cmorris1611]

Great video, man! I’m really interested in the Unistrut idea. I think it’s awesome that you and Lucy have found something y’all can do together and I can tell she’s getting more and more comfortable in front of the camera. I’m also proud of her ring idea and you for supporting her in that. Keep up the good work and great videos.

[@stout_tossme7541]

As a dad of 5 daughters, I love watching you and Lucie doing videos. She is learning to do DIY projects, outdoors, and building a relationship with her dad. Lucie, you are an amazing young woman. Keep up the amazing work. I look forward to seeing you grow and eventually outdoing your dad 🙂 Edit: at 14:49 with the glare off your head (Donald) your head looks flat. Lol

[@softroadingthewest]

Haha, I tried to fix that when editing, but those pixels were just gone gone gone, LOL.

[@stout_tossme7541]

@@softroadingthewest lol.

[@jimbo386]

15:12 ... Almost a cliché dad phrase... Great video! Love how the project is going!

[@mikepierson3097]

Thanks for the great ideas using that unistrut, I keep forgetting that it exists. Haha. Also, love when the two of you do videos like this, the banter is fun.

[@erickegel7068]

Donald's side hustle channel "Out-taking the West"

[@tyzndattic]

I have tears of laughter. It’s the “I Love Lucy Show!” Too bad that name is copyrighted. Anyway, props to you for this video and props to Lucy for her ring making additional footage at the end. It’s not easy to be on camera and she’s doing a pretty good job of it. You can tell that she’s kind of learning but that she’s going to be really really good at being on camera with practice and patience. Super!

[@martykong3592]

Thanks MUCH for another great video and share! Your DIY makes so much sense, as not all of us can afford prebuilt, and helps with ideas and grat welding job! KUDOS and shoutout to Lucie too, you have done well indeed, she is a character and now talented ring maker! Cheers from WA state! ! ALl the BEST to you and family! :)

[@solarfry]

I used a 9 gallon boat fuel tank instead of the three jerry cans.the boat fuel line drains the 9 gallons o fuel directly into the subie fuel tank without removal. I fill em up on top o carwith a static line ground to road. Enjoy Lucy’s goofiness. Reminds me o my goofy wife. I also enjoy your tinkering around w car and trail videos. Keep it coming. After 20+ years of traveling on I 40 and 20 always find a lot o things to see in small and large towns along theway

[@softroadingthewest]

Even back with the Forester, I looked long and hard at boat fuel tanks. It seems like a great solution. The problem is, being up that high, I don't think gas station attendants will climb up to fill it, and in Oregon, self service is illegal (except in some rare scenarios). So I'd need to have jerry cans filled, then I'd have to heft them to the roof in order to fill the roof tank. Ultimately I'd like to get a long range fuel tank installed under the bed, but in the meantime I think I'm stuck with regular gas cans of one type or another. :-)

[@dlim1984]

Love the out takes, you both are hilarious

[@CoachEzFit]

Love how resourceful and practical you are Donald. I subscribed for the Forester, but i am staying for the quality content.

[@590studio]

Nice to see this. I've been using Unistrut since the early 80's when I started in HVAC. Truly "magical" stuff, and somewhat unknown and underrated. McMaster-Carr is a gold mine!!! Etrailer has the Quick Fists currently for $10.18. I have an "inside bed perimeter" system on my Dodge. Silver galvanized strut channel is mounted with Plusnut type anchors. Super strong!

[@uweschroeder]

Well, let me put it like this: I don't expect Lucie to be a white house reporter any time soon. She not only has the perfect rolling eyes expression, as we saw today she also has the ability to appear completely unrelated to the video she's in. I get this classic "oh, gosh, Dad wanted me to be a reporter for his boring blah blah video, so I'll humor him but I'd much rather be on TicToc" kinda vibe. It's funny though. Reminds me of the "vacation essays" we had to write in school way back when after summer break. "We went to Italy. We swam in the ocean. We had ice cream and we liked it....." Love the takeouts

[@davidmelis9895]

Lucie checking her phone at 12:22 hits home. I think my youngest is about a year older than her. I will tell my daughter about Lucie’s eBay business, it’s something that I think would match her aesthetic

[@lummoxoverlandadventures1072]

Total win! Love the DIY and the magic show lol

[@rangerdoc1029]

Thumbs up for the gratuitous kitty shots. And an entire outro of Lucy being bored was priceless.

[@_autoverse]

Neat evolution of the logo, better than what you had before whilst still referencing the Nissan.

[@jaym9879]

Marketing Genius, give her the daughter of the year award.

[@alexanderweaver4838]

Loved the bloopers! Luci is such a crack up...great to have a daughter like her. Your DIY projects are awesome, Don, and saved you a barrel of money. I love improvising and my van is full of DIY projects. For example, to save money buying wood, plywood, bolts, nuts, etc. (not to mention time and effort) to make my bed, I used my Coleman cot. However, it was too low to sit on and too bouncy like a trampoline. I found a section of deck rail that fit over the cot, length and width, adding almost three inches to the height and great stability overall. It cost $60 at Lowe's and is well constructed. My Teton base camp mat fit perfectly on top making the "bed" super comfortable to sleep and sit on. I have a "tool wall" but I want to put them on my roof and a Thule or Yakima box was considered; however, your Pelican box idea sounds so much better and would save me a bundle. You well know that Thule boxes can be very expensive. My van has no roof rack so I'll have to bite the bullet and buy one, hopefully find one on sale or even from a wrecking yard; and repaint, etc. The unistrut option seems to be the way to go for me. Your rooftop configuration looks great...super job! The fuel storage shelf is an idea I will use in my build. In the near future the van will be my home while traveling throughout the lower 48, Canada and Alaska.

[@randallharmsen5802]

Nice job Donald. Your welding is paying off. Liked that gas can holder. I thought you were going to the Uni-Strut again great choice.

[@heiz1962]

I bought heavy duty racks that use the Gutter Rails for my Van and Then I painted Uni-Strut for the length wise sections, just got my traction boards, thanks for the ideas for how to mount them. Your build looks 👍

[@frh-freerangehuman]

Great video. Basically you got all those options for less than the price of an empty rack. Your daughter is hilarious btw

[@bindiberry6280]

This is good idea! This should allow the rack to extend light weight 4 ft PVC pipes both sides so you can add plastic sheets as sun shades for your rest area camping around your SUV.

[@mtnbound2764]

I really like the gas can set up! like you said having 3 smaller cans is much better than 1 or 2 large ones!

[@monkeypig8379]

I see that you have a very good relationship with Lucy..... That's great!!!!!

[@solosaga5091]

Having raised two daughters (now in their 30's), I found the outtakes very familiar and entertaining. Congratulations on Lucy's business venture. I wish her the best of luck. More "kids" need to learn the value of entrepreneurship. Also, I'm looking forward to the fuel can holder build. I'm trying to resolve the extra fuel carrying conundrum myself. I may try something similar with aluminum, pop-rivets, and those low heat brazing rods.

[@EigerSummitOffroad]

Things are looking great, Donald! Looking forward to seeing the truck out in the wild on some epic adventures!

[@simonthebroken9691]

Lucie, the rings look pretty. I hope you get lots of interest.

[@scottmacdonald1877]

Nissan..... I started out with a 1979 Chevy Luv 4WD as a teenager. Two options back then. Toyota with a solid front axle or Isuzu/Chevy. I built that Luv out. 31" tires, a 5" lift. Rancho suspension. Custom Warn brushguard, winch mount. custom tubular rear bumper. 1.8 liter 4 cylinder. 4 speed manual transmission. I regeared the rear diff. Weber Carb and headers. Then in 1986 the Nissan Hardbody was released. V6.... The best thing Nissan had ever done.... I traded my Luv in on a steel grey Hardbody. % speed manual transmission. Bought a camper shell. 31" tires, a two" front lift. 275,000 miles. morDown into Mexico on surf trips...The only thing that stopped that truck was a miricale. Going to work one spring morning. Heavy, sporadic rain showers. Sunshine one minute, clouds and rain the next. I hit a stretch of 3 lane freeway. Sunken in the middle. 65 MPH . Hydroplaned. Was in the middle lane, did a 180 into the outsidew lane. Looking into the front of a Tour bus before my wheels caught the outside curb and rolled me 4 times. Jaws of Life... Walked away from it. Nissan.

[@omarperez8351]

Unistrut is great! Got the idea from you a while back... I mounted my roof top tent to it on my Nissan Xterra. Not a single worry! Thanks for the tip, and keep up the great videos!

[@alongfortheadventure6676]

Great budget option for the frontier! Thanks for sharing and glad to see others using their frontier like this!

[@Mark-ks9jj]

Some great diy ideas there plus those from your forester which is my overland project now too thanks to your videos

[@Ravenwood82]

You guys are a hoot! I just did a DYI bed rack for my roof top tent. Had it powder coated instead of painting it. Very reasonable. 10 pieces cost about $95 to coat and won't rust or chip.

[@cliffmorgan31]

Coastal salt air will cause RUST over time that travels under the powder coat, then the powder coat peels and flakes off… Oregon coastal air made short work (couple years) of powder coating on several metal items we thought were, and sold as, impervious to rust. Just a heads up.

[@MrKeenaz]

Luci made this video great! I loved the bloopers at the end. Well done Luci.

[@danhohman]

Thanks Donald! This was top notch. I sure appreciate your DIY approach to some potentially expensive alternatives. And Lucie just steals the show! What a great team you two make! Now I’m off to look at some rings!

[@softroadingthewest]

The initial set of stones she had available has been pretty thoroughly picked over. We'll be adding more new gemstone options to her listings in the next couple of weeks. Thanks Dan!

[@danhohman]

It’s great to hear that it has gone well for Lucie!

[@utahjohnnymontana3373]

If I had the roof bars/rack/whatever Nissan calls it on my 4X I'd consider doing a rack like that. It really seems more for looks the way its designed; no crossbars or attachment points. I guess it just takes some creativity. Good job.

[@RawFeeding101]

The blooper reels with you and Lucy may be the best part of your videos 🤣🤣🤣

[@scottspeed3653]

Keep them coming Donald loving it.

[@sandrad7719]

I love the gas can holder! You are so handy. I love the unistrut idea. I never got around to making one but I love your idea.

[@softroadingthewest]

Thanks Sandra! Honestly, the gas can holder doesn't stand up to close scrutiny - thus the lack of close up shots here, LOL - and I will almost certainly make a v2.0. But it was a useful process and good design/fab practice, and it doesn't look too bad from a normal viewing distance, haha. :-)

[@TrailToughTrailers]

Great job!!! Ending was the best part...

[@51249ca]

Awesome build so far Donald. Love the work on the custom fab gas can holder.

[@Olly3pow]

Awesome work Donald & Lucy. ✌🏽

[@erikandersen6963]

I love your videos. Great job, very inspiring! The outtakes at the end of the video are hilarious! Keep up the great vids!

[@ryanb2182]

I actually think the Auxbeam light bar looks good. It does not look too small and fits nicely in that space. I’m always impressed with your videos. Keep up the good work!

[@betweenthepines4000]

Great idea with the recovery boards. I have a custom built overland trailer and I’m trying to mount my boards. Thanks! Wish my teenage daughter would do something like this.

[@pawadventures5544]

Got to love the kids, Lucy cracks me up. Jason Koertge has some funny kids. LOL! Good video. Everyone have a Happy Mothers Day. 👍🏻

[@softroadingthewest]

I have to admit I don't watch Jason as much since he moved to that beast truck (so I do totally understand Subaru people drifting away from my channel now, heh) but I always really loved the fun, natural involvement of his kids in his earlier work, and he was definitely an inspiration for having my kids be an integral part of my channel.

[@pawadventures5544]

@@softroadingthewest I hadn't watched his videos in forever then I seen in my recommended list a while back that he got a big truck and found out that he had moved back to Florida. I seen Lucy acting silly and it reminded me of his kids. For me it doesn't matter what kind of vehicle you have, I enjoy your content. I think the Nissan Frontier will bring a lot of new subs to your channel.

[@nj4x4fever2]

As always great video, thanks for sharing. Out takes were great. Wish you all the best in your new adventures. I like the new truck!

[@TEO7187]

I'm really enjoying the evolution of the truck setup, and can't wait to see what you will do with the bed and if it's similar to my setup (I have a 2018 frontier). Keep the great content coming!

[@gabrielc1060]

Nice setup Donald it came out really good. Your the reason I bought an auxbeam light bar from one of your previous videos and I love it. The frontier is really coming together and ready for many adventures ahead. Cheers buddy

[@softroadingthewest]

The Auxbeam is a fantastic value, can't complain about it at all!

[@shazmodeus2795]

really enjoyed this video. It's nice seeing some "real world" setups and DIY projects like this. Quality work on that gas can holder. Might have to start selling those on Amazon *hint* *hint*

[@EMARQ_FRAN]

I like your touch of humor in the video 👍 🤣

[@367spartan]

Dude, your daughter's enthusiasm is killing me! :)

[@jayulreich1462]

Thanks to you, I have a superstrut roof rack on my 2010 Forester. People ask about it all the time. I just went on a lil over 2 month trip all over the SW US and it was amazing. I have a few vids up, and many more on the way. I definitely will credit you for a lot of inspiration that went into my build! Even though you arent in a Subaru anymore, I still love your channel! Thank you so much! When I actually have a good video worth watching, Ill let you know. Id be interested in your thoughts on it!

[@chuckrf1502]

Really enjoying this build. It is more interesting for me than a Subaru, but opinons vary. Lucie is funny. My daughter also learned to make wire wrap rings this year!

[@bbqdave4175]

Another great video, thank you! And I'm curious about your truck bed build. I will add a cap to my Frontier (5x5 bed) and have a design for a sleeping platform. With truck bed size, you have 7' on the diagonal, so one person can sleep - while closing the tailgate and cap door. My platform design is 5' wide by 3' long - with the end a chuck box cooking center roughly 2' long. So the truck bed platform would have under storage with the end of the platform a movable chuck box. I look forward to your design ideas and build. Thanks again for the great information you provide :)

[@DIY_AUTO_PHOTO]

Great video and its always so great to do some work on the truck even little stuff its such satisfying feeling ! will be looking forward what mods you will do next perhaps I need to do them to my Xterra. I also thinking on building some kind of roof rack on my

[@agentorange1556]

Keep on welding Donald. You’ll be able to fabricate anything you need in no time!

[@softroadingthewest]

Oh man...this tiny little fabrication project took me an absolutely ludicrous amount of time...and the end product is so very very flawed in so many ways, LOL. There is something awesome about being able to make exactly what I need out of metal, but hoooboy, if I add up the hours, I'm not sure I'm actually saving any money. :-) It was pretty fun though...I will definitely keep at it. I have some more ambitious projects in mind going forward.

[@murdermoto3998]

Great video, after watching this one first and a few other vids I went out and constructed my own rig on top of my Pro4X and turned out really nice. Super strong and holds together really good. And yeah is hard to paint galvanized metal but I found that if you use plasti dip (holds to the metal better) then spray painted, seems to work decently. Great system to use instead of expensive roof racks, may not look as fancy but is more modular and just as sturdy.

[@gonzalez519]

Oh man that ending was priceless 🤣👍

[@Furniture121]

The roof rack looks awesome, it's interesting to see what can be done with a bit of resourcefulness. I imagine the longer handled shovel will be more useful when it comes time to use it, I have always found a short shovel frustrating to use. I kept a full sized snow shovel in my truck through the winter, so when it came time to dig out someone else it was less backbreaking.

[@softroadingthewest]

Agreed. My shorter shovel was largely dictated by the space on my Forester, I think the bigger shovel will prove nice to have. And I'll still certainly carry around my even smaller mini shovel in the back of the truck as it's far more convenient to grab for certain...duties. ;-)

[@UbiqueOverland]

hysterical!! well done.

[@christopherelliott3882]

Good job Lucy.

[@TheCreateOutdoors]

Thanks for this video! I just built a full rack for my SG Forester based loosely off of yours. I'll have my own video on it next week.

[@softroadingthewest]

Nice!

[@donwyates]

Lucy is such a teen! 😆 Reminds me of my granddaughter. I wish her much luck with her hobby. I've been wanting to do something with Unistrut myself, but will likely delay any efforts of figuring out the "what", until I change vehicles. Liked the bloopers!

[@darrylk808]

Did you force Luci to do this vid? She looks so uninterested.🤣🤣

[@softroadingthewest]

Haha, she asks me all the time, "When can I be in another video?" She helped me film next weekend's video as well. She likes to play up her bored teenager role, but truly she enjoys it and actually brings a lot of ideas to the table. We actually have a backlog of video concepts Lucie came up with that we just haven't had time to pull together. :-)

[@crv20051]

@@softroadingthewest Actually, I thought she was great and it was a fun set-up with the two of you.

[@budgetoverland9702]

Didn't seem scripted at all lol

[@crv20051]

Also, meant to add that blooper real was priceless.

[@goinghigh]

Luci adds a lot. Really enjoy seeing her!

[@om617yota8]

Major Surplus has genuine surplus NATO 20l fuel cans on sale for $20/ea, with a spout. They have a bit of rust on the outside from storage, but the inside is unused. 10 minutes with a wire brush and some spray paint fixed them right up. After our ice storm, I bought.....a lot of them.

[@cjjordan7934]

Great job Donald. Love your channel and will be joining your Patreon team soon

[@paulmfti]

TY very good...plug and play...very cheap....love the outtakes....

[@matthoward1174]

Nice setup ! The older Frontiers get overlooked because of the Tacomas, but they were great trucks. MAKE SURE anything you put in those Pelican boxes is bone dry, or you will have some funkadelic mold problems to deal with.

[@garretlewis4103]

Liked the Unistrut. I am planning to use some on the inside of the bed of my truck to make mounting points for the high lift jack, traction boards, etc. I need to check out getting some used Unistrut!

[@softroadingthewest]

If you can find it used, it makes an affordable setup dirt cheap. I found 5' lengths for $3 each at the reuse-recycle center here (whereas last time I looked, a 10' length of new strut was around $23). It's rare to find though. I stop off there every time I'm in that neighborhood and there's almost never any used strut to be found. I've only lucked out twice. I was able to build this rack on the Frontier because I had snagged several pieces probably well over a year ago and have just been sitting on them for some future use. Even new though it's still a remarkably affordable building material.

[@richardburguillos3118]

Great rack build. Especially liked the bloopers 😆🤣🤪

[@jaesco7148]

Prefect for budget build.

[@speedfl]

Very informative, thank you for sharing your DIY project!

[@GeorgeLoch]

Great budget setup! However, Lucy bloopers FTW 😆😆😆

[@lordgrind6662]

Man I love, I am about to do that to my forester

[@H.pylori]

Really helpful video. Lots of ideas to consider. I do not have your mechanical skills so I have to buy items and modify. Outtakes were great.

[@SpiritOfTheWest49]

You can paint galvanized metal, you just need the appropriate primer. Easiest would be a self-etching primer for galvanized metal. If it's newly galvanized (ie. within 6mos), you'll often need to use a solvent cleaner to prep the galv first.

[@dracoplays.]

Really good set up

[@simpleinstinct]

Banjo is perfect for bloopers!

[@carolleimbach6407]

Great job on the roof rack! I need one too.