This roof basket from Harbor Freight was such a bargain I couldn’t pass it up. Many of the reviews mentioned that the paint wasn’t great, the hardware was crap, and rust quickly begins to form around the welds. I figured for $60 (after coupons) I wouldn’t mind putting a little effort into it to remedy those problems.
First, I scuffed up the existing paint then sprayed on a few layers of black paint. I finished up with a couple of layers of clear. I think it turned out pretty well. It will get scuffed up from use and I don’t plan to leave it on the car all the time so a perfect finish wasn’t the top priority. I sealed all the joints and with black silicone. I also put a dab of silicone in each screw hole before installing the new hardware. Hopefully, all of this will resolve the rust issue. I attempted to use the screws included with the rack, but they were soft and useless. So, I found some higher quality screws in the garage and used those.
Two coolers and a carry on roller bag for size reference. It’s roomier than I expected. It will be perfect for our road trip to Carolina Beach this summer.
Here is the result. I’m pretty happy with it and would recommend this basket if you’re willing to fix it up a bit. It seems to be well built and sturdy with exception to the paint and screws.
The first job was hauling some tree limbs and the Chrismas tree to the yard waste drop-off. The tree wasn’t placed as precariously as it appears in the picture, I promise.
