At the beginning of this year I made it a goal to get out camping and road tripping more, and so began my super-budget solo camping build out for my Canyon. After picking up a topper on FB Marketplace for a good deal I began to look into roof rack options for additional storage. With only a 5' bed, I need all the space I can get. I wasn't too keen on spending more money on a roof rack than I did for the topper itself, so I did what any self-respecting redneck would do and salvaged the yard scrap pile for some workable materials. And thus: the IBC tote roof rack was born.

Supplies

Now, this is the way I did it, because these are the tools I have. But I reckon you could get by with some more effort and less tools if that's the position you're in. For example, a metal handsaw could do the trick if you've got some spare time and no sawzall. You could drill holes and bolt stuff together (or hoseclamp/cabletie/screw/duct tape) in lieu of welding. If there's a will there's a way, make do with whatcha got!

Tools I Used:

Sawzall and/or Cutoff Wheel
Angle Grinder
Metal File
Wire Snippers
MIG Welder (coors banquet optional)
Tape measure
Sharpie
Screw Driver or Ratchet Drive (or Pliers!)
Rubber Mallet (optional)
Sledge Hammer
Saw Horses (optional)
Clamps or Zip Ties
A Couple Old Bricks

Materials:

Old IBC Tote Cage
1/2" PVC Pipe

Before we get any further, here's the thing: if you're reading this instructable that means you're probably old enough to drive a car, which means you're DEFINITELY old enough that I shouldn't have to give you the PPE and reasonable precautions talk. It's your body, treat it how you want. If you want to wear your steel-toe flip flops and safety-squints, that's your prerogative, friend. But keep in mind that most of these totes are made from galvanized steel, which can produce some real fun side effects (good ol metal fume fever) when ground and welded if you are sensitive and don't have decent ventilation. Do your own research, make your own choices, and try not to grind sparks directly into open containers of gasoline. Onward.

Step 1: Grant Your IBC Tank Its Freedom

First things first, you need to get the cage separated from the tank so you can start choppin'. My tote had 2 cross bars on the top held on with a bolt on either side. A torx bit on a 1/4" drive did the trick for me. Your tote may differ. Hold onto those bars and bolts for later!

Now hold up, if your IBC tote is new, clean, and drinking water safe? STOP RIGHT THERE! Those things are worth just as much as a brand new roof rack, if not more. Save that thing for a rainy day (or hey, start collecting rain water!) and save yourself the trouble. But if you're like me and you got yours off the side of the road, retired from holding lord knows what, and don't particularly feel like risking discovering a new disease... Let's get started.

Step 2: Chop Goes the Weasel

Break out the saws and lets get to tearing this thing down. I started with the cut off wheel, but after wearing through whole pack of discs and half the cage I figured out the sawzall works much better. Use a fine tooth metal blade.

We need the first row of the top of the cage, with the vertical bars cut flush to the horizontal ones to create the walls of the rack. The cut side will be the bottom.

We also need to 2 sides of the cage to serve as the floor, this will help distribute the weight and keep it off the top of your car/topper. Cut these off at the peak of the curve to give yourself extra material, we'll cut that off later.

it's not a bad idea to break out your file and smooth out those fresh cuts, to avoid acquiring a few fresh cuts yourself.

Step 3: Trim It, Stack It, Tack It

Next things next, lets get those ends even. Those 2 panels we cut for the floor need to be attached to one another at the ends to make one big panel, so set them on top of your base piece and decide which ends you want to tack. Use your angle grinder to grind them down so the ends of each pipe will meet flush. They all need to be more or less the same length.

Take your 1/2" PVC and use the cutoff wheel to cut a slot down it, then chop it into 6 pieces, about 2" or 3" in length. These will help insure things line up while we weld.

Stick your new PVC pieces into the each pipe and slot the 2 panels together, bonk 'em with the mallet or your fist if you have to. Mine didn't line up perfectly, but I wasn't too interested in fixing it so I left it the way it was. These joints will not be structural, so do it as professionally or as poorly as you please.

Now it's time to stick them together. You can do this however you want. Tape, glue, welder. I went with welder. Use your file to bring your weld points down to bare metal. I went with 4 tacks around each pipe. I thought about filling in the gap, but never did.

Boom. Now we have a floor.

Step 4: Chop Drop and Roll

It's prudent to get some saw horses from here on out, for the sake of sore backs everywhere.

Put your frame up on the saw horses, bottom side up, and put your floor on top. At this point you need to decided which cross-bars you want on top, front to back or side to side? Flip it accordingly. I went front to back to make sliding things in and out from the tailgate easier. To make the next part easier, i recommend getting some clamps and/or zip ties and securing the floor to the frame to keep it from sliding around.

Use the sawzall to cut all of the floor bars flush to the outside of the frame.

Optionally, smash those suckers flat. Detach the floor and put it on a flat surface (conk crete) and use your sledge hammer to flatten the ends where it will attach to the frame. For the bars that rest on the frame, do it straight on the concrete. For the cross bars that don't, set it up on some bricks and flatten on the same side, so it sits more flush to the frame when we're done. Go clamp it back to the frame.

Step 5: Get 'er Done

With your floor secured back to the frame (it's helpful to slide it around so each side you are grinding is sticking off a fair bit so you have room to work, and moving it when you get to the next side), use the angle grinder to round off your edges and corners. Clean that up with your file to keep things smooth. All that's left is to tack the floor to the frame!

Take the floor off and flip your frame over so that it's sitting right ways up on the stands. Carefully slot your floor into the frame so that it is sitting on top of the lower bars of the frame, on the inside (this is what will support the weight of the cargo, not your tacks in the middle), making sure you have the right bars facing up. Secure it on a few points with your clamps and tack weld the four corner beams to the frame (remember to file to bare metal where you're going to tack). Then you can unclamp and tack the rest of the beams on that axis. The cross beams may or may not be tackable for you, because they are resting on top of the ones sitting on the frame. If you want to mess around with bending them down to touch feel free, but it's plenty secure as is.

Oh hey, remember those bars and bolts we saved earlier? As luck would have it, reattaching one of those bars makes for a perfect gas can compartment at the front or back of the rack. Neat! Hold onto those to customize your storage options in the future.

Step 6: Mount That Sucker!

This step completely depends on what kind of vehicle you've got and whether its already got mounting points. Chances are this things isn't going to fit exactly over any existing roof rack mounts, so you'll have to get creative.

Mounting a pair of 2x4s and screwing it down with conduit/pipe straps would work. That's probably what I'll end up doing, since it doesn't fit within the mounts that came on the topper. If you have a more creative solution I'd love to hear it!

Anyway, hope this is helpful to someone out there. I'd love to see pictures if anyone makes one. Take care folks.

-coyotecraft