James, let us know when your taking orders

 

Ha! Believe me, I would love to crank up the old shop again and start fabricating things for people... unfortunately, when we moved down here, I gave up my large out-building and thus, my place to do anything.

I think with the time involved in having to jerry-rig stuff to use my drill press (on the floor!) and having to cut all the steel (on the floor!) and having to use a nasty angle-grinder and flap disk to clean up metal instead of bead-blasting it clean in a booth.... well, once the labor was added up, it would be too pricey to mass-produce.

Now... if I had all my stations set up like I used to.....

James

 

Looks good. I've been wanting to make one like I had made for my old pickup.


Just wasn't sure how it would look of the Ex, but after seein yours, I like the looks.

 

Yea, what he said. When you get your new shop built, I'd be interested in one!

Also, how is the rack attached to the roof?

 

Looks Good!
Any reason you just mounted it to the old roof rack runners? Instead of mounting it directly to the roof?
Again, Looks Good!
Garry in AK

 

Dave,
Thank you!
You should have kept that old rack you made, from what I can tell it looks great (and functional)... you could have adapted it to the Ex.
Since you have made one already, you can do it again. Finding time is the hardest part I know.

James

 

Unfortunately, I won't have a "shop" again for a long time. Used to live in the sticks... now we live in a subdivision with only 1.5 acre lots. There are "rules" to the neighborhood also (yes... I'm in hell).

The rack is attached to cross bars which are attached to the factory side rails or "slots" if you will.

James

 

Thanks Garry!

Mainly because they were already "there".
I have heard of one guy once who managed to jounce his vehicle hard enough to pull the bolts out of the sheet metal of the roof. As of now, the cross bars are held on by two, 4-inch long plates that are 3/16 inch thick at each end of the bars. The factory slide rails are "sandwiched" in between the plates.

IF I were to remove the slide rails and bolt the rack directly to the roof, then the bolts could still pull out of the sheet metal just as easy. Plus, I want to be able to slide the cross bars to where I need them. I may need more support under one end than the other sometimes depending on what I load. I know the rack can take way more than the roof can support.

James

 

Do you still fit in the garage? I couldn't tell from the angle of your photo.

I haven't been able to for years...

 

No sir... I no longer fit.

James

 

Super nice rack!!!! I just took your photos to a local welder here in town, I'm, of course, going to make some custom mods to your design.

I'm going to have a 2nd tier rail on the back half quadrant of the rack, that with the connector pcs. on the bottom will make it look "triple high" around the back.

I'm also going to take some sheet metal and "enclose" some lights in the front sides and back, so where the lights will go will make it look more "sturdy"

I'm also considering using 1-1/4" heavier rails for the bottom to help stabilize, I really want to get up on it and use it as a deer blind, I know crazy idea, but it just might work.

It's being fabricated now, I'll post some pics, thanks for this thread and your pics, super useful and has motivated me to build my own.

 

Thank you for the compliment. I'm sure if you are having a professional welder make it for you, he will have no problems following such a simple design.

One thought for you regarding making a "monster" rack. Heavier isn't always better. I understand you are using aluminum, so I'm not quite sure how rigidity works out between it and steel.... but I think that 1.25 inch flooring will be overkill. I weigh 190 lbs and can bounce on my flooring bars and they 1 inch square. They barely move. I know that if I would have used 1.25 inch square steel it would have added a TON of weight to the rack.

You want the rack to meet the equilibrium between and strength and weight. Not too much weight, but just enough to do the job. Am I making any sense here?

My fear is that you end up with this huge rack that weighs a ton all by itself and then you won't have enough capacity left over to even put your spare tire up there... let alone a deer stand type thing... and you. There IS a point where the attachment points will begin to crumple and crack the paint. Then you will have rust creeping in under your rack and you won't know it until it is an expensive to repair.

Hope I didn't ramble on too much.

Pleas give us pics when you get it back from the guy!

James

 

I was wondering if you have plans or a cut list that you could email or post??? Thanks Pete!

 

Why not full length?

 

Please post cut list and plans!!!