After lurching around here for a while and reading a lot of threads here and on the TW forum, i decided to get a Prinsu rack. After reading several threads on here, the one thing i definitely knew i wasn't going to be crazy about was its interface with the truck. I decided to build my own mounting blocks. It wasn't very difficult and i figured i would post the instructions here to help anyone who is interested in doing this themselves.
First step was to identify what i was going to make the mounting blocks out of. After doing some measuring i decided to go with t6061 aluminum. Generally strong and easy to work with. I decided the feet would be .75" wide and 1" tall. Each foot would be 5 inches long to provide enough mounting surface and area for a sealant. A 48" stick can be obtained from local metal distributors for about $50.
Step 2 - Cut up the metal into 5" sections and file/grind the edges smooth where the cut takes place. A band saw would have been ideal, but i used a chop saw with a friction blade as this is what i had access to.
Step 3 - paint the feet with white poly primer. i put them in place under each foot to ensure they were all the same. There was some variance. not much but some, so i marked them with a pencil and checked all the measurements. Then drilled each one twice with a 1/2" drill bit on a cheap harbor freight drill press at work.
Step 4 - Paint the feet as well as all of the hardware with duplicolor textured undercoating.
First step was to identify what i was going to make the mounting blocks out of. After doing some measuring i decided to go with t6061 aluminum. Generally strong and easy to work with. I decided the feet would be .75" wide and 1" tall. Each foot would be 5 inches long to provide enough mounting surface and area for a sealant. A 48" stick can be obtained from local metal distributors for about $50.
Step 2 - Cut up the metal into 5" sections and file/grind the edges smooth where the cut takes place. A band saw would have been ideal, but i used a chop saw with a friction blade as this is what i had access to.
Step 3 - paint the feet with white poly primer. i put them in place under each foot to ensure they were all the same. There was some variance. not much but some, so i marked them with a pencil and checked all the measurements. Then drilled each one twice with a 1/2" drill bit on a cheap harbor freight drill press at work.
Step 4 - Paint the feet as well as all of the hardware with duplicolor textured undercoating.
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