How do you like that awning? Thought about grabbing one for the price but wasn’t sure about the quality.
80/20 with Stock Roof Rack
- Thread starter WoodyCreature
- Start date
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I haven’t had a chance to use it for any extended length of time yet. For the price I am really happy with it during its initial setup. I’ve read lots of good reviews from others. You can use the arb awning room on this awning which is pretty cool.
I don’t know how I missed this before! This seems like the perfect solution to make the factory rack more versatile. Do people use Loctite on the screws to keep them from prematurely loosening up?
I’ve got one too, mounted just like this on 8020 but reversed the L brackets so it’s a few inches above the rail. Awning is great. Weakest link is the extendable vertical posts, the post locking mechanism is functional but subpar. Well worth the price IMO.
It’s way easy and makes it much more functional. Thought about using thread lock but ended up not because of seasonal changes to what’s mounted. Couple of trips so far and nothing has loosened at all.
I was planning on it but wanted to set it up first. Fits perfectly and solid as a rock. I will live with it and add loctite if anything get loose
Looks awesome. How's the noise?
Your deck looks great. However, according to the Duraslat site this product is made of polypropylene, which is supposed to degrade rapidly in sunlight. They don’t mention any UV resistant treatment. Have you seen any degradation to date?
Hey! Of course I find this thread after having built my own 8020 solution. I was going for very low profile so I wanted it to mount between the side rails - I'm already pretty darn close to the top of the garage as it is and can't afford to gain more than a couple inches in height.
I bought 24 inches of 2x3 by 3/16 aluminum angle to make side rail adapters:
Used some leftover 3/16 by 1 inch steel to make the slide in pieces for the side rails:
Sorry for crappy photo - welded the bolts onto the back and cut them short enough to slide into the rail before hitting them wit spray paint:
They have enough space for a little adjustment play up and down if needed to align everything:
Then it was mostly as simple as bolting it all together:
I bought 24 inches of 2x3 by 3/16 aluminum angle to make side rail adapters:
Used some leftover 3/16 by 1 inch steel to make the slide in pieces for the side rails:
Sorry for crappy photo - welded the bolts onto the back and cut them short enough to slide into the rail before hitting them wit spray paint:
They have enough space for a little adjustment play up and down if needed to align everything:
Then it was mostly as simple as bolting it all together:
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Of course it hummed like hell on the highway, so a quick wind deflector was needed:
Then I could get around to making the various holders that I'd planned on once I decided to build a roof rack. Shipping box dry storage, two 5-gallon fuel jug holders:
....and a traction board holder thingy.
I didn't like how flimsy the mounts for the maxi awning were so I ordered some sherpa mounts (that I'm still waiting for) in order to put my cheapo awning back on the LexusCruiser. There's noticeably more wind noise now, particularly with all the stuff up top, but that was expected. The usefulness is very nice.
I'm not sure if it'll fit in the garage with the traction board case on there. Definitely won't fit with the traction boards themselves, but I think the mounts might be low enough to fit in. Everything else come off when not travelling.
Protip: if you're doing something like this with pretty simple parts, tnutz is WAY cheaper than 8020 ($315 vs $495) and I got my order from tnutz in a week, versus like 45 days for 8020.
Then I could get around to making the various holders that I'd planned on once I decided to build a roof rack. Shipping box dry storage, two 5-gallon fuel jug holders:
....and a traction board holder thingy.
I didn't like how flimsy the mounts for the maxi awning were so I ordered some sherpa mounts (that I'm still waiting for) in order to put my cheapo awning back on the LexusCruiser. There's noticeably more wind noise now, particularly with all the stuff up top, but that was expected. The usefulness is very nice.
I'm not sure if it'll fit in the garage with the traction board case on there. Definitely won't fit with the traction boards themselves, but I think the mounts might be low enough to fit in. Everything else come off when not travelling.
Protip: if you're doing something like this with pretty simple parts, tnutz is WAY cheaper than 8020 ($315 vs $495) and I got my order from tnutz in a week, versus like 45 days for 8020.
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I'm digging your low-tech, low-budget, high-function gas-can carrier. I've been wrestling with the best way to deal with this -- roof, swingout, something else? -- but the reality is that I only need them 1-2x a year for a couple days on an extended trip. Something like this plus an 8020 DIY rack could be just the ticket. Thx!
You got me wondering. I found this on the page for the white flooring. It sounds like black has some UV stabilizers in it. Maybe?
For sure, that was my problem too. It's rarely used but when I went to Moab this year and did the White Rim Trail, I was down to under 1/4 tank of fuel by the end and I hadn't brought any more. Kinda scared me into figuring out how to carry a little extra for long trips.
All I did with the above was buy two Uline bins that I thought fit my fuel cans....but I'm an idiot and measured wrong. Fortunately, I could just cut the backs out of it using an oscillating tool, then used rubber edge liner on the cut edges. I mounted them to 1/8" aluminum angle, drilled holes to bolt them to the rack, and added a strap over the top.
I wanted them specifically in that location because I can use a hand siphon to fill the tank directly from the roof.
And agreed - I went with this setup as 99% of the time I don't need a roof rack. The extruded aluminum makes for easy attachment of things when needed and is way cheaper than most of the rack options for our trucks.
Finally got my sherpa awning mounts (more than three week wait!). They're quite good, but a couple things made them not completely ideal for my application. First, strangely, the awning mount holes are M8 ish but the mount to rack holes are only M6 or 1/4 inch.
I drilled them out to M8ish.
Second, it just wasn't quite long enough to work for me, so I had to build my own angle aluminum extensions.
End result below.
An easy solution for this would have been making my end bars an inch or two longer, and mounting them with the excess length sticking out one side. These extensions work fine for me because all it took for some scrap aluminum I had lying around.
I drilled them out to M8ish.
Second, it just wasn't quite long enough to work for me, so I had to build my own angle aluminum extensions.
End result below.
An easy solution for this would have been making my end bars an inch or two longer, and mounting them with the excess length sticking out one side. These extensions work fine for me because all it took for some scrap aluminum I had lying around.
Finally got around to doing mine, and my solution to needing to haul 2 canoes side-by-side:
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Great thread! I am going to use 8020 for my rack as well. I have a couple of remaining questions before I order from Tnutz:
1) what counterbores are people getting on the cross bars? It seems like these can likely all be drilled later as needed but I don’t have an objection to getting them drilled now. Just not sure which ones turn out to be most useful. It seems like counterbores on top surface of would be good. Do you put on in each channel of a 15 series (1.5 x 3.0) and do you put them at each end of cross bore? Is it useful to have one put on side of cross bar?
2) I have a 2000 lx470 which has “rack towers” front and back. I am under the impression that LC have three on each side and I see that there are three nuts under the plastic cover in the middle of my lx rack. It would seem useful to have a third “tower” in the middle to help support more weight but not sure if LC tower will work in this location or if there is another way of adding third mounting point on each side?
Any thoughts on these questions?
1) what counterbores are people getting on the cross bars? It seems like these can likely all be drilled later as needed but I don’t have an objection to getting them drilled now. Just not sure which ones turn out to be most useful. It seems like counterbores on top surface of would be good. Do you put on in each channel of a 15 series (1.5 x 3.0) and do you put them at each end of cross bore? Is it useful to have one put on side of cross bar?
2) I have a 2000 lx470 which has “rack towers” front and back. I am under the impression that LC have three on each side and I see that there are three nuts under the plastic cover in the middle of my lx rack. It would seem useful to have a third “tower” in the middle to help support more weight but not sure if LC tower will work in this location or if there is another way of adding third mounting point on each side?
Any thoughts on these questions?
I
2003 LX470- I used Gamiviti towers in 6 locations (3 per side). Rock solid, no trouble lining things up. My side rails are 1020 (1” x 2”) from t-nutz. Fairing was necessary to mitigate noise.
can’t answer your first question, as I used nuts and corner brackets on mine. Max flexibilty this way.
2003 LX470- I used Gamiviti towers in 6 locations (3 per side). Rock solid, no trouble lining things up. My side rails are 1020 (1” x 2”) from t-nutz. Fairing was necessary to mitigate noise.
I considered the Gamiviti towers but unless those towers will work with the existing 4 towers I will have to buy 6 which is more $ than I am spending on the 8020. I am trying to keep costa down.
Another question came up…
I am looking at all the different ways to attach the crossbars to the factory rack side bars (eg. gussets, L brackets etc) and wondered if anyone had used anchor fasteners?They claim they are very strong and would make moving crossbars easier. They also won’t get in the way as they are internal to the extrusion. They are more expensive though.
I am looking at all the different ways to attach the crossbars to the factory rack side bars (eg. gussets, L brackets etc) and wondered if anyone had used anchor fasteners?They claim they are very strong and would make moving crossbars easier. They also won’t get in the way as they are internal to the extrusion. They are more expensive though.
