81 BJ42 - I have to bring it home and pass inspection (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Awl_TEQ
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That looks great and if one support holds 200# you will probably be ok. The only thing I can think of is that you might want enough clearance to put your hand underneath for tying ropes and cleaning. Low profile is the way to go though. I ripped my roof rack off a couple of years ago on a low hanging tree. Luckily no damage occured.
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What will the tent be sitting on - a plywood deck? Can you consider the stiffness of the tent floor deck as part of the 'equation'?
Awl_TEQ
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Henry James the 47th said:
No deck. The tent (48"x56") will rest on 5 of these cross bars directly. They are 6" wide and 3" apart. Only three of the five will have gutter clamps. So the deflection of the tent area, even when in use, should be less than me standing dead center of one crossbar. The combined strength of the entire assembly is more than the sum of its parts I think.
crushers
post ho
i like 3/4" under the tightest spot on the racks i make ... but that is just me.
are you interested in selling these cross bars?
are you interested in selling these cross bars?
lowenbrau
SILVER Star
That square section, rub rail is spiffy.
Based on the fact that there will be a bunch more support I think your tight tolerance is probably just fine but a bit of heater hose or pvc tubing on the gutter side of the towers would probably make the seam sealer in the gutter happier and give you an additional 1/8"
Based on the fact that there will be a bunch more support I think your tight tolerance is probably just fine but a bit of heater hose or pvc tubing on the gutter side of the towers would probably make the seam sealer in the gutter happier and give you an additional 1/8"
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Must be hard resisting the temptation to go into full-time business making LC parts (?) You would walk all over the competition, many of whom seem to struggle with returning emails or answering the phone...
Awl_TEQ
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I like that idea Bruce. My gutters aren't bad but could use cleaning and new sealer in a few spots. There a few places where the sealer has beed compromised and water has started to attack the drip rail.
Henry, it is tempting at times. Actually making the stuff is the easy part. Customer relations and the logistics of packaging, shipping and cross border comerce is the time consuming and tedious bit. Tough to do it justice on a part time basis and still get to go wheeling or just veg on the couch when you feel like it. I suspect I will eventually get my ducks in a row and have something of a more formal business going here. Interestingly, I seem more motivated when my bank account is low
.
Henry, it is tempting at times. Actually making the stuff is the easy part. Customer relations and the logistics of packaging, shipping and cross border comerce is the time consuming and tedious bit. Tough to do it justice on a part time basis and still get to go wheeling or just veg on the couch when you feel like it. I suspect I will eventually get my ducks in a row and have something of a more formal business going here. Interestingly, I seem more motivated when my bank account is low
.
Awl_TEQ
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I'd sell my own mother if the price was right
Seriously though, yeah, I could sell ya some when the time was right. I'd rather finish this rack and test it first. Craig seens to think it may just whistle annoyingly with all those holes in it. I figure if it does it'll just be a built in deer warning device. And I don't think my 3B will go fast enough to whistle.
You bring up the topic of selling racks or parts of racks for the second time in this thread (first time not by you). I have no interest in competing with Greg/ DiamondRax. A keen eye will notice that I borrowed his design element of square tube on the diagonal around the perimeter of my rack. I haven't looked closely at his racks to see how he designed the cross supports or floor. I think that my design is original in that regard. I have the utmost respect for anyone who takes a product and brings it to market and seems by all accounts to do it well. I know how time consuming that can be and how many unseen hours that can take. Therefore I do not want to compete head to head with Greg with the same product. That's just not cool in a small community like this MUD fraternity we have going here. Having said that, IF my design was different in a way that DiamondRax was not offering then I have no qualms offering racks for sale. For instance, this rack I am making for myself is all aluminum. AFIK his are all steel. Most Mudders are in the US also and it is a pain in the buttocks to ship product across the 49th as a private citizen. It is actually easier as a business and I am not yet incorporated.
So for the time being, I am just building a rack for MY rig. I am interested in how well the aluminum design will hold up through the summer with regard to metal fatigue and vibration.
This topic will be moved to a new thread once this 42 passes inspection - hopefully in the next few weeks.
Why move it? Loses all continuity, it's still the same truck, the same build, just the next stage.
crushers
post ho
at least put a link from this thread over to the new one for those of us that call diesel / 70 sections home.
i agree there will be some wind whistle, you probably won't hear it with the windows up. those following you might think you are a cop in disquise though.
i agree there will be some wind whistle, you probably won't hear it with the windows up. those following you might think you are a cop in disquise though.
Just a thought here Kevin: my old rack on my hilux years ago was pretty close and I would occasionally get ice buildup between the rack and roof which led to some ugly wear to the gel coat on the shell. I'd consider more like 1/2" personally to allow for a bit of flex for ice to break away.lowenbrau said:
Actually, if you have the tent on it you could consider just putting some silicone on the front rail and allowing it to cure in order to make a bit of a soft seal so as to keep stuff out of it. The tent should keep debris from getting in on the rails behind it.
The other thing though, if you get coarse mud on the roof and then bounce down the trails (or worse yet memorial) you would be looking at abrasion.
If you want to add some grommet to the feet of the mounts, door trim off a 60 works pretty good, you can buy grommet as well by the box but it is a little expensive.
