Attic racks made cheap and easy - 80 series

[Mr Cimarron]

I temporary mounted the rack to see how it's going to look. This weekend I will bolt in the brackets to hold it up and paint it. All the pics don't give a real perspective of how much usable room you get. For $30 ($20 rack, $10 piece of angled steel) it's well worth it. No issues with rear view mirror viewing.

 

[mdandashly]

I temporary mounted the rack to see how it's going to look. This weekend I will bolt in the brackets to hold it up and paint it. All the pics don't give a real perspective of how much usable room you get. For $30 ($20 rack, $10 piece of angled steel) it's well worth it. No issues with rear view mirror viewing.
View attachment 943766 View attachment 943767

Looking good. They sell a black version. That's the one I have.

A word of advice. I mounted mine as far back as I could. The edge closest to the front of the truck is flush with the front of the handgrip. This gives passengers more headroom from accidental injury. I was worried the rack would rattle because the back third is hanging in midair but its sturdy enough so that it won't.

Does that make sense? If not I'll take a photo.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Looking good. They sell a black version. That's the one I have.

A word of advice. I mounted mine as far back as I could. The edge closest to the front of the truck is flush with the front of the handgrip. This gives passengers more headroom from accidental injury. I was worried the rack would rattle because the back third is hanging in midair but its sturdy enough so that it won't.

Does that make sense? If not I'll take a photo.

Good advise. I'll see how it functions that way once I build the mount. I should have looked somewhere else for the black version. Not a big deal because I want to paint it to match the tan anyway.

 

[stonemasoncruiser]

First I want to thank Phil for posting up this great idea.
I also picked up the Hetro Metro shelf as it was convenient to get at a good price and very well made.
As far as the pole supports in the corners go I really don't like them. I prefer how Phils sits which appears to be at or just above the window line.
I plan to contour mine so the shelf will snug up another 1/2" or so.
Thanks again Phil, already put to good use on a daily basis.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Found the first use of the rack. Holding the CB antenna that is usually just thrown in the back. Still need to take the rack out and weld it to the mount.

 

[1973Guppie]

OH, nice, I like that idea!......

 

[Bluetribal]

Instead of custom 60 degree brackets to mount to the grab handle screws why not use cabinet or door hinges? They can be any angle you need.

 

[superjuice]

mounted some fire extinguishers, found a good deal on 2.5lb halotrons on zoro tools, $170 for both shipped

 

[08720]

Someone needs to come up with something to do with the round holes on the ends.

Throw in some LED floods

 

[OUbobcat20]

just installed the exact same setup as @Stephen Lugo . Also got my shelf and drawer on sale from the container store at sale price. $40 instead of $60 normal price.

great storage. im going to line my drawer with fabric or foam so i dont have to hear the can of deicer and the couple wrenches hit the plastic sides of the drawer every time i take a turn.

i used large black zip ties. 3 on each handle. Snip off the excess zip tie and you can't even see them. pretty sturdy. no rattling. so far so good!

 

[HAAANK]

Panel is attached to the brackets using some u-bolt screw clamp thingamajiggers. I forget they're actual name at the moment

Crosby clips

 

[Dazrin]

Look at the XTERRA forum... I could not find the link but remember a guy over there had a simple bracket the ran the span down both sides. The front and rear were connected with carabiners and he could drop the front or rear... cheap and easy.

Since I am looking at this thread again - I thought I would elaborate on this comment. If you search for "Lobo shelf" you should get some good results from thenewx.org and several other sites.

I have just started looking there, but this thread seems to have a good run-down of what they are doing. A lot of the links are broken but most of the pictures seem to be working.
http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1120
Xterras have some roof hooks that make it easy to attach with, but I am sure someone here could come up with something that works too. Maybe the 3rd row seat belt bolts? Add an eyebolt or something there for the rear attachment points? What's the thread size on those?

 

[mdandashly]

Since I am looking at this thread again - I thought I would elaborate on this comment. If you search for "Lobo shelf" you should get some good results from thenewx.org and several other sites.

I have just started looking there, but this thread seems to have a good run-down of what they are doing. A lot of the links are broken but most of the pictures seem to be working.
http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1120
Xterras have some roof hooks that make it easy to attach with, but I am sure someone here could come up with something that works too. Maybe the 3rd row seat belt bolts? Add an eyebolt or something there for the rear attachment points? What's the thread size on those?

Why bother? Those are not as secure as what some people have created here. They hang down on carabiners, rattling, making noise, and not holding things in properly.

A metra shelf (mentioned above) and some HD zipties (or custom brackets if you are so inclined) are all you need. Plus, at less than $20, hard to beat.

 

[Dazrin]

Why bother? Those are not as secure as what some people have created here. They hang down on carabiners, rattling, making noise, and not holding things in properly.

A metra shelf (mentioned above) and some HD zipties (or custom brackets if you are so inclined) are all you need. Plus, at less than $20, hard to beat.

If you follow the replies back you can see that the specific question I was following up on was how to get a shelf that folded down for easier access/larger items which the Xterra version with the caribiners can do. I haven't seen a version for the 80 that will do that yet so I was mentioning a possible way to adapt the Xterra version for the 80 to get that feature.

Certainly the versions that are here are less likely to rattle but they may not provide the flexibility needed. Everyone has different priorities, so different solutions can be useful. Pros, cons, etc.

 

[mdandashly]

Gotcha,

If you follow the replies back you can see that the specific question I was following up on was how to get a shelf that folded down for easier access/larger items which the Xterra version with the caribiners can do. I haven't seen a version for the 80 that will do that yet so I was mentioning a possible way to adapt the Xterra version for the 80 to get that feature.

Certainly the versions that are here are less likely to rattle but they may not provide the flexibility needed. Everyone has different priorities, so different solutions can be useful. Pros, cons, etc.

Gotcha, missed that thread. TO each his own-good luck!

 

[Rudster]

If you want to mount to existing grab handles instead of using zipties, hose clamps work really well

 

[1973Guppie]

can't say enough good things about this mod, great for the beach, chairs and umbrella fit up there as well as the dogs stuff, just did a trip to big bear and it was nice having all of the hounds stuff right above them and ready.....

 

[Snow Peak]

Just read through this thread. Such a great idea! Seeing all the examples gives me some ideas. Has anyone mounted one in 40? Thinking of ideas on how to mount one in my bj42; will be a good weekend project for sure!

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Yet another use of the attic rack. It will go to use this weekend when I head out to Big Bend. Since the sun goes down so early and camp fires are forbidden in the National Park I figured I would download a few movies. This will work much better than hanging the iPad from the headrest since I sleep feet to the back. So far I have camp chair, rain gear, hoodie, stocking cap, and air hose stored in it with plenty of room left over.

 

[Booger weldz]