Chassis mounted, Roof Rack project.

[cruiserpilot]

G'Day Again,

Here's some more images, this time on the LHS of the vehicle.


View attachment 1603774

View attachment 1603775

View attachment 1603776

You can see the Tapered "I" Beam washers in place
View attachment 1603779

Note the tapered "I" Beam washers, on the 3/4" UNF "Grade 8" bolts. These washers have a similar taper, to that of the chassis bracket.
View attachment 1603780

The 1" NB water pipe that the flat side brackets are welded to, have tapered ends, to match the taper of the chassis bracket.
They taper from 93mm at the top, to 99mm at the bottom and have to be "timed" into place prior to Tac welding, to match and the inside profile of the chassis bracket and also, the flat side brackets.
View attachment 1603783

I still want to weld a piece of 1" x 1" x 3mm angle iron between the two flat side brackets, to stiffen them up a little. I'll do this, when I remove them and prior to powder coating.

I know the body doesn’t flex much but do you want to lock the body to/with the frame? At least that is how it looks to me.

I just was giving thought to coldtaco's comment. If you used a larger diameter NB water pipe, with common ID of spring bushing
and utilize a spring bushing and you could even use greasable pin. This would all movement between frame and body and certainly
could absorb any roof rack, road side rubbing on rocks, etc.
Homer, your workmanship is really something.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Thank you for those ideas, advice and compliment Cruiser Pilot, very much appreciated.
The smaller synthetic bushes, like the one's for sway bars, etc, may be an option for this.

I'll keep going as planned, then once the roof rack is complete and in place, I'll do some testing (Rock Hopping).
With the front and then rear end parked on top of a good size rock, I'll get out and do some measuring.

Regards
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

I finally got into making the upright sections of this roof rack.
Here are some images.
You can see that I only cut thru 3 of the sides of the RHS (Rectangular Hollow Section).
I then used a Come-Along to progressively pull the sections together to the correct angle (as per the template), and then tack welded that section in place.

The LHS is the bottom of the roof rack.

Once that was completed on both front uprights, I then completed the joint welds.

Unfortunately, all this welding caused the angles to reduce, which I then corrected on the hydraulic press.

Then the top section, needed to be addressed.................

D'oh!
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

Well whilst it only took a little while to draw these up on paper, making hard copies of these same drawings, took quite a bit longer. D'oh!
After initially thinking I would make these uprights out of one piece, I changed my mind.
I ended up cutting the last two angled sections off the top of the side uprights, just so I could more easily maneuver these parts around the Funshop.

You can see too the rear here, how the RHS has been partially cut out, as well as one tacked up insert and another one of these inserts in Kit Form.

This is these same parts, after they were inserted, welded together and tidied up.

I then needed to machine up the top section "Tongues", to the correct size and profile.
These insert into the uprights cut outs, and are then bolted together.

Here they are, marked out and one drilled but not tapped or counter bored.

I then needed top "Horns" on the roof rack, to stop things sliding off, whilst in transit.
You can see the stainless steel, 1/2 BSP pipe socket in place here. This is what I intend to screw the horizontal tent poles into (for a shelter, whilst camping)
Here's a Before...........

 

[HomerOz]

and here's the After.
Also, note the Tongue in place and bolted together.

Doh!
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

OK, I finally got around to setting things up/bolting in place, and tack welding these parts together.

These first two images, show the lower mount bracket, with a dummy piece of RHS in an approximate location, on the new right hand side side steps.

Here you can see the roof rack uprights held in place with Octopus straps (thru the window and door), and ropes. This was done to ensure the uprights were perpendicular and in place, prior to tack welding. I also utilised 25mm (lower) and 35mm (upper) spacers, between the inside of the uprights and the body of the vehicle, to ensure this gap was correct.

This is the top spacer with their Tongues, both tack welded in place (also, to the right of the top spacer bar, you can also see the 25 and 35mm upright/body spacers I used)

I have now, subsequently finish welded all these joints.

Please let me know, if this thread is getting too long and starting to bore people.

D'oh!
Homer

 

[cruiserpilot]

Amazing workmanship! Really like the way it's going together. I have an idea similar to yours for
that horizontal piece. Curious to see you finish this one. Are you going to tie it together
front to back?

 

[HomerOz]

Here's another view of the three front roof rack parts, bolted in place and after tack welding.

Regards
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

Thank You for your kind comment Cruiser Pilot.

Yes mate, I intend to have ties between the front and rear uprights, on the side (just below-ish, the side windows).
I also plan to have the two top horizontal spacers, joined/welded together (front to back), on both the left and right sides, and extending forward between each other, and then beyond the front uprights, to the front of the roof-ish.

A better way of describing this is, I plan to have two front uprights and two rear uprights.
These four uprights, will be joined together at the top, by the two top spacers which includes a flat frame that extends forward.
Again, a picture will be worth 1,000 words........... but until then, I hope that gives you a better picture.

I'm obviously showing my age, if I was younger, I would have already posted a Computer Assisted Design
(CAD) of the whole thing but I only have a Brain Assisted Design (BAD) capability, LOL!

Regards
Homer

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

not bad for an old analog fawker... Cheers!

 

[HomerOz]

LOL! Thanks for that LAMBCRUSER, I get by.

D'oh!
Homer

 

[44Runner]

I'm not really digging the step design. The mounting seems like a bad idea overall and the supports going on the bottom like that turns what should be sliders into obstructions. There was more than enough clearance to angle them up and attach them to the side of the step. If you aren't doing anything serious offroad though I am sure you will be fine though.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Yes 44Runner "If you aren't doing anything serious offroad though I am sure you will be fine though.", I believe my days of really serious off road work, are behind me but I do agree with your suggestions.

The "Battle Cruiser's" future is more toward wild country touring and easy to medium, 4WD track work.
The 4WD option, is more for getting out of the bush, if the conditions unexpectedly change.

Regards
Homer

 

[DamoPeru]

What do you good people think of my 20mm/3/4" roof rack body clearance
Do you think this is to close, or to little clearance?

Being mounted to the body, you should be fine with that gap.... I see why you wanted to body mount it. I had a solid over-body chassis mounted roofrack and it still moved around a ton compared to the roof, especially front to back, i eliminated side movement with unconnected rubber spacers just above the gutter (which worn my paint away 2cm front and back of where they naturally sat). So by mounting to the body, you should have much less movement, but i highly recommend you drill two holes into the body around the window sill level and with a reinforcing plate behind on the inside (with welded nuts), add a rubber spacer and lock it to the body there as well. i reckon only being connected at the bottom will probably stress that part too much, especially when you dive on the brakes in semi-emergencies with any weight on the roofrack (ask me how i know!). i know some people consider drilling into the body as sacrilege, but done properly you should be fine, Mr. T did it with many weight bearing add-ons, and apart from reducing your flex between rack and roof, it might also mean less overall damage if you inadvertently smack your side steps from below. If it were me, I'd put in two spacers on each of the four uprights (16 bolt holes), and have one large backing plate for both spacers, and I'd remove the awesome plate going to the chassis despite how cool it is.

I'm obviously showing my age, if I was younger, I would have already posted a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) of the whole thing but I only have a Brain Assisted Design (BAD) capability, LOL!

classic!... I'm all BAD as well

keep up the good work mate!

maybe later down the track if you think its too vulnerable from getting hit from below on your travels, you could add a chassis-mounted single tube slider just below the side step and call it a day

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Thank You danienperu for you great advice, experience and kind comments.

I have had a look at possibly mounting the front upright to the FRP top.
If you carefully remove the FPP badge, there is a 12mm (ish?) bolt in the cavity, that mounts the FRP top to the internal roll over metal work.
I have thought of utilising this bolt (on both side), and making an adapter from the threaded hole, to some portion of the front upright?
I need to have a bit more of a think.........

I went bush last weekend and gave it a bit of a test.
I gave the front upright a quick coat of paint (rain was predicted), and then mounted it on the Battle Cruiser.
No hi-way road noise (well...... not to a half deaf person) from it, but there was a bit (13mm-1/2"), of side to side movement.
Once I was in the bush, I did a bit of rock hopping and stopped mid hop, and had a look.
There was some movement to one side but still plenty of clearance, so I'm happy with it so far.

HooRoo for now
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

After a bit of a think about possibilities about how to go about this, I finally struck a blow.
Again, please see some images of the RHS mounting brackets (from various angles), originally incorporated into the replacement rear bumper (25 ish years ago).

Here is an image of the Left and Right hand side bracket extensions (prior to the roof rack upright forward extensions being "glued" on.

And now with these forward extensions glued on and then bolted in place.

I still want to have at least 1 x M10 mm bolt, going from these side brackets and or extensions, back into the replacement rear bumper.
I'm still contemplating how I will do this...........

D'oh!
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Whilst I still haven't decided how to brace the side brackets, I had a few good idea's......... it's just it has to do the job and still look OK. I'll get there eventually.

Anyway, I've now made both the rear roof rack uprights.
As with the front uprights, these also follow the side profile of the body but there's also a compound bend, that follows the forward leaning angle, of the rear of the FRP top, of the vehicle body.

As before, a picture is worth a 1,000 words, so.............

As you can see here , the left side of this rear upright (the upper section of it), is leaning forward, at angle of 10 degree's.

And here are a couple of images, of the rear upright in position on the "Battle Cruiser".

Now for what is probably the most challenging part of this whole build, getting the transition from the compound bend, back to a level and horizontal cross piece, at the top of these rear uprights. This will take quite a bit of "walking around", until I hopefully get it right in my head..................

D'oh!
Homer

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Finally getting close to finishing this project.
Here's a better view of one of the rear uprights, with the compound bend in it.

And also, the rear upright, top horizontal joiner, ready for laying up in place and getting some measurments.

D'oh!
Homer

 

[Billyfj7312ht]

Getting there Homer. Like the way your following the existing lines.
How much weight you thinking of carrying?

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Thanks for your kind comment Billyfj7312ht.
Good question mate? I plan on having a series of cross bracing brackets, these should stiffen it up enough....... I hope.
I have several lengths of 50x50mm RHS and other steel here, I'll progressively load it up with these, and see what happens?
I'll then take it for a drive, and see if there is excessive movement, this will give me an indication of it's carrying capacity.

D'oh!
Homer