DIY rack for 100 series (1 Viewer)

[ElHefe]

And the rear hatch opened completely.

 

[silver02accord]

@ElHefe What I ended up doing as well. Gamiviti mounts. For the crossbars I just ordered front runner load bars since I wanted the ability to use m8 bolts. For the rest I got extruded aluminum precut from 8020.net. have 2 100 watt solar panels, an awning, and shower tent mounted. Great adjustability and a fraction the cost of a prebuilt rack.

Do you have pic of your loaded setup - how did you end up mounting the solar panels? Looking to mount a 100w on my roof eventually. Thank you

 

[bobcatag2006]

@ElHefe

Where did you get the side rials? Do you have a link and did you have them machined to have the mounting holes match or did you do that yourself?

 

[ElHefe]

Drove around for a couple days. Solid as a rock but not as low profile as I was hoping. To accommodate the center mounts at their lowest position (these mounts are located at the highest part of the domed roof), the front mounts needed to be maxed out and the rear mounts needed to be raised as well. This increased the height of the rack and caused an inverted rake stance (flat while the truck is unloaded and inverted while loaded in the rear). Yesterday, I took out the center mounts to see how much lower the rack could be located. Looks much better. The use of channel rails here is key. The rack remains surprisingly solid with very little flex. If this were bar stock (like Prinsu uses), I think removing the middle mount would not work. It would cause too much flex.

The rails were purchased from Grainger. Shipping on these pieces normally kills the deal and makes experimentation very expensive; luckily I have a local Grainger and items ship to store for $0. I started with 1.5 inch by .25 angle but the interior angle had a slight radius. Wouldn’t work without using spacers. Then I tried 1 inch by .25 flat bar stock. Way too flimsy. I also ordered 3 inch by .25 flat bar stock. Very strong but only came in 72 inches. Too short. Grainger took returns on all the experimentation orders (no cuts, no holes, no signs of use). Finally settled on 1.25 inch by .1275 U channel rails. These came in a 96 inch length which I cut down slightly. The interior width is 1 inch exactly (with no interior radius) and the 1 inch extrusions slid in perfectly with a little lubrication. I drilled the rail holes since they are specific to my application. For the extrusions, I *highly* recommend ignoring advice to “save a couple quarters and just tap the ends yourself”. It is damn near impossible to do it properly without access to industrial equipment and a drill guide. You will be spending a couple hundred on extrusions; make your life easier and pay the few extra cents to have them (tnutz in my case) tap the ends.

 

[bobcatag2006]

Drove around for a couple days. Solid as a rock but not as low profile as I was hoping. To accommodate the center mounts at their lowest position (these mounts are located at the highest part of the domed roof), the front mounts needed to be maxed out and the rear mounts needed to be raised as well. This increased the height of the rack and caused an inverted rake stance (flat while the truck is unloaded and inverted while loaded in the rear). Yesterday, I took out the center mounts to see how much lower the rack could be located. Looks much better. The use of channel rails here is key. The rack remains surprisingly solid with very little flex. If this were bar stock (like Prinsu uses), I think removing the middle mount would not work. It would cause too much flex.

The rails were purchased from Grainger. Shipping on these pieces normally kills the deal and makes experimentation very expensive. I started with 1.5 inch by .25 angle but the interior angle had a slight radius. Wouldn’t work without using spacers. Then I tried 1 inch by .25 flat bar stock. Way too flimsy. I also ordered 3 inch by .25 flat bar stock. Very strong but only came in 72 inches. Too short. Grainger took returns on all the experimentation orders (no cuts, no holes, no signs of use). Finally settled on 1.25 inch by .1275 U channel rails. These came in a 96 inch length which I cut down slightly. The interior width is 1 inch exactly (with no interior radius) and the 1 inch extrusions slid in perfectly with a little lubrication. I drilled the rail holes since they are specific to my application. For the extrusions, I *highly* recommend ignoring advice to “save a couple quarters and just tap the ends yourself”. It is damn near impossible to do it properly without access to industrial equipment and a drill guide. You will be spending a couple hundred on extrusions; make your life easier and pay the few extra cents to have them (tnutz in my case) tap the ends.

View attachment 2425908

Awesome information. Thank you very much. I spent yesterday afternoon finding everything you posted to do this exact same rack since it is significantly less than any other rack. You provided excellent write-up and part info besides the rails so thanks for your detailed info there.

I definitely plan to get the extrusions tapped as I have no way to do that myself. Now, just putting it all together to explain to my wife that ~$400 is better than 1200+ and answer the question, but can't you just put all of that stuff in the back already?

 

[ElHefe]

Awesome information. Thank you very much. I spent yesterday afternoon finding everything you posted to do this exact same rack since it is significantly less than any other rack. You provided excellent write-up and part info besides the rails so thanks for your detailed info there.

I definitely plan to get the extrusions tapped as I have no way to do that myself. Now, just putting it all together to explain to my wife that ~$400 is better than 1200+ and answer the question, but can't you just put all of that stuff in the back already?

When my wife asked: “Honey, which do you prefer?”

 

[ElHefe]

How thick is the Front Runner fairing? 1/4 inch or 3/16?

 

[JunkCrzr89]

How thick is the Front Runner fairing? 1/4 inch or 3/16?

3/16” I think. I can put calipers on it and measure if you need.

 

[ElHefe]

3/16” I think. I can put calipers on it and measure if you need.

That’d be awesome. I ordered the 1345/1425 but would need to cut it down. Checked Grainger again and found the 3/16 ABS Sheet (12” by 48”) is only $20.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

That’d be awesome. I ordered the 1345/1425 but would need to cut it down. Checked Grainger again and found the 3/16 ABS Sheet (12” by 48”) is only $20.

Only 2.5mm thick, so like 3/32”. That 3/16” from Grainger is probably better, especially for the price.

 

[hoser]

@ElHefe Why not cut down the middle mounts to make them shorter?

 

[ElHefe]

@ElHefe Why not cut down the middle mounts to make them shorter?

It would involve cutting the bottom of the outer bracket, the top of the inner bracket (that bolts to the roof channel), and redrilling the center bolt. Possible but a substantial amount of modification.

 

[hoser]

This DIY thread won't be complete until you do it.

 

[rhetorik]

Hey man - any update on this? Did you end up DIYing a wind fairing? I inadvertently ended up with the same rack setup pretty much, and wanted to check in! I’m in the ‘too scared to mess up measuring where to drill the side rails’ phase right now.

 

[ElHefe]

Hey man - any update on this? Did you end up DIYing a wind fairing? I inadvertently ended up with the same rack setup pretty much, and wanted to check in! I’m in the ‘too scared to mess up measuring where to drill the side rails’ phase right now.

Hey @rhetorik, no big updates. I ended up buying some 1/8” x 1” x 96” aluminum stock to make the fairing brackets and a 12” x 48” piece of ABS from Grainger. Very inexpensive and probably would have worked well but I removed the rack while doing some paint work on my hood and roof. I haven’t put it back on since and a few weeks later decided—after realizing once again that life is short—why not get a @benc roof rack. I pulled the trigger (Ben is excellent and had some great advice) and will go that route.

If anyone is in the Chicago area, I have the rack fully assembled and am happy to pass it along for less than the cost of materials or in trade for something cool. It was fun building it but I’d rather see it being used than serving as a wall decoration.

 

[ElHefe]

If anyone in the Chicago area wants this rack, send me a PM. I’ll be back in town at the end of December.