HF Rack in LJ

[Java]

Trent asked about this, figured I'd post it if anyone else can use the idea. I have this hitch rack https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb...ier-66983.html mounted in the back of my Jeep using a piece of Superstrut from the home depot, two u-bolts, two turnbuckles, two quick-links for chain, and four bolts that originally held the seat belts in. Also four furniture feet mounted under it with four self-drilling bolts to protect the paint, the indent at the center of the feet keeps the screw head off the body. Basically a bunch of stuff I had sitting around... I hope the pics explain it, they're uploading in random order and my Jeep is a little muddy, but it's pretty simple. The only holes I made were for the quick-links, and it all can come out pretty fast. It works like a trunk too, I have a tool box mounted infront of it and with the tailgate locked it's pretty secure.

One of the pics is the Superstrut section of the electrical aisle at Home Depot. If you haven't seen this you should! Great brackets, special nuts and all sorts of cool stuff for making racks and mounting things.

[open_circuit]

Thanks Paul. I still need my rear seatbelts, so I'm going to poke around and see if I can come up with a plan to do something similar while retaining rear seat / seat belt integrity. Maybe some U-bolts around the roll bar instead of the seat belt bolt? A project for after I finish mucking with that stripped screw.

[open_circuit]

I've been thinking more about this, and realized an ATV rack might work better for me so I can still use the rear seat belts. I found http://www.wranglerforum.com/f282/lj...t-1246649.html, which looks like this same concept with a smaller (ATV) rack.

Paul, did you do anything to secure the front of the "trunk"?


I also like the idea of using a strap between the rack and rear seatbelt bolts to hold the front of the rack down.

[Java]

Yes, I have a toolbox bolted to the floor using another seat belt bolt. It's big, I bought it on Amazon for about $75.00 IIRC. There is a large one under the seat that both belts connect to, I used that and a large backing plate through a hole I made in the bottom of the box.