Brad's roof rack remodel

[scout man]

Started on some more work for Brad today. I dont have any before pictures, but his RTT used to sit on top of the rails of his roof rack. He wanted to cut out the top rail so the RTT could sit firmly on the bottom of the roof rack. He also wanted some sort of "limb lifter" to push branches up over the roof rack instead of snagging on it and ripping them off. Also, the "legs" for the roof rack were rusting out really bad, so he wanted them replaced.

Today I shortened the basket portion of the roof rack to fit only in front of the tent, built the limb lifters, and got the new legs mostly built. The new legs are made out of plate instead of tubing (partly because I barely didnt have enough tubing) and to allow for the tent awning and hilift jack to be mounted on the legs of the rack. I still need to add a few holes to the legs, add an additional brace to the limb lifters (havent decided how I prefer to do that yet) and add some tabs to the front so he can add wire rope limb lifters from the rack to the brush guard.

On a side note - dang this was made out of some thin tube! This has been the most challenging tubing I have ever welded on. It is extremely challenging to not blow holes in this stuff with the welder. I intended to recycle a fair amount of the tubing, but it just wasnt worth the effort. Everything I added is done with signifiacantly thicker tubing.

Should be ready for you to pick up tomorrow night Brad, or whenever works best for you.

[scout man]

Hey Brad, what is the height of the zipper on the front side of the RTT? Trying to decide what kind of gussets/brace or whatever I want to do on these limb lifter bars and I want to make sure I dont run a bar right along the zipper and block it on you!

[Brad]

Awesome job! Checking now. It's 1.5" from the base of the aluminum mounting bars.

[scout man]

hmm, didnt expect it to be that low. I hope the top rail of the rack isnt already blocking it.

[Brad]

It shouldn't even be close. Remember I am moving the tent back a few inches so it opens further behind the back door. As long as you followed the back mark you should be fine. I am planning on cleaning up the rough spots and painting it on sat.

[scout man]

yea, the back of the top rail is right at your line. OK, should be good then!

trying to decide if I want to do a horizontal bar between the two limb lifters, or diagonals down to the back rails. Honestly it probably doesnt need either, as it is extremely solid, but I think it just looks funny hanging out up there. Looks weak.

Edit: on second thought, while looking at the picture of it, I think I will do a horizontal between the two, near the top of the peak. Mostly because if you are off camber close to a tree, its likely those could make some rather solid contact and might need the additional support.

While we are at it, when are we going to start on your exo cage? :D afterall, you already have the sliders and bumper to tie into, and we could incoorporate a mean roof rack into the cage! :lmao:

[Brad]

I do need to get out of the front of the tent, I was thinking a small diagonal down low to the top bar of the back of the basket.

[scout man]

ok, didnt know there was a door there. Diagonal it is!!

[Brad]

Kind of like this:

[scout man]

yup, gotcha

[Brad]

The door is centered in the middle and is 3 feet wide.

[scout man]

ok, good to know

[Brad]

I forgot about the front awning. The support rods pictured below are 9.5" from the outside corners. I am not sure where those line up in comparison to the verticals you welded on for the new rear of the basket. They sit in the aluminum base plate, roughly 2" from the bottom of the mounting bracket. I am more worried about the first vertical. I am doing the calculations for this.

[Brad]

Figuring the roof rack is roughly 50" wide and the tent is 56" wide it should clear. How wide are the outer sections?

[scout man]

everything right now is currently within the same width as the original roof rack. not sure if I am exactly understanding how these braces work.

[Brad]

They are support rods that slide into the base and bow up and hook into the front awning. Here is a side view of them. On the far left. I don't think the cross bar will be a issue, just the outer verticals.

[scout man]

the verticals i welded in are directly on top of the lateral bars on the bottom of the rack. if I need to remove one or two thats not a big deal. there are more on the rear than the front anyways, since it looked weird not hitting ever lateral bar.

[Brad]

How far is it from the edge of the rack to the first vertical?

[scout man]

i will measure tomorrow, but chances are it wont hit. If it does we can cross that bridge. Shouldnt be too hard to find a solution. As long as the cross bar isnt an issue then life is good.

[Brad]

Let me know as soon as you can.

[scout man]

Just measured. The vertical starts 8.5 to 8.75 inches from the very outside of the outer tube (apparently the rack isnt exactly symmetrical)


Edit: Fixed spelling so Old Rob can sleep tonight! :brody:

[The StRanger]

Nice Build..

[Jackie]

I'm doin' the popcorn munch. This looks so great!

[scout man]

haha, I was wondering if anyone else was going to join in here!

[scout man]

for those that are wondering, this is generally how the PMs go when I am building something for someone!

[Brad]

We are good to go then! I just wanted to keep all the communication together. :D

this also shows just how accommodating Steve has been with the builds. Great welder and person! :thumb:

[scout man]

good!

[glacierpaul]

Nice! Beef that puppy up!!

[Java]

very nice!! :thumb:

[scout man]

well, we hit a few hicups on this overhaul. I build Brad some legs for his roof rack out of sheet metal and some tubing for reinforcement, and he said when he drives it he gets a lot of movement out of the roof rack... so I went back to the drawing board. I went and bought some more of that small tubing and redesigned the legs. Or, rather, I designed them the way the manufacturer did (I like to reinvent the wheel, even when not at all necessary). I have also been having some trouble with my welder lately. I stopped by general air and tried to find some parts for it yesterday, but they didnt have them in stock, so I had to hobble my welder along today. Because of this, I did part of this with my old Flux core welder, which I havent touched in a long time. I still have the touch with it though!!

pictures below include my home made tubing bender, as well as pictures of the finished legs. There are seven in the pictures, one is an original leg for comparison. The three with plates on the side are for the awning of his RTT

[glacierpaul]

Looking good! Homemade tools are the best! I have had to use a 4" hole saw bit to make a bend in 3/4 K copper before, works great!