Here's a picture of my new rack. 60x72.

If anyone ever asks you to build a rack for them. Say no. This was a major pain in the arse. Almost NO "in position" welding. So if you see it in person keep your booger comments to yo self:flipoff2:

Yes, it is only made of 1/2; But with only the corners touching (it's for a rangie, so the middle supports are shorter) it only has 1" deflection at 190lbs/in in the center, and that's without the floor. Oh, and if anyone needs the height differentiation of the roof, without doing the complex math to find the curve, it's a 1/2". I didn't see the sense in having a rack that weighed 300#.

I only have to put the clamps on and coat it somehow. I am going to use "plasti-cote" for the feet/clamps, and "hammerite" to match my other accessories. Does anyone know what type of coating place does "resin dipping" in case I want to "dip the whole thing"?

Now for the question.
Does anyone have some ideas for a "removable" tire mount for a rack? If I build a rear tire carrier, I want to be able to move the tire back there. I was thinking of making a mount like: _/-\_ and having it bolt on.

Hey man, looks good! Far be it from me to comment on anyone's booger welds!

I would consider having it galvanized honestly. With the salt you see there, any paint you shoot on it will just rust in about 2 years. Although the plastidip stuff is awesome, I don't think it's tough enough to hold up to the pressure between the feet and gutter.

I have run my own homemade rack for several years and also the ARB racks I have now. My own homemade rack had Yakima and Thule feet on it, but I also put slices of an innertube between them and the gutters for vibration and clamping help. My racks would slide fore and aft under severe off-roading/braking forces, so it needed a little more 'grip-tion' (yes, that's my own word, think grip+traction). :flipoff2:

If you don't want the weight of having it hot dip galvanized, you could consider getting it powdercoated. Eventually the powdercoating will chip, and that's almost worse than having paint chip because the water will migrate between the metal and platic coating through (pause for $10 word.....) capillary action. I've had it happen to me, and have seen it alot. It'll take a while, but will eventually happen.

IMO, I'd get it galvanized. It'll look kind of 'series-esque' and be tough as nails.

For the tire rack I just use a 1 inch cam-lock strap. Nothing fancy and I can move the tire around on the top of the rack depending on where I need to load stuff.

Woah, I'm long winded this morning.....must stop....fingers gettttttting tirhema..hd........

I'd opt for powdercoating. I have everything on the rig powdercoated and if its done right i.e. sand blasted and then baked, it will hold up well. If you do go this route, make sure to find a goood shop that will take the time to sand down any imperfections and re-apply the coating. This also results in a thicker coat with better adhesion. In the end, you essentially have an impervious (I think that ones worth $5) plastic coating that adhears to the metal, preventing this "capillary" action. :flipoff2:

Does "capillary" action happen with rhino lining? That may be another option. Wilderness trail and conferr both make a bolt on tire unit. Do a search on the web and try to make something similar yourself. May also want to check price. It may be cheaper to buy a powdercoated premade option that trying to copy it and have it turn out to be more expensive with gorilla snot welds...oh shiat did I type that ouy loud...:D

Way

capillary action happens when water (or any liquid, beer, wine, juicy-juice, etc...) gets between two surfaces that are very close together, but aren't actually touching.

IF the Rhinolining seperates from the base metal and water is allowed to get in there and rust, it will start to push the Rhinolining away from the metal and allow water to further ingress.

Maybe a search under capillary action would be interesting to see what came up?

My vote is still for galvanizing.

nice looking rack...er for a guy anyway! I wanted to build my next one with 1/2" square tubing but didn't know how to bend the corners w/o investing in major $$ benders. Anyone got any ideas? Harbor Freight has benders for solid sq stock up to 5/8" but not hollow.

Originally posted by Way
It may be cheaper to buy a powdercoated premade option that trying to copy it and have it turn out to be more expensive with gorilla snot welds...oh shiat did I type that ouy loud...:D

Way

Nothing worse than being a certified welder and certified financial planner in the same person. Nothing. I guess the results you get in both are permanent.

j

HA!!!.........LOL :laughing:

Actually,

When I was working on cars, "gorrila snot" was the strongest adhesive for poly vinyl that you could get.

Anyway,

Here's a shot of the mount. Quite series-esque ($2.49)

well, for a second spare mount (one I keep up-top on my adventure rack), I took a disco rear tire mount and attached it to some steel runners I fashioned to allow me to bolt the whole assembly around the tubes of my roof rack.

if I remember correctly, I picked up the "spare" spare mount for like twenty bucks or so. seemed much easier than trying to make the actual tire mount with wheel studs and all.

/mike

You could also use a paint called POR-15. It is based on the same design as super glue. "POR" stands for "paint over rust." Its good strong stuff... just keep it off of your skin...heheh

The rack looks sweet.

Later.

Ken S.

Originally posted by alia176
I wanted to build my next one with 1/2" square tubing but didn't know how to bend the corners Anyone got any ideas?


that's easy. just bend flat stock or sheet metal for the corners, and weld the straight sections of tubing to it.

you could use material about the thickness of a ruler, and add however many additional pieces welded together as needed, for any strength requirements.

i think 1/2" tubing is too small, btw.

Originally posted by unimogken
You could also use a paint called POR-15. It is based on the same design as super glue. "POR" stands for "paint over rust." Its good strong stuff... just keep it off of your skin...heheh

The rack looks sweet.

Later.

Ken S.

POR15 is not UV stable and will fail unless it's top coated.

Originally posted by UZI 9mm



that's easy. just bend flat stock or sheet metal for the corners, and weld the straight sections of tubing to it.

you could use material about the thickness of a ruler, and add however many additional pieces welded together as needed, for any strength requirements.

i think 1/2" tubing is too small, btw.

Jeez,

Just miter the ends and leave it square. The series look is THE look by the way.

1/2 and 3/4 are the same thickness of wall, and with the correct gusseting, it's fine with a floor. Besides, what are you going to put up there, elephants?

j

I know I can leave it square but I like the looks of rounded corners. My current one is square and works fine but wanted something different. But, since you're bringing up a Series vehicle.... we might as well stay with leaf springs :flipoff2:

I said the look, not the design.

;)

1/2 and 3/4 are the same thickness of wall, and with the correct gusseting, it's fine with a floor. Besides, what are you going to put up there, elephants?

Funny story here, Freshman year of college I was dating a tall extremely skinny blonde who had a not so thin (at all) friend. My girlfriend at the time wanted to go to the drive-in and bring a sleeping bag and pillow and sit on the roof to watch the movie. I said cool (95 lbs) and my 180lbs doesn't make me worry at all. She ended up inviting her friend to join us. Must admit that I was a little worried with her fat ass up there.

John, you are married, so shouldn't have any problems. I think if you are smart about what you carry you will be fine...

Way

Back to the original question, about a year ago I bought the Garvin Wilderness spare tire mount for their roof rack. Pretty modular design that should fit any rack(my rack is an INTI from Venezuela), good finish, and it's both lockable and adjustable. I think it was $60 or so back then, it can't be much more now.

Just a thought...

Originally posted by Old Scout


POR15 is not UV stable and will fail unless it's top coated.

Gotta call you on that one Old Scout. POR 15 is UV sensitive, but will not "fail" when exposed to UV rads. It will change color from the original (fades a bit). This is per the POR website, and the included literature from several cans of POR I have in the garage.

POR is some really tough stuff. Very scratch resistant, and very hard to chip off. Almost impossible to remove, once applied correctly. I have even tried taking it off metal with Aircraft Remover (you know straight Sulfuric Acid), without success. Only thing that really works is something that will take the metal off as well (like an angle grinder).

Billster (veteran of many semipermanent POR15 hand decorations).

Originally posted by FrankenRover


Gotta call you on that one Old Scout. POR 15 is UV sensitive, but will not "fail" when exposed to UV rads. It will change color from the original (fades a bit). This is per the POR website, and the included literature from several cans of POR I have in the garage.

POR is some really tough stuff. Very scratch resistant, and very hard to chip off. Almost impossible to remove, once applied correctly. I have even tried taking it off metal with Aircraft Remover (you know straight Sulfuric Acid), without success. Only thing that really works is something that will take the metal off as well (like an angle grinder).

Billster (veteran of many semipermanent POR15 hand decorations).

Well the gray FAILED on my frame! I bitched to POR and they said you left it in the sun sorry! All POR15 is 100% solids moistured polyurethane. I have a source of the same thing in gallons cans for 70.00! POR is a rip off!

BTW you do not use H2So4 to remove paint! Methylene Chloride is the active ingredient in paint remover. High Ph (caustic Soda) not Low Ph ( acid) will damage paint.

My sunburned scout frame

Bill go find your local Devoe supplier. They do a ton of business in the oil fields. You can get a POR15 type coating in 25 colors for $70 a gallon! I'm painting my scout with the stuff. My local shop is mixing Arles Blue for me in a 2 part Epoxy oil tanker coating.

http://devoecoatings.com/

Sorry about your frame and the POR. You might have a beef with them though, per their website:

WILL THE SUN DESTROY MY POR-15 COATING IF I DON'T TOPCOAT IT?
No, your POR-15 protection will remain, but the sun will change its appearance cosmetically. That's why we recommend you topcoat it.

I was just guessing on the active ingredient of Aircraft Remover cuz the smell is so caustic. It is some severly nasty stuff though.

Thanks for the link on the other paint supplier.

Billster

Well,

I thought about POR15, but with our UV index here in Denver and higher, I wasn't thinking it would be to great. Indirect applications, it's great. I will probably go with the Galvanizing or Hammerite. I like Hammerite, it looks cool, seals well, and is something like 8 bucks for a quart. I know that's high for a quart, but I don't need a gallon. Besides, my sliders and bumpers are coated with it, (debating doing the factory wheels) so the uniform look might be important at the local starbucks.

Has anyone hot dipped before? I have been warned about warpage. That is something that I DEFINATELY want to avoid.

j

Hey RR,

We've galvanized all kinds of stuff. Everything from thin sheet metal (which does warp a bit) to bulkheads (no warpage) and frames (no warpage).

If you do the galvanizing just make sure that you drill 1/4 inch holes at each end of any sealed tubes. If you don't, the air in the tubes will expand very rapidly and either bulge your square tubing or split it open like a banana.

Go with the galvanizing. If you can't stand the color, spray it black.

Couldn't stand the wait or the Price. Seems very few companies do dipping here, and most did zinc plating. So, it has been painted with "Hammerite".

Real Hammerite? or the crappy Rustoleum Hammered finish?

Billster

Our Rangie has 35" tyres double maxi drive standard 3.5 litre motor. It also has a thomas whinch and it has been cut into a bobtailed ute.:jester:

Billster,
I am not a retail paint guru, but the coating I used is not made by rustoleum. It is the copyrighted/patented "hammerite". I don't remember the mfg of the paint. It takes about 2-3 coats to get good coverage, and doesn't like impurities. It seems to be tougher than hell. It's available in quarts/gallons/rattle cans and has to be thinned with xlene.


j