ryani

Well it has been a work in progress and I finally got it completed. Turned out pretty good I think.

I made the gas can holder out of scrap emt conduit and angle from an old shelving unit from work. It holds 4 two gallon gas cans. I went with four because two 5 gallon cans would be heavy to get off the roof and they stick up way to high. The cans are really only for when I have my trusty ole 2-stroke dirt bike along on the trip. The cans be padlocked in and you dont have to worry about bungee cords either. Gas cans were on sale $22 for the four so thats all the money I have invested in that part.

The rack I thought was a square rola rack but when i pulled the cheesy sticker it had a bauer vehicle logo. No biggie to me. It measures 39 w by 45 long. With the gas can rack and basket it comes out right behind the sunroof. Couldn't planned it any better. I got the rack for 90 shipped and will work great for what I need.

Just thought I'd share some pics.

Red3.slow

That looks really good! You did a super job on that.

crawlerjunkie

not a huge fan of the plastic cans, but the build is real nice

psraff

That does look good. I keep looking at our scrap barrels at work full of strut, EMT and Rigid and trying to think of what I can do with it. You did a great job on that! And good thinking in getting the small gas cans. I'll need to pick some up for for camping season, and I sure don't want to loading up 5gal. cans up there.

ryani

Thanks guys. The plastic cans are cheapies but for as many times as I am going to use them I cant justify getting metal ones.

I filled a metal 5 gal can up and tried to put it up there. Let's just say I like my paint with out scratches. haha.

psraff

I'm right there with ya! I would use them only when I got out camping \ exploring and I know of only two places I want to go to this year as of right now.... If I ever get a rear bumper, I'll get the brackets for the gerry cans. Then I'll go with the 5gal metal ones.

Ron Helmuth

I would kill for those rack mounts to the roof rail. I like how you don't have to mount up high on the cross bars. It's a few critical inches that allow me to still garage my rig.

I have a similar set up on my Costco rack-but it looks half a$$ed.

Can you hook us up to those Bauer mounts? Thanks for sharing the pics and yes the jerry can setup is a nice addition using the factory knobs to secure it.

ryani

Yes I eliminated the all the factory hardware on the roof rails so it would sit as low as possible. I left a little room for flexing of the basket just in case bows down and hits the roof.

The mounts I made. I made them from 1 5/8 unistrut. It's a product we use at work and have scrap pieces laying around. You could probably find it at home depot or lowes.

Best thing about using it is I can attach my awning pipe to very quick. It only takes me about ten minutes to set up my 8x10 awning. I can put it on either side too.

Ron Helmuth

1 & 5/8 unistrut thanks very much I will look for it. Appreciate the info ryani

psraff

Depends on where you're at, it may be called something else, but it's strut.

Deep Strut = 1 5/8" Strut
Shallow Strut = 7/8" I think
Double Strut = Deep Strut riveted back to back to each other.

Commercial and Industrial Electricians use it to hang conduit so if you can't find it, look for it at their supply venders. Comes in 10' lengths and it's pretty cheap really. You can get it with round holes, slots (what most people like the best) or a solid back on it. Look close and you can see the slots on his. He actually has it laying on it's side. If you get real creative, they have spring nuts and square washers that go with strut so you can build just about anything.



Also get strut straps and such as well....
http://www.drillspot.com/products/14...nel_Spring_Nut

ryani

Yep I laid it on the side and used some spring nuts to hold two offset straps. then I can fasten my awning to it. It works slick!

Ron Helmuth

thanks psraff for additional details-now I know where I have seen it before-in the electrical closet at my old work. ryani that is a great look and super adaptation to fit your needs (and now mine!)

most helpful both of you and most appreciated. Do not hesitate to ask me to do something for you. I just assisted a fellow YT member this last week pick up fender flares from a Denver craigslist buyer. It was a bit of an adventure but I learned some more about flares and so on. Always nice to get to know a fellow 3rd gen Runner guy or 3.

ryani

You are very welcome. Have fun with your project.

Ron Helmuth

this project has stalled out. Thank goodness I could find the link again so I could bookmark it this time.

Unistrut-I got to pick some of it up like soon to keep this going. Told the crew over on T4R about it also. thanks again ryani and psraff. I get mired in the smallest of the details.

Really happy to do photos finally without a host. Here is a shot of my ghetto mounts I was referring to-your setup is stronger and looks professional too.

Could use some of that unistrut for my Hi Lift mounting to the ARB bumper up front also.

psraff

No prob... Glad I can offer info when I can.

toyospearo

Great job!!
Well done!

fengine8

Did the unistrut require any special mounting hardware after you took off the factory rails? I think I might make an entire rack out of the unistrut and attach all along the factory rail (going lengthwise) and then cross members on top of that. Any thoughts by anyone?

Ron Helmuth

don't see why that would not work fengine8, but I am mechanically challenged myself. How will you join the unistrut end pieces to the unistrut sides? just stack them?

fengine8

I went to the unit strut website to see what they had to offer and it's endless. The stuff is incredibly versatile. My assumption is that building the rack won't be that difficult but mounting it securely to the factory rails will be the challenge. I got out my level last night and noticed two things, one that my whole vehicle sits an inch higher on the passenger side than the drivers side, but that's for another post I guess. Two, the factory rail mounts look like they would accept a bolt/large washer to secure them but they aren't parallel with the ground. There's a small slope to them. I'd get a picture but it's raining right now so I don't want to go outside. The website for unistrut is http://www.unistrut.com/. It's basically like the Konnex toy for adults and contractos. It doesn't seem that expensive either, averaging a $1/foot or so. All the racks that I have liked all seem to cost a few hundred so I'll probably save a bunch by using the unistrut.

ryani

Yes the rails aren't completely flat. I was going to run a solid piece along each rail under my rack but the middle of the rail has a slight belly up. That's why I opted for three small pieces on each side.