DIY Topper Rack

[Brandon Pattison]

Stainless Powerstrut. Canoes, ladders and etc.

 

[Ehiggins]

That looks great. Nice job. Did you do the welds your self? They look really good.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

Thanks. I used a mig welder with stainless wire. I got in a fight with it twice. Each time a backlash. The spool was much smaller so I had to jury rig it. Since the topper is curved my dad and I used angle blocks to cut the vertical posts at 2 and 3 degrees. Laying out the rails was tough because everything is tapered and curved.

 

[beachbunny]

let me see. so far rokslide has got me sewing,
i guess next comes welding!
thanks for the post

 

[Take-a-knee]

That's pretty slick. I'd fab some stops to keep a canoe from sliding on the crossbars. Maybe spraying them with bedliner would help.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

I havesome more parts to add. Been busy.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Ahhhh... the many uses for Kindorf Strut, versatile stuff. Well done!
I keep meaning to bolt some of that stuff to the garage ceiling for a trolley raceway.
Hunt'nFish

 

[Brandon Pattison]

They work well for hanging fur, hnf, but are expensive. I'd only use rollers for maybe deer.

 

[xziang]

Nice. One thing I did was pull the roof rack from a 4runner at a local salvage yard in preperation to add it to my campershell. I was going this route for I already had the yakima rail rider system from my previous 4runner that would work perfectly. This however wouldn't be as heavy duty as what you did but similiar concept.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

I wanted it strong enough to hoist it inside the ceiling of my garage via a boat winch. The strut is pretty universal for mounting and I've run a lot of it.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Brandon, If your planning to hoist it on/off, I might be concerned about lbs/in^2 force placed on the washers inside. Maybe you could add runs of strut on the inside to act as long washers.... you know, displace force over longer area and minimize fiberglass stress & cracking. And the strut would help prevent you from sticking one of the bolts in the scalp. And the strut inside could be handy for mounting stuff inside: fishing pole or gun racks, storage baskets..... unlimited possibilities.

Kindrof strut is the grown up version of the Erector Set.

Hell I even used it on my truck racks to hold up electrical conduit bows and an oiled tarp. I call it the Conestoga.
The strut allows me to easily take the bows on/off as needed, and to adjust the height of the bows for increased head room when I camp/sleep in the back. This "modular shell" allows me to enjoy the benefits of a canopy shell that I can easily take off in order to load the 9.5ft camper.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

I didn't have any more strut and/or square washers when I built it and it was now or never. I can pull the rails off anytime and redo it. That would compromise the integrity of the silicone but that price you pay I guess. I made sure there was enough thread sticking through to put rod couplings on if I wanted to hang stuff in there. I am sure I will hit my skull on them.