Let's see your frugal DIY mods!

Awesome.

Looks great!

 

hey ermb, just found your rack and digging it!!! What did you use on ends to attach the strut to? What type of material? How heavy is it?

 

I used L-brackets that are part of the unistrut system sold at Home Depot. It's basically a rectangle with an L-bracket under each corner and bolted together. The middle struts use the same bracket. I had some old broken aluminum track and those were cut to the same width as the struts and attached the same way. Last thing I did was dress it up on the outer sides with a piece of 2.5"aluminum bar bolted to the side using red fender washers I found on ebay.

 

I put this up a few weeks ago in the "what have you done today" thread. But it was certainly frugal, so I'll throw it up here.

I built a jig to lift the truck from the rear-end. You can jack it up from the diff...but I wanted something a little more stable and spread out the load more. It's also safer as it's a lot less likely to slip off of the rear-end like a jack by itself might. Plus I don't mar up the pumpkin's finish. Lifting both wheels off the ground at the same time makes quick work of throwing on and taking off my snow tires as needed or doing a tire rotation.

$2.20 2x4 from Lowe's.

 

you got an estimation on total weight for the strut rack? Is your topper rated for the extra weight?

 

Rack probably weighs 25-30lbs. I had a thule gutter mount that was mounted in the same spot I just think this disperses the weight better. Before I mounted it I stood on it while it was propped up, and it held me easy. I'm about 210. Not sure about the cap rating, it a Leer 100R.

 

NICE!! Any chance of sharing the dimensions? (save me some time) Thanks

 

How does the CB work with your antenna there? I was told it wouldn't work as well as a hood or roof mount when running a topper. I really like the look of yours.

 

Sure.

All 2x4 material. Screwed together with 2.5 inch decking screws
The main body is 2 feet long.
The 4 upright pieces at each end are 7 inches tall.
The 2 pieces in between the 4 uprights are just slightly proud of 3.5 inches.
The provision (channel) for the drain plug is about 1.25" off of center.
The "box" on the underside that fits over the jack head will vary depending on your particular jack.

Your overall dimensions may very slightly. Hope this helps.

Here's a shot of the bottom. The little piece in the center is just a small sacrificial piece of plywood that I can replace as the jack head eats it up.

 

How did you build that shelf to attach the base/balls of the ram mount? I like.

 

Its a kit I bought, its from" bird dawg industries", it came with the bracket and the ram balls. The rest of the stuff I got at Amazon. The arm is a short one,xmount for iphone 6. good stuff, found out it on TW

 

I did the A-pillar mount which I like but this might be even better. No luck finding. You got a link?

 

Yes it is real nice, easy to use the phone when in the mount, right above the shifter. The guys that design it have tacos, check out there website, they make a mirror relocate bracket also.

 

Thanks!!!, I am going to put one together, (I owe ya one)

 

Not a problem.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/free-mod-for-trailer-electric-bracket.425431/

 

The ultimate frugal mod. FREE! Well, sorta. I saw one other guy post this about a year ago, and haven't seen anyone else doing it so I thought I'd share the wealth. A maglite fits perfectly in between the seat and the center console. Had mine there for a year with no movement and easy access!

 

Hey, me too!

 

I did that with my old Ranger, and it fit perfectly. The one flaw that under heavy braking the flashlight would slide out and get under the pedals.
The fix was to put a ring of velcro around the neck of the flashlight with the hook side out. That would grab the carpet and keep everything safe.
Worked like a charm for many years.

 

Here is the Headache rack I've been building