DIY prinsu style shell rack

The tops of my cross bars are only about a 1/16” below the top of the side rails, hasn’t affected function yet. Any more than that and it would start to I think, It makes the connection look much better as well to leave a slight reveal, I put a heavy chamfer on the side rails, the bottom of the chamfer meets up nicely with the top of the cross bars.

 

Thats what I figured. Do you have any photos of it?

 

Ha, just checked it, it’s actually more like 3/16” but I like the lip, I can get a better pic in the am.

 

I was about to say that does look more than 1/16

 

I'm interested to see how you mount to the roof. please add pics when you get to this.

 

Please comment my design, sending for laser cut Monday.

I have added many loops to hook straps/bungees.

Decided to leave 1/16 for lip between tracks and side plates. That can easily be compensated with washers when mounting awning / brackets.

I asked 5052 but could make it 6061 since there is no bending planned. Not decided yet.

I also made the holes 0.25 dia. flush, wondering if I should enlarge them a bit to make sure the 1/4 screws go through without peeling the paint (put like 0.28).

 

Forgot the image

 

Thanks for the great write up. This solves the cost issue of putting a rack on my new bed cap.

 

Holy Shit dude. How much did that run you? Looks so good.

 

Cost is about 80$ for both (plus time/fuel to pick-them up it's about 1h away from home). I am thinking of selling prinsu type racks kits (only plates, mounts and hardware, with or without crossbars as you can get them cheap and shipped from tnutz), with better hardware and more options.

The place I get them from makes them in 3-4 days so I am looking at selling some racks online, for a much lower price than PrinSu and with more options (hooks, slots, accessories, etc.)

I am working on the cabrack now, I want a profile closer to the cab and I want a better wind seal in the front part.

 

Hell Yeah man thats awesome! Would love to see how the cabrac looks. I was thinking about buying one to match the toprac I'm building now. But just might hold off on that for now.

 

What kind of bolts did you use to attach the feet to the rack and the feet to the tracks?

 

Are there any ways to mount a rack to a single cab? I need a spot for my solar panel..

 

drill + nutserts

 

Hmm

 

Great work man that looks clean. I might redo my unistrut rack and go this route to match my new prinsu cab rac. Looks even easier than the unistrut and I already have feet made on my tracks for the shell.

 

Yep, that's how us access cab guys install them on our trucks. It's kinda a pain but worth it.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/prinsu-accessrac-rivnut-size-and-part-number.509337/

 

What do you do to seal them from water?

 

Silicone. You install the rivnut, and then when you're about to put the bolt through, put a dollop of silicone in the hole. Then add any more silicone that may be needed.

 

Hmmm.