Custom roof basket access cab build

also its gonna be interesting fabricating brackets for this, the roof is 47" wide near the windshield but 44 or so inches at the back of the roof, and the rack is rectangualar so 48" by 36"

i just need to weld a piece of 1/8 steel on the bracket to kick it out far enough to weld the rackto
^sound safe?

 

just angle the brackets as needed. i make all of the ones i build so the rear mounts go straight up, and the front mounts angle in.

close-ups of the angled front mounts.




you can actually see both the front and rear mounts in the picture. fronts lean in, rears are virticle.

 

ah, found a picture of the rear

 

Nice pics, I wish I had the threaded sleeves from the factory that the double cabs have, I gotta drill my own, headliner off, bolt through the top and them get a nut from the underside
im using grade 8 bolts, nuts, and washers 1/4 inch

 

you should be just fine with that. I used stainless hardware since i live near the beach in florida, wehre things rust overnight, but grade 8 will be more than enough to hold your roof rack down.

 

what the basket looks like placed on the roof, no brackets yet

pic#2 - please dont prank call my house idk how to blur out the number

 

welded in steel mesh under the 1/2 square tubes on the base of the basket
the steel mesh is the kind designed for conrete and stuff like that so its has a very small diamond pattern in it
aka well over 500 (i stopped counting after the first 5 mins of welding and it took 2 hrs to secure the whole piece) welds to get it secure

got one sheet welded under the first three pieces of the bottom, still have to cut trim and weld another piece to go under the other two

 

how high off the roof is your rack? also i am curious if the front brackets set the rack at the same height as the rear?

 

where the roof bubbles up in the center, my floor grid probably sits about an inch off of the roof, which translates to a good bit more at the edges of the roof. take flex into acount though. mine's fairly rigid, so it's not an issue, but with only having a few crossbars, check for flex before choosing a length for the legs.

as you can see in the picture, the front and rear legs are different heights. it's completely up to you, what level you want it to sit at. i personally made it sit paralelle to the top of the bed.

 

Rack is finally done! Here are a couple different angles of it

wire brushed and sanded the whole thing, spraying on a couple coats of Rustoleum bedliner spray tommorow

brackets build will start tommorow as well

 

Looks good man

How talk is the rack? That sucker looks big

 

4 feet wide
3 feet long
7.5 inches tall ( the 1" tube on the base and the 1/2 inch tube on the top and 6" vertical support)
gonna poke over the roof a little up from but only by .5-1 inch(es)

 

??? I thought this was going on the roof?

 

it is man, sorry if the way i worded it was confusing
if you are looking at the front of the truck, either end of the front of the rack will stick a little past the black rubber rain drip guard

 

No more parking garages for you!

 

this is what i mean

 

i wish i could park in a garage but my taco has to sit outside every day of the year anyways

but im outside the city in suburbs so im lucky not to have to be faced with parking garage situations

 

Ok. I gotcha now.

 

Looks great man! Can't wait to see the final product.

 

Lookin good Brad. Thinking about tossing some light tabs up on that thing?