New low-pro rack!

My 25th birthday is coming up. Ive always wanted a roof top tent, so i decided to buy one for my birthday. However i have nowhere to mount it. So i decided to dive into a little bit of welding!

So we begin!


I bought....
3- 10 foot sticks of 1.25''x1.25'' steel square tube
1- 10 foot stick of 2''x1'' steel rectangle tube
1- 12 foot stick of 1.5''x1.5'' steel 90 degree
THATS ALL....
total cost was roughly 100$

Started out by cutting and clamping down the angle iron to the bed rails. I did this so i could make correct measurements.

I decided to build my rack with 45 degree angles as you can see so that i didnt have to weld caps to the ends. I did this to prevent whistling while im driving down the road.

My demensions were 48'' wide by 41'' long. so far so good. Nice crocks pops.

Before I tac weld everything i measure 3 times. including the corners. Very important.

My first weld..... EVER.

Not bad!!
Im using a little lincoln weld pak 100. wire speed 2 so far so good.

With the full outline of the box built i start to make the interior structure.

My high tech metal holding device......


Let the MATH begin. Thank god my little brother is studying to be a CPA..... I let the smart people put in their 2 cents aka do the math for me.
roughly 8.1 '' from the inside of the frame to the start of the interior piece. I continue until perfect.


There we go much more MATHED then before!

I used nitrile gloves to give myself a small amount of shim so everything was even.
These little red magnets were from the home depot for like 5 bucks, helped keep my angles in place while I tac.



Got everything tacked.



My little weld pak.

A couple o Money shots....



DAy 1 is done and out of time. Dad and brother hold up to roughly the install height will be at the end of tomorrow......


Day 2. First thing is to make the pieces that will mount from the angle steel to the actual rack. I wanted these at roughly 8''. Had to use the pythagorean theorem for the first time since high school whooooo.







These pieces will sit something like this.

Weld weld weld weld weld...

The top plate so to speak is almost ready to go. This is how it will sit when done.


I wanted it flush with my tool box to leave some options in terms of the tent foot print.
This last picture is with everything welded ready to sit on the bed rails.









So there you have it folks. Made this bad boy in about two short days and 100$. I plan to have it powder coated black and remove the tool box. Ill post pics soon for the complete project. If you have any questions fire away and ill get back as quick as possible!!!!!
-Spencer

 

Looks good brotherman! It'll look even nicer with that RTT mounted, Congrats!

 

Well done!

 

Damn that was awesome. Great write up. Picts of the RRT when it comes.

 

Thanks everybody. RTT soon to come. Thinking about going with tepui kukenum 3 person for the dog and girlfriend. Would love to hear opinions!!!

 

Nice work.

 

Great job!

 

Awesome work. Was the guy from the Angry Orchard commercials helping you hold the rack on the back of your truck? JK.

 

Fab work in crocs? Your old man is a true bad ass. I love learning stuff from the old school bad asses.
Rack looks good too. I was happy to see you use those 45 degree angles on the corners. Makes it look much cleaner. Nice work.

 

This is perfect man