DIY prinsu style shell rack

Lap a tab from the bottom with the tab from the top. You could put the pivot there istead of in the cylinder. Or do the butt hinge idea with a tab from above with two holes, one of the them slotted with a curve. Put the slotted hole on the hinge and two sets of holes in the top plate, one for the back and one for the front. Or do dedicated front/back top plates. Since the double cab ditch tracks curve in two dimensions, one of the lower hinge plate holes would also need to be slotted. It shouldn't because too hard to adapt a single hinge design to work on all four corners.

 

Maybe like this.

The top pieces can be cut from sections of 3"(maybe 4") angle and the bottoms modified from 3" butt hinges. The longer fronts would be side specific. Oh, also taper the top pieces down to 2" to match the slotted bars. Like this. Maybe less waste if you used smaller angle stock for the rear top pieces.

 

Overthinking it, Prinsu’s work just fine and look good. When you bolt it down they bend a little to make up for the difference in height of the rails. Someone needs to make a set like those, and make them a lot cheaper.

 

Super interested in a set of these rails @BeachBoy !

Bookmarked this thread way back when @paranoid56 started it and just now realized how much has happened since!

Always loved the Prinsu racks but never could afford them.

 

Aluminum is a beautiful thing.

The picture below doesn't do it justice but even the square aluminum tubing bent to the shape of the cap.

 

That it has to bend to fit tells me it could have been designed better. This is an opportunity to do just that.

 

its the kukeman 3 they are 47's

 

Me too. I have the cross bars but no tracks or mounts. Long bed Cap. Can you PM me also? Thanks

 

Awesome man thanks! Those are what I'm looking at getting for the truck and T4R. How is the weight up there and deflection? Any issues with roll off camber? Also debating a trailer build for the RTT so we can park and explore.

 

here is what he posted a while back and is still making a FS thread I believe......

long beds want the 66 in version .....and you need some tracks or mount directly to shell.

This is the complete info:

==========

Side bars:
Made from 1/4" 5052 Aluminum
53" version has specific positions for 6 or 7 evenly spaced bars
66" version has specific positions for 7 or 8 evenly spaced bars
Mounting holes to install front crossbar at 30 degrees for a wind fairing
Mounting holes to install rear and front crossbar vertically (to mount larger/heavier items)
Hook openings along the bottom and ends to attach straps without the need for eye-bolts
Crossbars can be placed (almost) anywhere on the length of the plates
Black powder coated
I can customize them for a small fee


Hardware:
4x per crossbar Black Stainless Steel button head cap screw, washer, lock washer to attach the crossbars to the side plates.
2x per mounting feet anchor plate, stainless steel bolt, fender washer, lock washer to attach feet to rails
2x per mounting feet bolt, fender washer, lock washer to attach feet to crossbars
These allow you to reconfigure your rack without having to remove carriage bolts through the ends of the crossbars, you can change the feet location easily.


Price (+ shipping):
No Hardware: $150
6-8 crossbars & 4 mounting feet: $200
6-8 crossbars & 6 mounting feet: $205
6-8 crossbars & 8 mounting feet: $210
(Shipping $15 to $30.. east to west)
Deduct $10 if you remove the anchor plates


What you need to buy:
1a- Crossbars @ $21.30 each + shipping
Note that you can get 48", 49", 50" etc for a few cents more.
1b- SS Drop-in t-nut (2 per mounting feet) @ $1.25 each + shipping
2- Mounting feet

$103 Smittybilt Adjust-A-Mount Brackets Q Qty: 6

Smittybilt AM-6 mounting feet @ $121 incl. shipping
OR

Smittybilt AM-4 Defender Roof Rack Mounting Brackets Adjust-A-Mount Qty. 4

Smittybilt AM-4 mounting feet @ $86 incl. shipping
OR

Adjust -A - Mount Brackets Qty 8

Smittybilt AM-8 mounting feet @ $157 incl. shipping
3- Rails, you have the
Thule 48" TP42 | 54" TP54 | 60" TB60 (p.s. cheaper from other vendors)
Yakima 54" 8001138 | 60" 8001135 (p.s. cheaper from other vendors)
Proline & Others

 

Thank you for that.

 

@BeachBoy What are your thoughts with how your rack would play with the Rhino tracks? I want my cab rack and camper rack to be level with one another.
https://www.rackoutfitters.com/rhino-rack-rts547-toyota-tacoma-double-cab-tracks-set-of-2

 

Hey gang. Beachboy and I are getting together today and should have some progress to share after. We've been working to see what we can do to incorporate some kind of height adjustability and have been looking into telescoping legs as one option. More in the works as we get things figured out.

 

Keep us posted! Patiently waiting for a set

 

Whoaa. Didn’t know these existed.
I’ll look
Into these.

 

In

 

That should be easy, I'd have to check the track dimensions (inside) in order to see if my anchor plates fit or if it would need a Rhino plate and different bolts.

That's the beauty of make your own kit, you can get as much or as little as you need. One user is installing the rack above hid bed (no shell)

 

BTW the second batch is getting cut today, now let's hope for a quick run to the powder coat (they put them along other batch, but black is a common color so hopefully it won'T take long)

 

Is this batch spoken for? Is there an order page?