Dumb question: how do I put it together...

I know this sounds like a dumb question, but how do I put this together?

I got a prinsu rack for the top of my ARE cap (DCLB). No instructions came with it. Ok, no problem. I got online and downloaded some from the Prinsu website. They are terrible. The pictures show it complete in step one. The instructions never tell me when to use the loc-tite, or even what order to do things.

Do you put it together before putting it on top? Or should you put it on top, and then bolt it together and use loc-tite?

Again, I'm sure this is super simple, I just don't want to use the loc-tite and then have messed it up. Also, I emailed questions to Prinsu 1.5 weeks ago and have received no response. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

First question: Do you have tracks on your cap? If not, you're going to have to drill for the feet.

 

Great question! I should have mentioned this. Yes, I have tracks (Yakima).

 

OK, then. Here's how I installed mine:

1. I put the square nuts that came with the rack into the tracks. This involved removing the back end caps from the tracks, and then reinstalling and resealing them after the nuts were in place.
2. Then I loosely bolted the feet onto the tracks. (I'm assuming that 6 feet came with your rack?)
3. Next, I attached 3 crossbars to the feet.
4. Then, attached the side plates to the 3 crossbars.
5. Then, attached the remaining 4 crossbars to the side plates.
6. At this point, made sure that everything was square and centered. Since the top of the shell is curved, I had to shim the outer feet on the tracks using stacked fender washers. After that was done, I tightened down all the connections.
7. The end crossbars sort of hang in the air, since the assembled rack is longer than the tracks. I added the 4 supplied braces to connect the two crossbars on each end.
8. I have the Prinsu cargo basket attachments. I added those later.

 

Thanks! That's helpful. So, at what point did you use the loc-tite? Or did your rack not come with it? Mine came with a few little bottles in each of the hardware bags.

 

I didn't use any loc-tite. If you notice in the picture, all the bolts have either lock washers or lock nuts (nylon inserts). They're not going to work loose.

I forgot to mention that if you use shims (stacked washers), you also have to use longer bolts (than the ones supplied).

Basically, the whole process is to build the rack piece by piece, right on the truck. That way, you don't need a helper, you don't risk scratching up your paint, etc.

Oh, and another thing. You may have to reach under the rack to tighten some of the nuts. As you can see in the picture, there's limited clearance there. The best way to do this is by using a ratcheting box wrench. There's not enough room for a socket.