Custom roof basket access cab build

^^ #1 and 2 descriptions should be switched but you should get the general idea

also used half inch tubing for the upper part of the rack

 

also picked up some 1/8 thick solid steel to make the brackets out of

little bit of an upgrade from the 22 guage sheetmetal i was originally thinking of using

 

ok so the basket is almost all done - progress in the past couple days

- added two vertical supports per side (four sides ) to secure the lower and upper part of the basket

- decided on doing the 'base/floor' of the basket out of more 1/2inch square tubing, and did 4 of them evenly spaced (windshield to back of roof) direction if you know what I mean. got that all welded

-last thing i need to do is get some stainless steel mesh to weld up under the 'floor' tubing, to make sure nothing slips off the rails on the bottom of the basket and dents or scratches the roof

just need to wire brush and sand the whole thing after the mesh is in then I am going to spray it with three coats of Rustoleum Bedliner spray

pic#1 is the vertical supports before i positioned and welded them

pic #2&3 just some shots with everything welded and cleaned up a bit

pic#4 - strength test, leaving this 50-70? lb lawnmower in the basket overnight to make sure nothing bends cracks or fails

LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHT FELLOW TACO BROS

 

capacity-wise it is 46in wide X 36in long x 6 or 8 inches high

 

No way man! I live in simi! You live here?? And when did you sign up? Maybe I'll join the class and we can fab up some sweet little toys for the tacos

 

Looks good to me Brad! Keep up the posts and let us all know how tackin on the mesh goes!

 

welding is honestly the easy part,
grinding the metal until it fits perfectly is the hardest thing, grind it just a little too much and you gotta start over which = more $$$ on the project

but i will put up pics of the mesh when i get it cut roughly to size so you can see it

 

also thinking of spraying the whole basket with the black bedliner spray and leaving the mesh its silver, stainless appearance

thoughts on this??

 

also all i know is the first thing im doing once its painted is mounting a fire extinguisher and hi-lift jack on it

 

Even if you grind a little too much away you can fill it in with the welder.

on the bottom run your cross braced parallel to the truck bed it will reduce a lot of wind noise

 

well i meant if you get too excited and grind away way to much, just joking around man haha

but thanks for the tip, im trying to keep everything as parallel as possible

@twistedfreedom

 

jsut make sure you completely bedline the welds on the mesh as well, even if you are using stainless wire (i would asume you aren't though).

you'll get the hang of the cutting and grinding part with time. what are you using to cut the steel?

 

mine run perpendicular to the cab and it will make you deaf the roof resonates like a SOB.

 

yea im using a flux cored wire (gassless welding)

and by cut the steel, do you mean the tubing or what i plan to cut the mesh with?
for the tubing i just used my dewalt reciprocating saw for the first couple cuts by the old fashioned hack saw was more precise
and depending on the guage of the diamond mesh i can get, either some snippers i have [up to 20guage i can cut through] or my dremel with a mini cutting wheel that ive personally cut through 1/8 thick steel sheet with

 

I'll pm more info

 

i got the base of my basket running parallel so hopefully it wont be too loud

 

Iwas talking more about the tubing. I built my whole off road trailer by cutting steel with a sawzall. it sucked, but did get the job done. if you plan on building more things for the truck, or in general, i highly recomend getting a chop saw. you can get a 14'' for around $150. they make life so much easier. precise cuts and they go through the material like butter.

you should be able to go through the mesh with some snips. when i cut mesh i just use a grinder with a cutoff wheel, but that's because i don't have snips. they'd be a little more precise.

I have pirpendicular and longitudonal bars on mine and it's not too bad on noise.

 

I have no bracing on the roof other than the windshield and the rear window the rest of the roof is like 24g sheet

 

I don't think any of us have braced the roof itsself.

 

ive got a 10" compound mitner saw, i have a metal cutting blade for it today actually at Lowes for cheap, havnt tested it out yet. ill look into chop saws

definitly grab a pair of snips, $20 bucks and the ones i got have lifetime warantee and exceed all required blah de blah specs