DIY prinsu style shell rack

Lol, if people or campanies always acted responsibly there would be no need for regulation. This is just one of those situations where failure at any point should not be considered an option. If the mounts fail then the rack becomes part of the missile the load just became. Individual bar failure might just result in roof damage and I agree that the rack is probably stronger than the roof but it's still on us to prevent such failures by adhering to the weakest link limit.

 

Your long slots seems very wide (high), wouldn't the bars attached there sit lower than the other ones?

I also see that your start/end bars are much farther from the end than mine.

The design is very similar though!

 

Thanks! I'm gonna go with 47" cross-bars for aesthetics. 50" crossbars seem to overhang over the contoured Cap too much.

What size bolt hardware did you use to mount the SmittyBilt feet to the Crossbars? 1/4' - 20? I'll need to pick the size so I can pick the right T-nuts.

Also, price of the SmittyBilt mounts on Amazon went down by $20 bucks from $121 to $101

Edit: Went back to $121 today. Yesterday, I ordered it at $101.

 

I paid $121, lucky bas....

The hardware:
For feet to rail I bought 1/4-20 3/4 length with wide washers. Some rail plates are M6 others 1/4-20 (both from Thule)
For feet to crossbar I bought 3/4 length 1/4-20 carriage bolts with large washer, lock washer and but in stainless. The other option was to use the drop in t-nut but I figured carriage would be stronger.

 

How did you go about mounting it since the tracks are not level? Did you add anything else or just tighten everything up and leave the gaps alone.

 

Not level how? My tracks are level relative to each other.

 

Also what bolts did you use for the tracks? Do you have any photos of them?

 

Mine dont look like that, those actually look like they may be installed on the wrong side.

 

Made this with 3/4" aluminum bar and 1/4" SS carriage bolts.

 

You mean the tracks are on the opposite side as they should be? Also, did you use those bolts to attach the feet to the crossbars as well or different ones?

 

Correct. That is my guess anyway, mine are "fatter" on the outside edge to offset the roof curve. Same bolts just shorter maybe since they need to fit inside the square tube.

 

I might steal the 3/4" bar stock for inside the track idea.

Looks like that can distribute any uplift load on the track a lot better than T-nuts or washers. I wish I had the ability to punch in square holes into the bar stock to hold the carriage bolts while tightening.

 

Thats why I did it that way, I lift the camper shell on and off using the rack, that's the main reason I wanted it.

 

The long slots are only meant to be tie down points, not for mounting cross bars.
Also, if I drew it over, I’d move the bars out closer to the ends and space the “tie down slots” a little more evenly...

 

Ah now that makes sense! My tie downs are the lower holes.

 

Finally had a chance to talk to the guy.

There is not much you can do in the design as it's not always 100% the same deformation, but you can specify the grain orientaltor and have the hump be higher instead of lower (which is minimal but I still prefer a bump than a dip)

 

I'm interested.

 

Think the OP had this in mind, I’m not stepping on his toes in this thread.

 

I understand.

Whoever decides to do it I am interested. @BeachBoy @paranoid56