DIY prinsu style shell rack

I believe I have Yakima tracks on my shell as I purchased their "Anchor Plates A" initially to mount my previous rack (Little thing in photo below). Worked out to be 3/4" wide x 1/8" thick to fit in the slot so I went to Lowes and bought a 3 FT bar of aluminum to make my own brackets underneath. Bought a 1/4" Tap and drilled the holes to mount the unitstrut to the tracks using 1/2" long 1/4" stainless hex bolts with locking washers. Figuring out how to make a mount was by far the most difficult process of this rack, it's been on for around 500 miles and hasn't moved at all so I think it's mounted pretty well. I've not put anything of significant weight on top yet so I can't say if it's all been work tested yet.

Tap: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...0-in-Steel-Drill-Tap-Bit-48-89-4873/309634678
Aluminum: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-3-ft-x-0-75-in-Aluminum-Solid/3054619

 

Did mine last week using 1.5” Prinsu feet as i picked up a set used from a buddy. I went with 1/4” x 3” sides, but would say if you have a Victory cab rack like I do, you may want to consider 4” rails since the back end of the Victory on a DCSB is 4”. I didnt like it at first but now i think i prefer having the gap underneath so its good for me. I actually used three sets of feet and ran 1” unistrut on the inside of my cap ceiling for stronger bracing and it worked great. Ultimately i will be adding the remainder of an internal frame to support the cap before my next big trip. I drilled 1” holes down the sides for ratchet strap points and went with 7 crossbars on my short bed. Its super beefy up there. Definitely sturdier than the Victory cab rack. The mounting rails on my cap i added myself, purchased from Frontrunner. They are really solid rails thats for sure.

I will be shimming up the back end of my cab rack about 1/4” so that i have a straight line on the top profile. Currently with my Leer the cap rack is a tad high compared to the Victory.

OP, thanks for the great write up, and all the rest of you who contributed to this thread.

 

Love the 550 cord handles you added on. Wicked smart

 

Personally I think you are better off with straight holes. They have to be stronger than slots.. At least thats what I told myself.. =)

 

I'd say they probably are but I'd like the ability to slide for little adjustments.

 

I need your help I am wanting to do something very similar to my XTR. I want to just add three 80/20 aluminum t-slot extrusions to the round bars on the shell. what brackets did you use (link if possible)? Also during your design stage did you find any brackets that would allow you to mount the same cross bars between the round rails? Thanks for any help.

 

Does anyone have any Thule Track Nuts ( the square ones, 853-5147) kicking around? I'm not able to get them in Canada unfortunately and ETrailer won't ship to Canada.

 

Anyone have a solution for the mounting feet? They dont sit flush and I’m not sure if I can just say screw it and mount it or if I should use something like the Smittybilt brackets



Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks

 

I would just cut the square tube on the inside & squeeze in a vice & weld it.
If you don't have a way to weld it cut a wedge out of wood, or plastic basically any dense material would work.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I was able to use some plastic to wedge underneath to bring it level.

 

Did you ever get the cab rack design finished? I need one for a 1st gen double cab.

 

Cut off the outside of the tube stock and bend the top sheet up to meet the rails. Or use channel stock instead and make the bend. Easier to get at your bolts too.

 

I see a lot of folks with l track, Yakima/Thule tracks, and proline tracks on their cap/topper. I want to add some tracks to my topper to add a diy rack and looking for some feedback. My initial thought is l track because it seems pretty rugged. Anyone with l track wish they had gone a different route? Or anyone with another type of track wish they had gone with l track? Thanks!

 

I really like tracks because location is adjustable and whatever I put up there is removable. Only the tracks themselves are permanent. Like you I have an AC and while Rhino makes ditch tracks for the double cab they don’t make any specifically for AC’s so I went to some considerable effort to make them work anyway and am so glad I did. Ladders, 20’ boards, no problem. Or I can mount both bars on either roof or add another set entirely. They can’t carry as much as my old lumber racks could but these plastic beds can’t carry as much anyway unless you add transfer brackets down to the frame. With bars, topper, and bed rail stiffeners I carry as much as I’m comfortable with and haven’t had any problems with either the topper or tailgate spreading under load.
Having had the bars on and off for extended periods I can say that without a doubt my mileage drops ~2 mpg whenever they’re up there. This isn’t important to everyone but being a work truck it’s primary role is to help me make money and this system provides the flexibility I wanted.

 

Awesome I appreciate the feedback. Do you have the l-track or the other models? Having the 6’ bed I like that the l-track can be bought in 6’ lengths for max adjustability.

 

Thule tracks on the shell and Rhino ditch tracks on the cab roof. I pulled the headliner to do the install since I was adding noico anyway. As soon as it was out I looked at the air curtains and thought “no way am I drilling those holes blind”. Post #5 of my build thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/5-lug-no-lift-budget-to-match-build-thread.557860/#post-18218495 shows before, during, and after shots of the install. I probably went overboard in how I bent the tracks to fit but I think it made the install easier than it would have been otherwise. Even if you don’t use the ditch tracks on the cab I’d still recommend dropping the headliner before drilling for any mounting bolts. You literally can’t see the roof where the rear bolts pop through the curtains are so close.

 

anyone need mounting feet for a cap rack?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/meso-arb-prinsu-parts-for-sale.711240/#post-25295823

 

Just made a similar rack. It's super sturdy but I'm having a ton of wind noise above 55-60mph. I'm trying to figure out what the problem is but I figured I would ask if anyone else has fixed that problem.

 

@AODRN that cap looks RAD. As for the wind noise, in my experience that's the nature of racks. You can add a deflector and/or buy the filler panels for the T-slot channels that might help a bit. Try to eliminate all the areas the air can "grab" on to. Run a strip of masking tape over every slot to test if if makes much difference for you. And then make like Techtronic and PUMP UP THE JAM.

 

Those fillers are great. I didn't know they made those. The noise is too loud to drown out. I still need to try repositioning slightly. The tape is a great idea now that I have a clean way to fill the channels