Tubular Bed Rack Build

Nice work! The TACO is strong in this one.

 

This is how MESO started...

 

"Printed cakes never satisfy"

Really, gonna follow this when the first zing of saw blade on steel is in the mix.

I'm picking up a couple of lengths (79 in.) of 3 x 3 angle iron on Tuesday. For a rack build that goes over/ around the Softtopper.
Don't expect too much though. I've got too many irons in the fire and just broke the tractor. ;-)

 

I was working on a custom mount for some RGBW rock lights for my roof rack, and felt pretty good when @MESO himself gave a thumbs up to the design. I ended up going back to the mount and light the rack was designed for. HOWEVER, I still kept the bluetooth control system I worked out for it.


















The Enclosure for the Relay Module





Printed in carbon fiber Nylon.





The Intended mounting location


Proof of concept video.




Testing the driver side lights

 

Well, if the thread goes from a "Tubular rack" system on 3d CAD to 3D printed blue tooth electronics enclosures. There will be a wide spectrum of interests to be considered.

 

Awesome job OP. Also, anyone looking to do this and if you can weld aluminum, it's drastically cheaper than steel right now.

2" OD x 0.125" Wall x 1.75" ID Aluminum Round Tube 6063 $39/6ft

2" OD x 0.12" Wall x 1.76" ID Carbon Steel Round Tube A513-Type 5 DOM $141/6ft

 

Ok refined the design a bit.






the lens has the diffusion "pyramids".

 

Bed rack in the wild..

 

Ok.. I am thinking of making a few of these to sell. If there is any interest. I know price will be a big factor in someone making that decision. And unfortunately not knowing how many would be ordered does make it hard to set a price.

So what I am thinking is a batch of 5 to 10 depending on interest. Bare metal only...

There are a lot of variables to figure out and the first is to see if anyone would even be interested.

 

Shipping is pretty reasonable considering the item is Oversize, and not knowing what zone your in can't say for sure. but for most people it will run under $100 with with Alaska Hawaii and Puerto Rico being Higher of course.

So right now it is looking like each rack would be $650 + shipping and when we reach 10 orders a 15% credit will be refunded all orders would be held until the cutoff date (TBD) , to help ensure the best pricing from my supplier, which in turn helps with that discount..

 

Sounds decent but considering I'm Canadian I will have to wait for the boarder to reopen and ship it to a boarder town and go pick it up there. I bet it would save hundreds on shipping.

 

I recently picked up a vacuum chamber. And working on putting a pressure pot together so I can work on the prototype of this brake light housing. Along with a a couple spools of carbon fiber nylon.

Going to be doing some practice runs on an unrelated item. For the castings and mold making. This should help me dial in a process to obtain the clear bubble free lense and with the desired color.

I also had the though of doing a "chase light"of sorts . Would be amber on the left and right with the red brake light in the center and the amber option would be switched separate.

 

This morning, I had a guy come up to me at the gas station asking about the bed rack.

Once I told him I built it, he asked if I could build him one for his 2011 Chevy 1500. We exchange contact info and will be setting up a time where I can take some measurements and figure out how to mount it to his truck bed rails

 

Just find a TW member that lives in a small town adjacent to the border to go huck it over the fence with you on the other side

 

Couple pictures of the bed rack in the wild..

 

I recently picked up a magnetic paper towel holder for the toolbox. After opening it up and seeing how well it work. I knew I had found a solution to keeping paper towels handy while camping.

 

Well, after what has seem like forever, an lots of ideas that at first seemed to be a something that would work. I figured out a mounting bracket for my 270 Degree awning. something stupid simple, yet took far more effort than one would think.

Seems that there are not many off the shelf brackets for a midheight tubular bed rack.

ran out of daylight, So had to get a couple pictures in a nearby parking lot.






Still needs some bracing to help support the weight. I think I am going to cut some more of the steel I used so that I can create a shim, then I can slip the bracket under the tent mount and use the shims on the other side to keep everything level. I kept the brackets long So I can make sure I can get the cover for the tent on an off with out a lot hassles.