Ladder / Lumber Rack

[wanderinthru]

Thats a cool set up!

 

[SirRobyn0]

Yesterday I took pics of it setup in the daylight, I did post these in the what have you done to your square thread so I apologize if you saw them there, but I also know not everyone follows that thread.

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You can clearly see in the below pic that pinned together joint I was talking about.

Also you can see where the top bar fits to the leg it is not pinned nor held held on in any way. It slips together but there is nothing to keep it that way on the road, so there is potential for it to bounce up and off the front one could possibly be pulled off from wind if something that would catch the wind was strapped up there.

I've got a few possible solutions. I was going to pin it like the cross bars. I made it as far as standing in the bed of the truck drill in hand and ready to go, when I realized the hole would be visible in the leg when it's folded down. So I really wanted to drive with it up Thursday night just to see how it would go, so I ran bungies at each corner of the top bar down to the rail, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. I might make cables, to clip to it and the rail. Or shorten up some straps. Or short pieces of rope. I'm really not sure yet, but want the added security.

The rack alone is pretty quiet. Keep in mind my truck is running slightly enlarged single exhaust, 700R4 still with the 3.41 rear end and has the factory air cleaner with baffle still, so it's about as quiet as a square can get. If the windows are up I can hear some slight changes in sound over 50mph, it's one of those I can hear the change but a passenger wouldn't think anything of it I'm sure. Now if I crack my window at highway speeds I can hear it for sure, but it's still well with in the ok range for me.

Thanks again for the advice / following along. I'm not really sure when I'll need to use it but will post a pic of the racks first job.

I need to solve the spare tire storage issue next. I can't mount it underneath, because of the trailer hitch and dump bed kit. I thought about doing a front mount at one point, but now that I've got a good set of fog lights, that's out. So I was think of a possible bed cover, but now that I have the rail system I don't see that being practical, so I might get one of those bed bags, for when I need to keep stuff dry, but that leaves some places in the bed. Mainly the LR behind the wheel well. So I'll fab up a bracket to fit in there that the spare can bolt to.

Maybe it's time I start a build thread. I think of this truck more as a driver than a builder, but I keep doing stuff lol.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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Not the best pic... but I was hoping this would have looked better to show a gloss black, only slightly subdued over "gloss".

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this is a better pic for the bumper, to show the black I meant. I used krylon implement gloss black + their hardener which I am impressed at how tough that **** is when it cures. Will probably hold up very well compared to no hardener. Anyway, I only hit the previous pic on the side with the roller when I was almost out and I hit the bumper and the door to my shed with what was left lol!

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As for bolting in, ignore my lack-of-floor here but you see where there is a top down bolting going on there, I believe the end stakes or maybe all in the center ones, had some going into the stake hole and then bolting through the side into the bed area. The top one on the center stake I think was more a positions the whole thing where he then had the stake pocket at the end bolting to be more secure wise. But if you had imperfect stake pockets in anyway around the top, Id say take advantage of using more surface area of the bedside to support the rack. But if you dont, dont ding your paint.

I like where yours is going. If your bed liner is dull matte black, you could consider gloss black for your rail stuff. get some krylon implement enamel and their hardener and use a roller, doesnt take long and it looks very well done for a roller meant for a cabinet (LOL) The hardened stuf should hold up to abuse too. Infact, you could also get some kind of epoxy paint but not the appliance stuff. If you get the right stuff or use the right coatings, you could be set too. Epoxy appliance stuff isnt UV resistant but if you let it cure fully, there may be a clear coating of some kind you could apply but i wouldnt know.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@AuroraGirl I happy with the paint on the rails right now. I will keep in mind the implement paint and hardener if it doesn't hold up. None of the pictures above show it, but I've been running around with the spare tire ratchet strapped to the LR behind the wheel well for sometime now and it's worked well there and isn't in the way to much, so time to make it bracket and bolt it in one of these days.