Exo-Shell Roof Racks

[mountainpete]

Hi all,

Just curious... Anyone know of a good manufacturer of racks like this other than Kargomaster?

http://www.kargomaster.com/files/campershell_1.jpg

The lighter the product the better. Also, anyone have anything similar on a Tacoma?

Thanks!

Pete

[BajaTaco]

Chuck (Ursidae69) has a custom job on his Tacoma. Very cool.

[Ursidae69]

Mine is all fully welded and braced, not bolted together like the Kargomaster. See attached picture. I've recently welded in flooring braces into the two sections over the shell and will be flooring it this weekend with the kennel flooring talked about on 4wdtrips. It looks really good with the flooring. I'm welding on some hi-lift brackets this weekend. Pics to follow later.

The front span is around 4.5 feet and I might put in a spare tire carrier there, but not sure I want the spare that high. Still thinking on what to do with that space.

Other add-ons to come later, lights, fuel/water can mounts, who knows...

I had mine built by a custom fabricator in Denver, really nice work. Around 6 bills.

[mountainpete]

That's really nicely done... I would love to see more pics please...

It's cold and snowy here so mind is wandering like it usually does this time of year. A rack like that would sure be nice for carrying a canoe off-road. (Not to mention those Home Depot trips!) No worries about things bouncing around. Although I really like my current rack system, I am still not totally confident in it with bigger loads.

[Ursidae69]

I'll have lots more pics early next week after I've ground down all my nasty welds and painted. :D

Here are a few from when I got the rack.

[Ursidae69]

I finished up my flooring and hi-lift mounts on my rack today. Here are a few pictures.

I used 1.5” angle iron (3/16th) for flooring supports. The flooring is comprised of three 2’x4’ interlocking sections of kennel flooring. I used an existing set of locking brackets from Hi-Lift to mount the jack. I welded on some 2” wide flat steel (1/8th) to the rack as a support and welded in the brackets to that. I put in foam insulation tape inside the bracket to keep the rattling to a minimum. No noticeable whistling at 80mph. Everything is very sturdy and I'm pretty pleased. :elkgrin:

[flyingwil]

Chuck-

Your rack looks great! Any noticable changes on the CG with the added weight up there?

[Ursidae69]

Chuck-

Your rack looks great! Any noticable changes on the CG with the added weight up there?

Not so far. :ylsmoke:

[kcowyo]

Nice work Chuck!! That looks really good. :clapsmile




Other add-ons to come later, lights, fuel/water can mounts, who knows...


You think your rack is big enough to carry all of your fuel and water cans?

[OverlandZJ]

Kennel flooring?

I was going to add expanded steel for my floor, this floor of yours is some type of plastic? Where does one find this material?

Nice work!

[Ursidae69]

Kennel flooring?

I was going to add expanded steel for my floor, this floor of yours is some type of plastic? Where does one find this material?

Nice work!

I first heard about it off a thread on 4wdtrips (http://www.4wdtrips.net/forum/default.aspx?f=37&m=24788). Here is the link (http://www.clearspan.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10001&productId=20251&langId=-1&division=ClearSpan&parent_category_rn=31810&top_category=&breadcrumb_trail=K-9+Kennels&breadcrumb_categoryIds=31810&isDoc=) for the actual material I bought. I bought 3 pieces of the non-overlapping style that interlock on the 4' side.

I was going to go with expanded metal, but this stuff is cheaper and lighter and I wanted to give it a try.

[erin]

:luxhello:

Very nice job.

I was wondering if you know how that flooring holds up in the sun? I am assumming from the name that it is polypropolene based and I haven't seen that material hold up over the long haul here in the AZ sun.

[Ursidae69]

:luxhello:

Very nice job.

I was wondering if you know how that flooring holds up in the sun? I am assumming from the name that it is polypropolene based and I haven't seen that material hold up over the long haul here in the AZ sun.

The website doesn't say, don't know. At 15 bucks a pop, I can replace them in 3 or 4 years if they start to get brittle. :elkgrin:

[OverlandZJ]

Chuck, how thick is this material?

Have you had the opportunity to drive the truck and see if you have any whistling?

And thanks for the link to 4WDTrips, hadnt found that site yet.

[Ursidae69]

Chuck, how thick is this material?

Have you had the opportunity to drive the truck and see if you have any whistling?

And thanks for the link to 4WDTrips, hadnt found that site yet.

The material is about 1/2 inch, just slightly less. No whistling that I can hear above the existing tire noise. :ylsmoke: