XJ Harbor Freight rear rack
Hi all, Im new to the forum and excited to start getting out and about. I have a rather stock 99 XJ and have been slowly adding gear to get me further and further out in the mountains and plains. Right now its for hunting, fishing and camping, will get into exploring as I add capabilities to my vehicle.
I am a big DIY'r and try be practical when buying or making gear. There are some things that I do buy and try to buy the best (i/e) cold weather gear, optics, safety and survival, but some items made for convenience can be met with some sticker shock.
Anyway for those in the US are familiar with Harbor Freight, cheap import one-time or longer use tools, but some of the other items can be mod'd into useful gear.
They sell a steel 500lb hitch carrier #69623, they go on sale for 39.99 very often so I spec'd it out to fit as a rear cargo rack.
The only other items were a 1" 6 foot length angle iron, 1" flat stock, some 1/4" eye bolts and 1/4" hardware.
The rack comes with two support bars that can be made into legs.
Instead of buttin the two halves together, I put them side-by-side. Tie wraps just to get the halves in place.
I measured, cut and welded the angle iron to 5 7/8"of flat stock. The length came out to 52 1/8" (yours may vary)and is supported at the rear seat catch screws. Of course the flat bar had to be ground to fit around the catch. Yeah I know not the best weld beads, but this is practice for me. I just got my mig last month. The length of the flat stock allows the rear seat to lock in place and also clears the spare tire.
The last part is to cut fab the legs to fit. They are small 1" u channel, if you cut down 1" in the center and fold down, it will make two ears that can be bolted through.
I fab'd up a rack system to hold accessories. It can hold a shovel, axe, rifle, fishing rod. Of course I will secure the items down as I dont want stuff flying through the windows. The area below can accommodate 12 1/2" high bins, the top has 21" of headroom. Each tray is approx 18" wide and 25" deep.
Yeah Yeah, I would never transport a loaded rifle. It will be soft cased and bolt removed, just a fit test.
Total cost was less than $50 and it can be removed as needed. As I am posting this, I have an idea to make it removable much quicker. I have the rack attached to the angle iron with (4) bolt and nuts, I will replace the nuts with (4) wing nuts and the whole thing can easily come out (if I need to move some large gear). The rack only weighs around 20lbs.
I dont plan to put heavy items on top, but I also have an osha cage that I will probable fit to this rack in the future. We will see.
