This weekend I build a rack for our pickup truck which reaches over the complete cab to the beginning of the windshield. At the beginning I was concerned about the long overhang because we own a 2007 Dodge Ram Megacab but it turned out that my concerns have been unneeded.
Complete rack mounted and painted.
On the picture above you can see a styrofoam roll I installed to avoid damage if the rack is hitting the roof of the cab. Luckily there is no contact after the first hundred miles.
The rack is made out of 25 millimeters square tube with 1.5 millimeters thick walls. I need approximately 36 meters of square tube and 4 meters of angel material with the dimensions 40 by 20 millimeters and 3 millimeters thick. In the first step i build a U-formed shape which lays on top of the bed. Therefore I used the angel material to lay on the sides of the bed and a square tube to hold them together. At the second step I welded two U-shaped bars which has been connected vertically to the base.
Early stage of construction. Base with angel rods and square tube with two U-Shaped bars on it
On the picture above you can see my first attempt for the rails of the rack for the overhang but the distance (5cm) between the horizontally square tubes has been to small to give enough stability in the front so I cut them apart and rebuild them with 15cm distance as shown in the first picture. When I rebuild the rails on top of the rack i gave them some initial tension to keep the front part properly away from the cab. At the first attempt i did not build the rails with any tension which lead to a small drop in the front when mounted.
I put some roof foil from a roofer between the angels and the bed to protect the paint of the bed from scratches. This foil is 1.5 millimeters thick and is usually used on flat roofs.
To keep the rack on the truck I built four fasteners which are connected to the rings in the bed. I used quick-links and welded thread bar on them. To connect the fastener on the rack I welded some 20 millimeter square tube with 2 millimeter thickness on the angel material and screwed the rack down with a self locking nuts. The rack sits super solid on the truck even at the rear side without a horizontal connection between the two sides.
Fastener for the rack
I need three complete days to build and paint it including acquisition of the materials. The rack is not super light weight but it can be lifted by a single person and mounted or dismounted by two persons with ease.
Raised Flower Bed 2017-03-19
Raised Flower Bed 2017-03-19