A new take on a flatbed rear rack.

[No longer here]

Thought I would share this here.

When I ordered my Four Wheel Camper back in October I got the expensive rear rack for the maxtrax and the fuel cans. I figured what was a few more bucks on top of everything else. Several months later I get the camper and it has no rack. Upon asking I find out there were production delays and they have no idea when it will arrive but will get it to me when it's made. This was not right.

Meanwhile on the other side of the internet, I see a FWC Instagram influencer who picked up a new camper within 3 days of us with the rack from the same supplier....I guess they got my rack....but I digress the supplier took care of me in other ways.

I contacted the company, and they are refunding me my money. I took the cash and built a far lighter, more modular, and just as heavy duty rack for much less than the heavy powder coated steel unit costs.

The fuel cans are from my motorcycle, but will work until I can get the bigger one. Picking up some Maxtrax next week, and will probably mount those in a similar fashion as the cans.

The trasharoo also works well as it does not contact the camper at all. The lower rail ends at the 45 degree slope.


Score!!!

 

[Dirtroadsavant]

That’s awesome! I am nearly finished making one up myself. I used steel, so it will be a bit heavier, but it came in at 420 dollars less than having one built. I’ll do a picture soon.

 

[kmacafee]

I made one out of square aluminum stock that mounts to the jack brackets. Holds MaxTraxx, fuel and water and a bike rack. I probably have less than $200 in the rack and it just survived a 7500 mile trip, including significant off road sections.

 

[pvstoy]

Question... how much was the rack that was ordered with the FWC?

ADDED... And the price quoted just for the rack? or included the maxtrax and gas cans holders and cans? Thanks

 

[Happyjax]

Nice job on those DIY racks guys

Companies who produce a product need to be aware that customers have a limit to the inconveniences and money output they will tolerate. I am all for the DIY approach

Often the DIY item is built better, nearly always cheaper and with our personal needs in mind.

It's great to have these examples to use in case anyone here needs or wants to try one of these projects

 

[rando]

I have a similar rack (idea shamelessly stolen from someone on WtW, unfortunately I have forgotten who) which is made out of 80/20 aluminium T-slot. I am note sure why you would need to have someone 'build' such a rack, you can buy which ever profile of 80/20 you need:
https://8020.net/framing-options/t-slotted-profiles.html
They will even cut it to length for you. You then need a couple of T-nuts and bolts to attach to the jack brackets:
https://8020.net/framing-options/t-slotted-profiles.html

And finally some more T-Nuts and what ever other hardware needed to attach your doodads:
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:27097]



I think it was about $100 total and the beauty is that it is completely reconfigurable - if you want to change doodads down the line, you can just slip in (or move) the T-nuts, add cross braces etc.

 

[pvstoy]

Rando do you think it is ok to mount 35 pounds of Maxtrax (4 boards) and 2 full 5 gallon gas cans in A/T gas can holders by just mounting off the jack brackets? Seems like a lot of weight. Opinions?

Hawk Flatbed year 2015.

 

[kmacafee]

Those jack brackets carry the weight of the camper when it’s on the jacks. It’s probably one of the strongest parts of the camper.

 

[No longer here]

I have a similar rack (idea shamelessly stolen from someone on WtW, unfortunately I have forgotten who) which is made out of 80/20 aluminium T-slot. I am note sure why you would need to have someone 'build' such a rack, you can buy which ever profile of 80/20 you need:
https://8020.net/framing-options/t-slotted-profiles.html
They will even cut it to length for you. You then need a couple of T-nuts and bolts to attach to the jack brackets:
https://8020.net/framing-options/t-slotted-profiles.html

And finally some more T-Nuts and what ever other hardware needed to attach your doodads:

IMG_1140 (1).jpg

I think it was about $100 total and the beauty is that it is completely reconfigurable - if you want to change doodads down the line, you can just slip in (or move) the T-nuts, add cross braces etc.

Oh wow!! I LOVE the sliding booster antenna. That is now on my to-do list!! I made mine out of the 80-20 as well, as that is what frontrunner, prinsu and rhinoracks do. It's modular and can buy the accessories from them if you want. Shipping took a while but worth the wait.

 

[No longer here]

Question... how much was the rack that was ordered with the FWC?

ADDED... And the price quoted just for the rack? or included the maxtrax and gas cans holders and cans? Thanks

If I recall it was $525+/- it was steel and did not include anything (I assumed it did given the price and was a little miffed when I realized what I was actually getting. :/

 

[No longer here]

I do love the rack though. Adding traction mats, fuel tanks and an axe back there make it less of a old man RV and more adventurmobile At 40 though....i'm quickly hitting old man status lol

 

[rando]

Agreed, the brackets are surely strong enough for this. You would want to mount the gas cans at the ends to minimize the deflection in the cross bars, and use larger T-slot, either 1"x2" or 1.5"x3":
https://8020.net/1020.html
https://8020.net/1530.html

Is there anywhere else you can mount at least the gas cans? With two full cans, and mounts, 4 traction boards and the rack necessary to hold all that weight you could end up with 200 lbs way behind the rear axel and up high, which is precisely where you don't want it.

I worked hard to avoid this and mounted 6 gallons of gas down low and in front of the axel under the flatbed, not a great photo but visible:

 

[rando]

Also the T-Slot profiles and everything else you could possibly need are also available at McMaster Carr, which has an easier to use website and uncanny fast shipping - like order by 5pm and have it arrive by 10 am the next day (that is less than 18 hours).

https://www.mcmaster.com/t-slotted-framing

 

[No longer here]

I used the 40 series T-slot with very little defelection. I agree that 6 gallons up high is a problem, but 6 gallons is 36 lbs. Also not carried 100% of the time. Reasons like this is why the steel rack is not good for this application. Mcmaster is nice, but don't offer custom that I could see, nor is it threaded. Still a great option!

 

[kmacafee]

I looked at T-slot but am/was concerned that the slim head of that t-bolt was carrying a fair amount of weight, especially if the vehicle is traveling on uneven surfaces. An engineer suggested using square aluminum stock instead and bolting everything through that. Obviously, its not as versatile and adaptable as T-slot but based on what I have read, much stronger. I'd love to hear how it holds up.

 

[rando]

The T-slotted profiles are pretty impressively strong. We have used this to built instrument racks for research aircraft which require structural analysis, and if memory serves me correctly the 15 series stuff we were using was rated at something like 2kN per fastener - which is around 500lbs. It would take some extremely high G-forces to reach those limits, especially if using multiple fasteners for heavier loads like gas tanks.

 

[Hoopy]

there is such a markup on those racks with a little thought one can save lots of $. I welded up one outa aluminum have our trash bag on it for now. plenty of room to add things if we want to. I guess I use it to pull up and release the back clasps on the roof makes a handhold for that!!