Jack
Senior Member
When I removed the factory rack from our Fleet to lay down flexible solar panels, I had intended to install Yakima tracks so I could carry the chairs and a few other items that I had been carrying on top.
We meander, so we generally change location most days. The problem with gear on top is that if we decide we want to setup the chairs after popping the top and setting up, we have to drop the top, get the gear and then pop-up again. It’s a minor hassle, but more often than I care to admit, we just don’t do it.
Well, the first thing I noticed after taking off the rack, the gear on it, and the Zamp panel was about a 1 mpg improvement in gas mileage. I really liked that and began to think about alternatives to a rack on top.
The solution was a side rack, inspired by FWC’s surfboard rack. It holds our two chairs, which are now easy to get at, even for lunch on the road. It can also carry our folding crab pot and clam gun. I think a kayak or canoe would be too wide, so a side rack isn’t for everybody.
The other thing I really like about the side rack? $40 instead of $400+ for Yakima.
Materials: 4’ 2x2” x 1/8” Al angle, 6’ x 8’ poplar cut down the middle to make a right-angle. I should probably have gotten 6’ of Al angle so I could run a second bar across the bottom to carry more odd stuff.
We meander, so we generally change location most days. The problem with gear on top is that if we decide we want to setup the chairs after popping the top and setting up, we have to drop the top, get the gear and then pop-up again. It’s a minor hassle, but more often than I care to admit, we just don’t do it.
Well, the first thing I noticed after taking off the rack, the gear on it, and the Zamp panel was about a 1 mpg improvement in gas mileage. I really liked that and began to think about alternatives to a rack on top.
The solution was a side rack, inspired by FWC’s surfboard rack. It holds our two chairs, which are now easy to get at, even for lunch on the road. It can also carry our folding crab pot and clam gun. I think a kayak or canoe would be too wide, so a side rack isn’t for everybody.
The other thing I really like about the side rack? $40 instead of $400+ for Yakima.
Materials: 4’ 2x2” x 1/8” Al angle, 6’ x 8’ poplar cut down the middle to make a right-angle. I should probably have gotten 6’ of Al angle so I could run a second bar across the bottom to carry more odd stuff.