RockSteadyBeat

check for a pm

85on32+4

this floor looks AMAZING, and functional... you have just inspired my next project. nice!

XJEric

I did something similar to the wooden floor in one of my civic hatchbacks except I used a much thinner sheet of particle board wrapped in the carpet used on speaer/sub enclosures. in my opinion toward the wooden floor, that would look better, but its a decent install none-the-less. My only issue is the exposed caulk

85on32+4

its funny you mention that... i did that same exact thing with my old hatch acura

XJEric

hah well ill be damned. lol

Oh yea, well back on topic, i just did a quick search on conduit in the fab and XJ section and got nothing. Im curious to see a write up or some type of resource. This seems like a decent medium to familiarize myself with welding and fab work.

85on32+4

if your not worried about looking getto and are just using it to strap stuffdown,,, maybe PVC foam filled?i do not reccomend this... but if low on cash 'do what you gotta do'

warthog

i second or third the emt. i built mine for 60 bucks minus paint. got the original idea from gornikebounder and changed it slightly. check out my albums, there are to many to post

92muddycherokee

Thanks. I actually sold the Jeep that the wood floor was in. I used car siding lumber for the floor, it is easy to use and looks better than ply wood, which was what I was originally going to use. I did this because there were several holes in the cargo area, so this was just to make the rear usable for a couple years or so until I could find another XJ.
Regardless, it worked great. If you are going to do it, I would suggest using the pink insulation board for underneath, it is weather proof, or at least weather resistant and it blocks sound pretty well. If you use expanding foam like I did, wait for it to dry then scrape off some excess and use a piece of wood trim finish it out or a strip of metal. These pics were taken right as we finished. I loved the way it turned out, if I turn my newest XJ into a strictly play thing, it will get a wood floor also.
Good luck, pm me if you have any technical questions about and I will help as best I can.

SloPok

I also am making a roof rack out of EMT, it's cost me around $70, but it'll be well worth it when it's done.

warthog

Good,
Post pics when you get done. and welcome to CF

Desert Rat

Hey Warthog. Nice job on the roofrack, looks sweet. I just had some questions regarding the diamond plate corners if I may. 1. How thick is the diamond plate you used for the corners, and is it steel? 2. You mentioned that they were a pain to mount, what did you encounter there? 3. What method did you use to get such a smooth bend and get them to match the bend in your tubing so well? Thanks in advance for any help, I'm thinking I'd like to go this route on my rack.

chassis research

My experience with conduit is that it bends/dents quite easily when impacted; Like being hung up on a tree branch???

ddr

I made mine out of a rollaway bed that we had in storage from a couple years when we used to buy and sell used stuff and some 3/4" square tubing. I'ts not finished but It's functional for while I build my new one.
And the crossbars are one of my junkyard finds.

rjxj

My 2 cents worth. If you build it out of wood, and make it sturdy, it is going to make you more top heavy then metal. Raises the center of gravity.

EMT (electrical metalic tubing) is light weight and cheap yet buying the connectors will add up. Thin wall galvanized tube. Also a thing of what are you putting up there. Do you need it to be strong?

Bed frame, Great idea. Steel.

Steel isn't that expensive. Here's a couple of pics of mine, cost under $100 and about 90% of the steel was purchased at one of those really big home stores. If you go into my albums you can see how much stuff I put up there for my camping trips. All you need to do is find someone to weld for you.

warthog

Thanks Man,
1. Not sure on the exact thickness of the diamond plate, it is thin thin aluminum. I am sure it it took a hard tree branch at 45 mph it would punch a hole. I don't go down trails near about that fast so it was good enough for me.
2. I mounted mine to the stock roof rack as you can see, my rack is 42" wide, if it was a 1/4" thinner it would have been easier, the crossmember metal is a lot harder than i was thinking. Plus i had to take apart the button mechanism so i was not drilling thiugh a spring. You may can see in the pics, on the outside of my mounting ubolts, the nuts were a tight fit to thread on, bc of how close it was.
3. I have a 1" EMT conduit bender from lowes, i sued that to make the bends, but i also made a jig out of 2x4's, i just bought a huge square (10 bucks) and made a big 90 degree jig so that all my angles would be the exact same.
The best advice i can give is just make sure your measurements are good on all pieces before you bend.
I would highly recomend this route, it was 60 bucks minus paint. I know for a fact it will atleast hold 180lbs. i can't vouch yet for the g force wieght it can handle.


How fast do you go down trails? I guarantee you that if i was going down the trail fast enough to possibly damage my emt roof rack, that the stock rack mounts will break off first. It is a lot stronger that i ever thought it would be, it may not be that strong when its one long piece. but when you bend it, brace it and put it all together you won't have any issues.

Just wandering what connectors are you talking about?