EMT Rack Question?
02-07-2010, 09:43 PM
#1
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Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
EMT Rack Question?
I've been considering building a roof rack out of EMT like many others have done on here. The thing I can't figure out is what to use as a "bushing" to connect two piece of the EMT together. I don't have any access to a welder so I was gonna use some kind of tubing that would fit snug inside the emt and have it extend several inches on both sides of the joints then run some bolts through it. I plan on either using 3/4" or 1" EMT. Anybody know of something to use as a "bushing"?
02-07-2010, 09:57 PM
#2
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Year: 1989
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Engine: 4.0L
Searching will not hurt you.
Read the whole thing but pay attention to the bold. I just searched and found this info.
From: warthog
From: warthog
you will need
four 10' pieces of 1" emt conduit (Rails)
three 10' pieces of 1/2" emt conduit (floor)
about 8' of 1/4" x 1" aluminum strip (supports)
2 boxes of self tapping screws
3' of 3/4" galvanized steel pipe (for bushings) from plumbing section
1" Tube bender (rent)
four 1" u bolts (to mount)
2 pieces of thin 12" x 24" diamond plate (optional)
buy a big big square (10 bucks at lowes)
i used the square to make a jig out of 2x4 wood. that was my template to make sure all of my bends were the same.
if you use your factory roof rack to mount it on your width will be 42". my length is 58" but this depends on what you want.
take 1 piece of conduit, make your measurements (mine was 58" front to back) this will probably sound confusing but i will try to explain anyway. your piece of conduit is 120" long. minus 120" by 58" and that leaves you with 62. half of 62" is 31". now you should measure in 31" from one end of the conduit and mark it, now do the same from the other end. you should have 58" in between both your marks. there is a star on the bender. use that as your marker every time and bend 2 90 degree bends into it so it looks like this [. Take the other 3 pieces and bend them the exact same way. you can cut off the excess later to make it 42" wide. make sure all your pieces are exactly the same. now overlap them like this [] and using a square. Measure 10 times cut once. cut off the same amount on each end to make it 42" wide when the ends are butted together.
you will have to grind some of the outer diameter of the 3/4" galvanized steel pipe for it to fit inside the 1" emt. then after it will fit inside the emt, cut four 6" pieces. this will be used to connect both sides of the emt conduit. put 3" in one side and secure and then the other 3" inside the other side. now use your "bushings" to connect each side top and bottom and make sure they are the exact same. great thing about self tapping screws is that you can removed them and fix your mistakes unlike welding.
With the aluminum strip. cut it into 5" pieces. Or however tall you want it. it should make around 18 or 19. make sure they are all the same length. you will need to predrill these holes. i used a gig on this also to make sure all my holes in each end would look the same. i will try to upload more pics of these items and jigs tonight. evenly space however many supports you want on each side. i started in the middle of each side then 1/2'd each remaining distance and put another support. when the top and bottom are connected now is a good time to grind down any flaws or sharp points you want to. i ground down flush the ends of my supports. you will need to do this atleast on the bottom to install your floor later.
now once all that is done you can install the floor. measure from one side to the other. you can see on the pics in my profile that i connnected my flooring right under my supports. once you have cut all your 1/2" conduit pieces to the same length. you will need to flatten each end so they will connect flush on the bottom of the rack. predrill these holes and then install. grind down the rough edges. if you want to put thin pieces of diamond plate sheet metal on the corners, now is the time. this is up to you and you can make it look the way you want it. i hope i have explained everything and it is understandable. good luck and send me some pics when your done. there was a lot of measuring and squaring up. this was the first thing i have ever made and fab'd up. i only made one mistake, i said that just to say this. if you take your time and make sure your measurments are good. it is easy.
four 10' pieces of 1" emt conduit (Rails)
three 10' pieces of 1/2" emt conduit (floor)
about 8' of 1/4" x 1" aluminum strip (supports)
2 boxes of self tapping screws
3' of 3/4" galvanized steel pipe (for bushings) from plumbing section
1" Tube bender (rent)
four 1" u bolts (to mount)
2 pieces of thin 12" x 24" diamond plate (optional)
buy a big big square (10 bucks at lowes)
i used the square to make a jig out of 2x4 wood. that was my template to make sure all of my bends were the same.
if you use your factory roof rack to mount it on your width will be 42". my length is 58" but this depends on what you want.
take 1 piece of conduit, make your measurements (mine was 58" front to back) this will probably sound confusing but i will try to explain anyway. your piece of conduit is 120" long. minus 120" by 58" and that leaves you with 62. half of 62" is 31". now you should measure in 31" from one end of the conduit and mark it, now do the same from the other end. you should have 58" in between both your marks. there is a star on the bender. use that as your marker every time and bend 2 90 degree bends into it so it looks like this [. Take the other 3 pieces and bend them the exact same way. you can cut off the excess later to make it 42" wide. make sure all your pieces are exactly the same. now overlap them like this [] and using a square. Measure 10 times cut once. cut off the same amount on each end to make it 42" wide when the ends are butted together.
you will have to grind some of the outer diameter of the 3/4" galvanized steel pipe for it to fit inside the 1" emt. then after it will fit inside the emt, cut four 6" pieces. this will be used to connect both sides of the emt conduit. put 3" in one side and secure and then the other 3" inside the other side. now use your "bushings" to connect each side top and bottom and make sure they are the exact same. great thing about self tapping screws is that you can removed them and fix your mistakes unlike welding.
With the aluminum strip. cut it into 5" pieces. Or however tall you want it. it should make around 18 or 19. make sure they are all the same length. you will need to predrill these holes. i used a gig on this also to make sure all my holes in each end would look the same. i will try to upload more pics of these items and jigs tonight. evenly space however many supports you want on each side. i started in the middle of each side then 1/2'd each remaining distance and put another support. when the top and bottom are connected now is a good time to grind down any flaws or sharp points you want to. i ground down flush the ends of my supports. you will need to do this atleast on the bottom to install your floor later.
now once all that is done you can install the floor. measure from one side to the other. you can see on the pics in my profile that i connnected my flooring right under my supports. once you have cut all your 1/2" conduit pieces to the same length. you will need to flatten each end so they will connect flush on the bottom of the rack. predrill these holes and then install. grind down the rough edges. if you want to put thin pieces of diamond plate sheet metal on the corners, now is the time. this is up to you and you can make it look the way you want it. i hope i have explained everything and it is understandable. good luck and send me some pics when your done. there was a lot of measuring and squaring up. this was the first thing i have ever made and fab'd up. i only made one mistake, i said that just to say this. if you take your time and make sure your measurments are good. it is easy.
02-09-2010, 11:25 PM
#3
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I read that post a couple weeks ago but I was hoping someone had came accross something that will work without having to grind it down.
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