Adventure

I picked up an old (estimated 8-10 years old, from stories by previous, 2nd, owner) corn-ferr roof basket on craigslist for $80 about a month ago. It had a floor build out of 1x4's bolted to it that were in poor shape. I started with stripping the basket and repainting it, I used a spray on bed liner paint to add to durability.



For the floor I decided to to use wood again but used 1x8's for the main floor pieces and to fill the gaps between with 1x4's. I used this pattern to make use of the holes already drilled in the cross bars of the rack from the 1x4 configuration. All of the boards received a few coats of stain.



The hardware the was saved from the old boards.



Some KC 57's that will be mounted to the front of the rack



Here are some pictures of the rack assembled. The brackets attached on the floor behind the lights are bike mounts (the pins are not in). On the drivers side of the rack shovel or ax mounts we installed by the original owner.














Now comes mounting the basket to the Jeep. It came with 4 gutter mounts. I also have 3 cross bars on the factory rack and cut some flat pieces of metal to clamp it to the factory bars.



Sorry didn't snap a picture of the gutter mounts, but you all know how they work.

I am not sure how I want to mount the rack yet and would like some opinions. I rack weights in at 88lbs with all hardware, lights, and bike mounts. Mounting it to the factory cross bars gives it a 2 inch lower profile. I also had it just ratchet strapped to the factory cross bars for about a month for hunting and it hauled 3 climbing stands and some other gear perfectly fine. It also hauled a 14ft canoe to the lake with no issues.

It seems most people swear by the gutter mounts and bash on the factory rails. Can someone give my some reasoning behind this. I am an engineer and would appreciate an explanation from someone that speaks my kind of language and not just a "cause those are crap".

Any other comments and questions are welcomed.

jeepdreamer

Holy Nice Cutlass rag top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *drool*
And great job on the rack. ;0

The Black

Not an engineer but my rack is on the factory rails and has worked well. Very strong. Not sure how much it weight it can take but I have 6 KC's, tire mount and spare and Hi lift jack. Plus I have had 300lb. of corn on it. Love the wood work on yours. Looks awesome. Might do that later once I get the spare tire moved to the rear bumper.

Adventure

The olds isnt mine.. I drool over it too. Its Dad's I have been visiting for the holidays and working on this in this garage and shop. It's a '69 but sadly not the 442, someone before him put a '72 motor in it so it needs some tuning up.

Thanks for the compliments on the wood. I really liked how it turned out and haven't seen too many others like it.