corax
Explorer
If you don't have experience with MOLLE / PALS gear, I recommend you check into it. Even a quick google image search will show you there's a wide range of pouches and bags available to help organize the little things in your rig. This is a good overview of the different ways the gear can be attached: Gear Reviews
I can't take credit for the concept, just the cheaper way of doing it -> www.springtailsolutions.com/ <- this is pretty much where I got the idea from, but I would never pay $175 for the panel pictured below. If you have the cash, though, I've heard the quality is decent - mostly FJCruiser stuff with a few generic panels for Jeeps and a full cargo area system for Yukon/Tahoe
There are some fabric panels here that also hold some promise: www.smittybilt.com/gear.htm
I installed 2 bars to both rear side windows a few days ago. They're surprisingly sturdy and I don't expect 'em to ever pull out - I can rock the truck on its suspension by pulling/pushing on these without any movement from 'em.
The reason for the top bar was so I could mount a piece wire closet shelf between the two to attach MOLLE/PALS bags. As long as the wires are 1" center-to-center these bags will attach easily and securely. A few other ideas I had involved using wire a refrigerator shelf, fire circle grate, grill grate - just imagine any kind of wire shelf with 1" spacing.
This was the original finished product with the thick vertical wires bent over for mounting. I temporarily mounted it with wire ties, but it seemed secure enough that I could have left it like that. If it came loose, hose clamps would have been a good simple solution.
After a few days I realized the wires on the long span bend a bit easily, although the MOLLE/PALS gear, when properly strung up, will distribute the weight to each wire its attached to. This shouldn't have posed a problem, but I might have too much time on my hands right now. If it wasn't plastic coated I would have just added another vertical wire to brace it all up. The other problem had to do with stringing up the MOLLE/PALS gear with the wire shelf installed on the shell - there's not really enough room to work between the shelf and the window.
So I decided to build my own grate to mount my stuff on. I took off the original shelf and wire tied 3/16" round to the horizontals, this is how I kept the spacing - in effect, the wire shelf was my welding jig. I wouldn't go thicker than 3/16" for the horizontals or it would become really difficult to stretch the nylon straps enough to string up the gear. I used 1/4" round for the verticals and welded 5/16" nuts to the end of the verticals for mounting to the 1/2" conduit clamps on the window bars. The conduit clamps got 1/4" RivNuts to mount the grill. This also spaced the grill away from the window a bit more, but I still have to pull the grill off to string gear on. Here's the mount to the window bar:
My new spot for the first aid kit. This is from Condor and is mounted to the MOLLE panel with velcro. It also has a plastic buckle to keep it from coming off on its own (think "rough road"), one buckle and the pack pulls right off without having to mess around with the MOLLE straps.
I can't take credit for the concept, just the cheaper way of doing it -> www.springtailsolutions.com/ <- this is pretty much where I got the idea from, but I would never pay $175 for the panel pictured below. If you have the cash, though, I've heard the quality is decent - mostly FJCruiser stuff with a few generic panels for Jeeps and a full cargo area system for Yukon/Tahoe
There are some fabric panels here that also hold some promise: www.smittybilt.com/gear.htm
I installed 2 bars to both rear side windows a few days ago. They're surprisingly sturdy and I don't expect 'em to ever pull out - I can rock the truck on its suspension by pulling/pushing on these without any movement from 'em.
The reason for the top bar was so I could mount a piece wire closet shelf between the two to attach MOLLE/PALS bags. As long as the wires are 1" center-to-center these bags will attach easily and securely. A few other ideas I had involved using wire a refrigerator shelf, fire circle grate, grill grate - just imagine any kind of wire shelf with 1" spacing.
This was the original finished product with the thick vertical wires bent over for mounting. I temporarily mounted it with wire ties, but it seemed secure enough that I could have left it like that. If it came loose, hose clamps would have been a good simple solution.
After a few days I realized the wires on the long span bend a bit easily, although the MOLLE/PALS gear, when properly strung up, will distribute the weight to each wire its attached to. This shouldn't have posed a problem, but I might have too much time on my hands right now. If it wasn't plastic coated I would have just added another vertical wire to brace it all up. The other problem had to do with stringing up the MOLLE/PALS gear with the wire shelf installed on the shell - there's not really enough room to work between the shelf and the window.
So I decided to build my own grate to mount my stuff on. I took off the original shelf and wire tied 3/16" round to the horizontals, this is how I kept the spacing - in effect, the wire shelf was my welding jig. I wouldn't go thicker than 3/16" for the horizontals or it would become really difficult to stretch the nylon straps enough to string up the gear. I used 1/4" round for the verticals and welded 5/16" nuts to the end of the verticals for mounting to the 1/2" conduit clamps on the window bars. The conduit clamps got 1/4" RivNuts to mount the grill. This also spaced the grill away from the window a bit more, but I still have to pull the grill off to string gear on. Here's the mount to the window bar:
My new spot for the first aid kit. This is from Condor and is mounted to the MOLLE panel with velcro. It also has a plastic buckle to keep it from coming off on its own (think "rough road"), one buckle and the pack pulls right off without having to mess around with the MOLLE straps.
