FJ62 Expedition Build up started

[silverton62]

Today I finally ordered the H55F manual transmission, Old Man Emu Heavy lift kit, ARB Winch/Bull Bar, and am having an expedition rack made as well.

Here is the thing; I need IDEAS for a rack that extends out over the hood, and has a mesh bottom, is big enough to put water cans, fuel, and 3 or 4 10 foot long surfboards, Hi lift jack etc...

I want to tie the rack into the bumpers, NOT the rain gutter, and need to be able to mount a rooftop tent up there as well as a ladder.

I am leaving in November for a 6 month expedition/vacation around Baja/Mexico mainland, surfing, exploring, over-landing.
Any ideas helpful and appreciated! Mike

 

[Hltoppr]

Wow...I bet the 'ol wallet is a bit lighter with that set of mods! Excellent choices! :drool: :clapsmile

Some things to think about....A roof rack, in and of itself, will take about 15-25% of your fuel economy away. Additionally, adding the weight of the fuel/water up high can lead to a pretty tippy machine; not to mention the weight of the rack itself.

Might I suggest a lightweight rack, such as Yakima A-Towers for the surfboards, and either a long range fuel tank or rear bumper/interior storage of fuel and water....

-H-

 

[silverton62]

Thanks. I use Thule bars now, but will be living in/on the vehicle and need a sturdy, rack for misc. items, and sleeping 2 people in a roof top tent. The rain-gutters are deformed a bit from loads in the past. I am traveling with 2 dogs and need space inside. I use a fridge freezer, and think I need a nice rack for this space. The mesh platform of the rack would be great as a platform as well as sleeping spot. I will mount a propane tank up there for cooking, and for 6 months will have some tools, and supplies, spares.
I will be staying in several spots in Baja and Mexico mainland, surfing for months at a time, once I get there so the mileage trade-off for carrying what I need is worth it to me. I used to travel like this in a step-van, and being comfortable is important to me, over time. I want an awning built into the rack with bars that swing away, as I saw on the cover of the spring 2007 Overland Journal on the Land-Rover 110. This is a long, rough trip, and an expedition grade material is needed.

 

[Willman]

Welcome to the ExPo!

Andrew has some great points!

here's my two cents...

I love my trailer....more room for fuel, water, & gear.....and can't forget about Eezi-Awn RTT...

My trailer lets me go places longer without restocking up on suppies.

Just an idea..

 

[kcowyo]

Perhaps OutbacKamper might have some ideas.

He built something similar to what you're describing for his trip around Australia. I would PM him, he's really knowledgable and very helpful.

I would also run your idea buy the Load My Boat guys. Perhaps they could be of help.


Load My Boat rack -

OutbacKamper's cab over rack -

 

[OutbacKamper]

Just a few thoughts:
I hate to tell you, but I agree with Hltoppr. Significant amounts of water and fuel do not belong on the roof IMHO. You would be much better off to carry the heavy stuff lower down and carry only light stuff up top. Have you read Tom Sheppard's VDEG? He has a lot to say on this subject.
However if you are determined to do it, a rack could be built. Mounting it to just the front and rear bumpers is going to make for a very loooong rack, that would have to be built as a truss, to span that far unsupported, and will be very heavy even before adding any cargo. Could you provide some additional support to the rack with vertical posts maybe tied into a custom slider/step/nerf bar or pads mounted to the roof? This would certainly help to make the rack lighter.
If this rack is going to be made of aluminum, do not rely on welding, the welds will crack over time. All welded joints should be backed up with brackets, gussets etc that are bolted on.
Another option to consider is that Yakima tracks could be attached directly to the roof (not gutters) using sikaflex and rivnuts.

Cheers
Mark

ps: thanks for the plug kc

 

[blupaddler]

First off... WELCOME!!!

I assume you have a fj62 by your screen name.

I don't know how bad the roof rails are but a properly made roof rack (look at the tradesman) with a support that goes along the entire drip rail will support the roof-top-tent no problem. However, I would personally steer away from roof racks, this is only from personal experience (mainly weight and MPG loss). But if you are set on a rack, I think one with the tent situated on the rack in the middle of the vehicle would work, and if you want to have the over-hanging portion over the hood, you could put the boards there. I would definitely not put any water or fuel up top on the roof.

I hope this all makes sense...



I would also look at the bigger replacement fuel tank that MAF sells...
http://www.man-a-fre.com/parts_accessories/FJ62 Long Range Replacement Fuel Tank.htm
Which should suffice for most of your needs.

Then carry water and most other heavy items in the vehicle.


You could always put a small utility box on the rack behind the tent (same height-width, etc) for small items.








Good luck with your trip and prepping! We might actually run into each other depending on our travels this winter...

 

[silverton62]

So, I will try and stay light, and functional. I realize that gas mileage will be effected, but I cannot afford a trailer at this time.
Everyone has their own vision. I won't put fuel or water on the rack, just fishing poles, surfboards, extra stuff though, and a tent.
Yes, the plan is to tie to a slider bar on the side, and rear bumper. It will extend maybe 1.5 feet over the hood.
The photo scanned below shows what I am going for as far as functionality/looks.
Due to ferry crossings where you PAY by the foot for the length of the vehicle loading onto the boat; a trailer could add a cost hundreds of dollars more each way, instead of gas mileage loss with the rack.
The method used in the picture has been used for about the last 25 years, I trust it.

 

[gjackson]

Mike,

First, welcome to ExPo.

The method used in the picture has been used for about the last 25 years, I trust it.

Well, not quite; I've only had my truck since 2003! But I know what you mean, large racks on Rovers are very common in the overlanding world. A few points from me, which do reiterate some of the above:

1. As said before, you want to put as little weight up high as possible. My 110 has a lot more up high than I like, but I accept that as a limitation to where I can go
2. Obviously you need a rack; roof tent, kayaks etc.
3. Your goal should be to keep the rack itself as light as you can while still maintaining the strength for what you need to carry. Think light materials; expanded metal flooring is very heavy. A lot of people use the plastic flooring from animal kennels, light and weather proof. Go with the lightest gauge metal you can get away with for the rack structure; the main weakness of the rack will be it flexing, rather than the weight you put on it.
4. Be careful with your mounting system. On the 110 pictured, I have a full cage that is mounted to the frame and doesn't touch the body anywhere. The rack is attached to that. Avoid splitting mounting between the frame and the body as this will just result in stressed and broken parts. The body does move significantly compared to the frame.

I've included a couple of pics that might give you some ideas. Good luck!

cheers

 

[silverton62]

Very nice. I understand what you mean about flexing. I hope to go completely off of the front bumper with a brace, and sliders, plus rear bumper for support. Not gonna use rain gutters unless for awning.

 

[silverton62]

This is what started it all.

I wanted something like this...

 

[ntsqd]

My structural take on most of what I've seen posted so far is that there isn't much there. Most rack designs appear to rely on the strength of the material rather than on design geometry. You will never get a light & strong rack doing that. Those that I've seen that have an upper rail use it purely for load retention, they really aren't well used for strength considerations.

Look at classic truss design methods and employ them in the design of the side and end rails of the rack. Keep in mind the span across the width too. Depending on loads and driving conditions there may want to be one or more trusses spanning the width of the rack between the ends. These could be adjacent to the RTT and/or used for load dividers. Think in terms of triangles. Every member of the rack should be part of a triangle and not a rectangle or something else.
Attached is a jpg of a quick CAD model. The model is 62" wide by 182" long by 8" tall (I scaled off my FJ60). SW says it weighs 136 lbs using 1" square by .065 wall tube. No doubt reducing the number of diagonals would trim some weight from it.

Once you have a rack design that will carry the load and at least live through the trip, the next thing that needs addressing is how to support it. This is a lot more complicated, and a specific area that I don't have a lot of experience in. I can offer concepts, but can't say which is the better method to choose.
Either you shoot for as rigid a mounting method as possible; or you design in some flexibility so that twists and what-not do do not overly stress the junction between the support system and the rack itself.

My inclination would be to go with the classic and very valid 3 point mounting system. I would employ 2 rubber spring eye bushings at the front and a single one at the rear mount (driving visibility obstructions = put the two up front).
To do this means that the supports need to be reasonably rigid both fore/aft and side/side.
Which brings me to my next point, with the possible exception of gjackson's rack (pic is unclear) I've yet to see any design that had any sort of real triangulation of the supports. Little gussets up at the join of the support to the rack don't count. They're often so puny given the size of everything else that the designer may as well have not bothered.

 

[silverton62]

I like this a lot.

Thanks, that helps too.
While I was @ Proffitt's Cruisers I saw several racks that they have made, that are custom for the vehicle, and the purpose used for, in this case an Exo-cage for rollover. I have to give them credit for these photos, and the great work. The white FJ60 is really close to what I want in that structurally it's a very solid mounted rack, I would add the crossbars on top for the tent, a platform area or some flat surface to load gear on, maybe built in dividers of some sort. I like the awning bars built in, and swing out away, lock into place both open and closed. The back of the rack over rear cargo door will have the RTT mounted, and the tent will fold out over the hatch, providing shade until I am able to add the "changing room" attachment. I think I am going with the Techni-Top, or the Ezi-Awn due to reliability, and test results I've seen.
My trip may be delayed due to modifications to the truck being finalized. I now want to add a Safari Snorkel, rock sliders, rear bumper, RTT. So, $ will be the issue, in the end. But when I am done, and head south I will be so happy, and glad I had the work done! Hoping the 5 speed manual transmission I am adding makes a nice power difference, over automatic it replaces. The ARB (HEAVY) lift should be wonderful as well.

 

[the dude]

Welcome and great choice of vehicle!!

We just returned from 30 days on the road with our HJ61 touring northern Canada and Alaska. It was a fabulous trip.

A couple things that really worked well for us (and a few that didn't):

1)Onboard shower with pop up encloser. We will never be without this option again. I bought an "outback privy" encloser from Cabellas that was on sale. It was cheap and sets up fast but the quality is less the desired. The seams are starting to stretch already. It was also great for changing in. The shower was a home built using a bought heat exchanger and pump.

2) Engel fridge. No ice, no mess. It just plain rocks to have a fridge onboard.

3) Scepter water cans leak, their fuel cans don't. Not sure why. I was carrying a water can inside and it ended up filling one of my gortex boots. Not a great experience with it. We swapped it out for a fuel can and had no issues. It turned out that having the water can on the back was 10X more convenient to get water from. The swing out tire rack and fuel/water rack worked better then expected. Things stayed out of the way yet easily reached if needed. Both where very solid.

4) The front mount CB ant ruined a lot of quick action shot pictures. it works well up there but got in the way. I don't know if driving with roof rack posts up front will bother you, it would drive us nuts.

5) Our new Coleman stove we bought just before the trip. This was a big surprise to us both. It is the propane unit that has the burner on one side and grill on the other. We got the optional skillet to replace the grill as well. For under $100 this was a great stove. I wish it was smaller (or maybe squarer?? to pack better) The grill worked great and the skillet saved a lot of dirty dishes.


The three things that we came up with that we would have liked to have on our trip:

1) A longer lens for our camera. It was one more thing to spend money on before we left and we didn't buy it. We should have.

2) A better GPS. We are using an old Magellan Sport that we both learned to despise. It ate batteries, the screen was hard to read, the mapping on it was weak, the screen was way to small. Not a show stopper but we will upgrade to something better before the next trip.

3) 2M radio. I have a well tuned CB but it can't compete with the 2M that most of the others on our trip had. I will be investing in a 2M set up this winter and writing my exam.

 

[silverton62]

great advice, Thanks!

Wow, very nice trip! I am also the owner of a Helton hot water shower system, and use it a lot for dishes, as well as showers! I love it. Next to my ARB MT45 Fridge/Freezer it is the best thing I have ever bought for overland travels!
The past expeditions I have used both liquid fuel coleman stove, MSR Exp multi fuel stoves, and a propane stove. This trip I am using the propane and coleman stove as backup. It is reliable, quiet, quick, efficient.
Thanks again, I will post some photos of the lift, bullbar, rack, and recent toys added, and work done plus photos before leaving on my next Expedition to Mexico/Baja, possibly Guatemala, and Costa Rica. I am visiting the Maya Ruins, and Pyramids while there, and I want to search for a few 'hidden things" in Baja.