Interior rear rack for a JKU
- Thread starter Boatmonkey
- Start date
rlgrace2011
Observer
Yeah clamps to the roll bar, and has a back leg that runs down the line of the back seat. Its strong enough to stand on, but takes up virtually no floor space.
Maxcustody
Explorer
They are AT specific, maybe give them a call.
workingonit71
Aspirantes ad Adventure
re-purposing HF racks for a lot less money
- If you can't find the interior rack you want at your favorite outfitters, why not re-purpose a hitch-mounted carrier from Harbor Freight, or Northern Tool, to do the same thing. And, for a lot less money.
- The Adventure Trailers rack measures 45"W x 26.25"D x 5.5"H, for $570 (if in stock), while a HF rack, for an ATV, measures a comparable size of 46"W x 18.5"D, for $50. You could always fab up what you need to make it work for you, with the money saved. HF has a larger rack, measuring 51.5"W x 17.5"D x 4"H, for $65. I don't know if it would fit, but you could alter it to do so. Just my outside-the-box thinking here, and I'm cheap too; as long as it works!
will fit in the same space as the others, when modified
might fit, and stronger, too
rlgrace2011
Observer
I had thought about modifying one but I think the round tubing looks better, and this I'm sure is much lighter. My wife wanted the expanded bottom so that groceries and things don't fall through. Ended up weighing about 15lbs or so. Turned out perfect so I build and sell them from time to time as well.
CaptainChaos
Member
I built mine from a Harbor Freight atv rack. I cut a piece of 1/4 inch plywood to stop stuff from falling through. My dogs love it! They have a bed that rides up there when the rack isn't in use.
Happykamper
Explorer
Captain C . Love the puppy bed you created !!!
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
Boatmonkey
Observer
Thanks for all the info. Looks like I'll be getting the frontrunner rack in the near future. I really need to be able to utilize all of my storage space.
vtsoundman
OverAnalyzer
I did the same as Mr Chaos - except I made mine two level (one full width up high, another half width ~8" lower) .... used two of the Harbor Freight ATV racks without the hitch portion. Used a couple pieces of 2" wide alum angle to fab brackets that attach to the soft-top mounting holes on the factory cage. I also used a piece of 5/8x1/4" flat stock in-between the HF rack halves - to provide additional support for the lower half rack. Nothing on the market would allow enough height under the rack to allow my St Bernard Mix to stand up (when he lays down, he takes up the entire cargo area of the jeep). I also removed the 40 of the 60/40 seat for more storage. My initial design had bars that dropped down to the rear bench bolts, but after seeing all the aftermarket units and their attachment methods, I removed the floor supports.
Took me about 3 hours to do from start to finish (not including paint). Biggest pain was dealing with it falling on my head while trying to get some measurements for the side brackets. It has survived dozens of off road trips with a fair amount of gear. If anyone goes this route, don't use any of the Harbor Freight hardware - it is all garbage.
When I need it, I have a sheet of ABS plastic I use to keep straps and small crap from falling through the grates.
Took me about 3 hours to do from start to finish (not including paint). Biggest pain was dealing with it falling on my head while trying to get some measurements for the side brackets. It has survived dozens of off road trips with a fair amount of gear. If anyone goes this route, don't use any of the Harbor Freight hardware - it is all garbage.
When I need it, I have a sheet of ABS plastic I use to keep straps and small crap from falling through the grates.
vtsoundman
OverAnalyzer
Some initial photos before I lowered the RT half a bit more. These were taken minutes before I had to pack/leave on a back country business trip and just needed to get some things done before the trip (this rack was one of them). The padding and all the netting looks like hell 'cause I was in a rush, but it served its purpose. You can see the floor support brackets - these bolted to the rack and since been removed. You'll notice the rack sits above the back seat by a couple of inches. The mirror is for the future jeeper when he rides in the jeep.
I made it modular -> don't always have the lower rack installed when I need the vertical space for our CFX65dz Dometic.
I made it modular -> don't always have the lower rack installed when I need the vertical space for our CFX65dz Dometic.
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Boatmonkey
Observer
Great job on the rack. Anymore pics of how you mounted it? Close ups of the brackets? Thanks.
vtsoundman
OverAnalyzer
Hera ya go...really straightforward. The alum angle 6061 (I think it is 1.5" x 3/16"...might be 2") I had laying around. It is used in scaffolding. Unfortunately it already had some holes drilled in it and I realized it after I cut the brackets (oh well) ... Don't worry, the hole for the factory sport bar mount is drilled next to the existing holes - but hard to tell in this photo. Looks like hell, but gets the job done and is hidden. I used large grade 5 fender washers here to spread the load over the aluminum. I used M6 flange bolts screwed into the soft top mounts. I had to run a thread cleaner (not a tap) through the factory holes as the threads were partially galled. This mounting location raises rack up off the floor quite a bit and won't work with a soft top (not a concern at the time). I used flange nuts & bolts to make it as easy as possible to assemble (I hate washers).
The seat belts operate fine and do no rub on the rack while in use. (The side nets do get in the way, but nothing of concern).
I spoke to a mechanical automotive engineer familiar with the mounts in the roll bar. He said my mounting is more than sufficient for the rack and expected weight. He felt this was a better mount than using the clamp methods of some aftermarket vendors. He suggested if I was going to exceed 75#, to add long a bar on the other side of the factory tube to reduce the moment arm of the rack (prevent the rack from rotating.) He thought my floor bars were outstanding, but overkill unless I wanted to add more weight and suggested I simply run a flat bar to the rear hard top mount instead if I was really concerned about it.
I still haven't cleaned up the pipe insulation yet. Ugly, but functional. It is on my list of things to do.
You can see some of the holes and witness marks from the floor brackets as well as the brackets used to the hang the half shelf. The half shelf has been removed in these photos. I use wing nuts to hold it on.
You'll also notice a C channel that bridges the two halves of the rack. I was not satisfied with he amount of flex at the center point in the rack so added the c channel between the two rails and across the front. I am pretty sure some/all of this c channel was in the kit from HF. Just needed to be drilled/cut to fit (I can't recall).
I also included some pics of the hooks I used to add some tie down points along the hard top. I replace the bolts with some that are slightly longer and added some large diameter grade 5 fender washers to pravent the hooks from cracking the top.
There is a high current aux power port circuit (20A via #10) that is switchable - it can run from the main 100ah battery/alternator or run off my sealed 110ah AGM battery located under the rear seat (charged via CTEK).
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Boatmonkey
Observer
You did a killer job. Thanks for posting up the details.