Mounting Thule tracks on shell... ISO advice

[asteffes]

Not to rain on my own parade but I've received very little value from all the work and money that went into the roof rack for the shell. I've since sold the ski carriers and stow the skis in the back when I go to Tahoe. They stay free of road grime, and I don't have to deal with a ski rack anymore. I took the lights off because they looked silly after awhile, and it turns out Hella 500 driving beams suck, anyway. I have a Load Warrior that I bought from Mlachia, which I've used a grand total of one time. I'm very close to selling the cross bars, Load Warrior and whatever other roof rack stuff I have laying around.

 

[robert]

I've got the Yakimas on my topper. If you carry boats they are pretty much mandatory. I also have a bicycle carrier so I don't have to put a muddy bike in the back and I can still sleep back there. I have a Space Booster box I bought to use with the VW but I think I've only used it once- luckily I bought it used for a decent price.

Hella 500s suck- I had them on the front of my FJ40 and wasn't impressed. They'd be even worse up that high although you see a lot of trucks with them up there. Get a set of Hella 4000s and mount them on the bumper- much better.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Not to rain on my own parade but I've received very little value from all the work and money that went into the roof rack for the shell. I've since sold the ski carriers and stow the skis in the back when I go to Tahoe. They stay free of road grime, and I don't have to deal with a ski rack anymore. I took the lights off because they looked silly after awhile, and it turns out Hella 500 driving beams suck, anyway. I have a Load Warrior that I bought from Mlachia, which I've used a grand total of one time. I'm very close to selling the cross bars, Load Warrior and whatever other roof rack stuff I have laying around.

I'm sorry to hear that, you put a lot of work into it. I have and use ski carriers, but with a pickup there is no reason not to put them in the back. One thing people many times don't think about is the deicer spraying on your skis will eventually ruin the edges and bindings, so keeping them out of the weather as much as possible is best. But in a SUV with 4 people sometimes there is no where else to put them other than the top. While I would be lost without my roof racks, that is not the case with everyone. A hitch mount bike rack is more convenient, for example, and roof racks reduce your mileage and increase wind noise. But I wouldn't sell the towers and crossbars, sometimes a roof rack is indispensible. Even though my truck can only carry 2 people, in max outfit I can carry 5 bikes and that turns out to be very useful if you drive in support of a bike tour (we occasionally volunteer as vehicle support for MS150 and stuff). Or if you need to get a load of 10' long material, putting it on the roof can be handy rather than letting it hang out the back.

 

[TeleScooby]

Sorry you feel that way already, I had the same set up on my tacoma and used it almost daily...but then I was doing light carpentry, so I had wood up there next to the Yakima box that housed alot of my tools (safer then in the shell with my dog) as well as my skis. Combine that with the fact that I had a box built in the bed that cut usable cargo hauling space, a dog who lived in the bed of the truck every day, and had STUFF to haul, I guess that rack really was indespensible for me...



Anyway, enough rambling for now, I would keep the towers and bars for awhile, just to be sure you aren't going to want them down the line...

 

[asteffes]

I'll definitely keep the bars and towers for those times when I need to move a ladder or other long object. I also have an antenna mount that fits the Thule bars perfectly, and use that when I need to erect the dual-bander antenna. I just don't see myself using the basket or other attachments. It's not a big deal, really, I don't feel bad about the work I did. It's probably one of those things that I'll be glad I have when the right situation requires them.

 

[Howard70]

If You Have Mount Through the Foam

A couple of posts here have correctly mentioned that it is best to avoid the cored sections of a shell when mounting rails. However, if you need to mount through the cored section and want to maintain strength you might try a trick that we used frequently when mounting hardware and winches to the cored deck of a sailboat:

1. Drill a hole just large enough for your mounting hardware.

2. Bend a finishing nail with a 90 degree bend, the short side should be about 1/4 inch or so.

3. Mount the bent nail in your hand drill with the long leg in the chuck.

4. Carefully insert the short exposed leg into the hole drilled in #1 and keep the the hand drill straight (axis parallel with the hole). Spin the drill motor slowly and let the short leg knock out the cored material for a 1/4 around the hole.

5. You'll have two narrow holes through the fiberglass and a larger hole through the cored material. Blow out all the loose core material and place a piece of tape over the lower hole in the fiberglass, leaving the upper hole open.

6. Mix some epoxy and inject it into the top hole, filling the space created in the cored material. Wipe off any excess at the top hole leaving a good smooth surface on the fiberglass.

7. After the epoxy sets, re drill the mounting hole for the hardware through the epoxy. Don't worry if your exit hole (bottom hole) is SLIGHTLY misaligned from the original - the epoxy seals all that up.

8. You now have an epoxy "compression" ring around your mounting hole. Tightening the hardware won't compress the set epoxy and your mount is extremely strong.

9. If you want, it is possible to insert a threaded insert into the epoxy before it sets. Plug the threaded insert well to keep epoxy out of the threads and you'll have a clean "nutless" mount to screw mounting bolts into. This is only useful if the mount is something you'll remove often, otherwise just go through step 8.

While this probably seems time consuming, it goes real quick, especially with a lot of holes. Drill them all, then use the nail on all of them, tape them all, inject epoxy in all of them, and drill them again.

An added benefit is that your core material remains permanently sealed from water which can cause delamination over time.

Howard L. Snell

 

[RoundOut]

Love the epoxy trick!

That is an awesome trick, Howard! I'll use that some day, for sure.
:coffeedrink:

 

[Nullifier]

I have done the type of repair work you mentioned on some boat hulls, but doubt I would attack a topper reinforcement like that. It seems like alot of work to take the topper off the truck and flip it upside down just to roll it over and remount it again.

I would probably just laminate a few layers of material to the area I was going to drill maybe some 6"x6" pieces This way I could work with the topper on the truck, and not compromise the core material at all.

 

[Howard70]

Don't Remove the Shell For Epoxy

I wouldn't remove the shell to make the compression ring (and I haven't had to when I've done this previously).

I probably miscommunicated in the previous description - here's what I should have added:

Leave the shell on the truck. Drill the mounting holes from the top outside of the shell through the cored top to the inside of the shell. Use the bent finishing nail from the top outside. Blow the cored material out from the top outside into the shell (into the pickup bed). Place the tape over the inside bottom hole. Inject the epoxy from the top outside - it is contained until it sets by the tape. Redrill the mounting hole from the top outside.

If you're working on a vertical surface (perhaps the side of the shell if you have any cored material on the sides) do everything the same except mix your epoxy with slightly more hardener or use a filler powder to thicken the epoxy to peanut butter consistency. Pack the space left by the removed core material full and then place a 2nd piece of tape over the outside hole to prevent the thickened epoxy from slumping out of the outside hole.

I agree that laminating additional layers of fiberglass could also work by stiffening the material on both sides of the core. Whatever works best for someone is what they ought to do. I use a lot of epoxy for all sorts of stuff so that's an easy way for me to go.

Howard L. Snell