Our Dual-Sport GMC Sierra

[chaos616]

On to the newest addition, a headache/roofrack designed to carry hi-lift jack, home-made traction boards, spare tires, whatever needs holding and still proved room in the bed for a full load of lumber, or up to 3 motorbikes, and allow the use of the soft bed top still. It is fully custom built by myself with a tubing notcher, pipe bender, 4.5" grinding wheel with cutoff blades, and a 120V 80amp pocket welder.

The part that isn't shown is the bas which is 1.5" wide 1/4" thick strap that i used to mount all around the bed, the soft cover will sit on this and it allows for mounting all the posts to the bed off to the side or in front.













This is the first part, I got the strap laid down and holes drilled and countersunk for flatness. I finally got some pipe bent and placed up and this is the initial result, happy with it, but needs some design and engineering work. I ended up keeping it but designing to it and I think it has worked well. Its definitly strong. Pipe is 1.5" diameter 1/8" wall tubing. Not DOM, just welded.

 

[chaos616]

Yesterday I finally got to putting the roof rack on and getting it braced up a bit more, even got my hi-lift mounted, the extra steel i ordered hadn't come in yet, so i am stopped until next weekend, but good progress in my opinion. It is only tack welded and is fairly strong. I think it looks cool but i'm biased and put a lot of work into it, so it better look cool to me. Really though I think it will be functional though.









Its pretty strong but will be better with more gusseting.

 

[tmentzelo]

I really like your headache/roof rack. I'm always trying to find the best way to load 3 bikes, all the gear, and a RTT. This is one of the nicer designs I've seen come from a home shop. Good Work!

-Tom

 

[chilliwak]

Good looking design. Lets see you finish that puppy soon...:ylsmoke:

 

[chaos616]

Hey t mentzelo, Thats the goal anyway, For the RTT interestingly enough, I don't know if it would be strong enough for 2 or 3 people if extended out to the front of the cab. If thicker steel was used possibly, or maybe a design without a soft cover mounted directly to bed. However, I eventually plan on extending it all the way out, and if so, I will run tubing down from the front along the pillars that will attach at the corners of the finders, I will run plate steel bend and designed to fit down to a good hard mounting point as to avoid ruining fenders with weight. I think with that design it would be plenty strong for all the gear plus a RTT with 3 people in it. Time will tell, Maybe early next year I will get on that and try to mount that design.

Thanks Chilliwak, I am excited to finish, bummed my steel didn't come in when I expected, but ya gotta roll with it, especially when your getting a good deal on steel!

Cheers, more to come soon!

 

[ckupq]

You are giving me alot of ideas for my Sierra 1500 build. Coincidentally I got in a collision and I am ordering the same bumper. I have a cover and a cap, I use the cover for the 90% of the time, and the cap for camping.

Hope to see you out on the trail sometime!

 

[chaos616]

Hey ckupg, that is coincidental and sorry to hear it, but might as well upgrade. Also if you have not ordered the ARB stuff yet, I have the 1500 mount kit for the 2003-2007 classic model trucks, its yours for 100 shipped (not trying to interject a cheap plug for my crap). What happened was when i got the bumper "locally" it came with the light duty pickup mount kit which didn't fit, so i ended up ordering the HD truck kit and have been meaning to sell the 1500 kit for it. Let me know.

Also the rack is finished, i will try to remember to update the thread soon. Getting ready for a 2 week motorcycle trip home to MN and back so been busy sewing up my own luggage for the bikes!!!

Cheers,

 

[chaos616]

We finally finished the roof rack! We decided to paint it black, however the mounts for the accessories are painted orange with quick spin off nuts. It turned out well I think. The end part of the bed is open on top for the eventuality of a secondary rack for hauling longer stuff. Also the bar across the bed is for eventually maybe mounting a RTT or something. Well see. I have yet to add lights. Ordered 10 of them, some spots some floods and they will go on the cab area of the roof rack for off road driving. Without further ado here are some pictures!





















The rack is pretty strong, we can stand at all points of it and the front only deflects about .5" which isn't too bad. I could add some more gusseting if needed but I think its pretty good for now, easily holds the tire. Eventually the tire space beneath the bed will hold and extra gas tank from a car which i can electrically transfer into the main tank for better range, another project for another day!

Cheers

 

[herm]

I love your rack design, very thoughtful. Great truck!

 

[chaos616]

Thank you herm!

 

[Larry]

Cool! Nice work

 

[chaos616]

Thanks Larry!

 

[LukesPa]

Nice truck, and I like the CB mount

I also have a similar truck 2007 GMC classic 1500 Z71 4x4. I haven't done too much to it yet, just a slight lift and some good shocks really. I picked up and old Jeep YJ and have been putting more of my time and money into it lately. Your thread motivates me to want to do more to the truck. I have made a hump mount console for my CB. It works OK but when the terrain gets real rough it has bounced off the hump and onto my co-pilots feet a few times. I have a storage space like that, and could maybe mount mine in the same way you did, but my space may not be in the same place, my console doesn't go clear to the floor like yours.

I also like your roll bar/ roof rack combo. I have a camper shell on my truck after being forced to sell my FWC pop-up. If I put a rack on my truck it would have to be fab'd to mount under then reach around the shell. A bumper and winch are on my wish list too, but compared to bumpers for the Jeep they seem hugely expensive for full sized trucks.

To me one of the coolest things about building up a 4x4 is the creativity you can exercise. As my mom used to say "there's more than one way to skin a cat" I really enjoy seeing the way others have addressed some of the same challenges we all face in our builds. It's all doable, it's just sweat, time and money. Keep posting pics as your build progresses. I think the lights up top will look really cool. Have you considered one of the LED bars? $$$

 

[chaos616]

LukesPa, Thanks for all the comments on the build, It is interesting to see how others do things and then modify their modifications to fit your specific needs. The bumpers for full size are hugely expensive, which i don't mind since mine was paid for by insurance from hitting a deer, otherwise i would probably have built my own. I have considered the LED light bars, but they are definitly expensive and I will probably stick with the smaller LED's for now. If you have a thread post up a link, i would love to see a build thread!!!

Cheers

 

[LukesPa]

I'll have to get a build thread going on my GMC. I have one going for my Jeep on Jeepforums, if you care about Jeeps. http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f22/4xcampers-95-yj-1585761/ frankly I can barely afford to build up one vehicle at a time. The Jeep is almost as done as it will be for a while I think. I have a tow bar to mount then I'll just enjoy it till something breaks. The whole idea is for it to be my son's first vehicle in about 3 years so I need to leave him some room to do his thing with it.

On my GMC I need probably need tires next, something 1-2 sizes larger, but I have to wear these out first. Then I'll fabricate some rock sliders maybe or at least repair the damage I've already done to my rocker panels and then bed liner them. I have cross bars for the roof rack and may try to mount a small LED light bar under the front one, I just saw a reasonably priced one for sale. I may put a rooftop basket simply to hold my spare mainly because I suspect when I upsize the tire the spare may not fit underneath. I have Deaver springs in the rear and a leveling kit in front, I'd like to "crank and align" the front to get maybe another inch higher there.

This is why I have dented rockers. It also shows my truck with the Four Wheel camper.





This is my rig now with the shell, taken Saturday by the Salton Sea on my way home from a dove hunt.