pls give advice/ troubleshoot Rack Mod on AT Chaser

[boknows]

I have decided the rack on the back of my Jeep is getting removed for good. It blocks my rear view and it seems I concentrate too much on it's bouncing around despite my many efforts to it still.

I only use it for wood on camping trips to keep the debris out my trailer. So I was thinking about mounting it to the top lid of the nose box on the trailer so that I could continue to carry the wood outside the trailer. I don't want to mount it directly to the box so that I can get under it and clean it out. I thought about fabbing some brackets or cutting some 1" square tubing about 10" to space it away from lid. I used the existing "L" shaped brackets just to see how it would sit and it got me thinking. Maybe I could mount my small propane tank on the front of these brackets in front of the nose, clearing the breakaway box and also keep the propane from resting on the valve stems that fill the air struts. What are your thoughts/ opinions on this setup?

the lid would still open and the rack will rest on the fuel cans, the propane would rotate with the lid.

Question is this....
1. leave it off all together?

2. just make simple bracket for rack alone

3. Go for it and fab propane tank mount as well? If so, please include ideas for propane bracketry .

Thanks,
Jason

 

[deepmud]

so ... I think with your spare, it's too crowded on the front of the trailer for the propane tank - if your rig is climbing up while the trailer tilts down you'll need that space. It seems like just bolting the rack to the lid would be KISS - and the extra tongue weight won't matter 'cause you are removing weight off tail of the rig.

Maybe I'm wrong on the space up there?

 

[boknows]

deepmud,

This is precisely why I posted. I would have surely ripped it off without even thinking about it or maybe I would have figure it out the first time I opened my tail gate and swing arm. It only took 180+ hits to get a response Thanks. That narrows it down to rack on lid or no rack at all.

 

[UNI]

It would be great if you could mount the propane tank on the front of the bracket, but I think DeepMud is right. If you get into a tight turn or tilt, the spare tire will probably rub. We have the same rack on the back of our Jeep, we use it to haul the ice cooler on. I think the rack would look good on top of the lid and you'll still have a place for your fire wood.

Just curious, where do you have your propane tank mounted now?

 

[Titanpat57]

How about welding a receiver tube on it for the rear of the trailer?

There is a receiver in the back? Then just move the weight inside the tub to compensate for the extra 60-80 lbs on the back. Nice rack..shame to not utilize it.

 

[UNI]

Titanpat57 Posted: How about welding a receiver tube on it for the rear of the trailer?

Thats a good idea, we did the same thing. We made a small tray to carry our generator. We used 2" square tube stock for the receiver, added short legs/feet to the tray. We just leave the generator on the tray, pull gen/tray off the back of the trailer and set off to the side for use.

 

[boknows]

Yeah, I might weld on the 2 inch receiver as an idea. Right now I am using the rear receiver for a Thule T2 bike rack and it does a good job of balancing the tongue weight. I am scrapping the idea for propane on the front due to the clearance issue.

YouandI, I have the propane sitting on the rear floor of the trailer. takes up too much space and it is not modular for packing purposes but we have made it work.