Cool. How strong was it? Could you stand on it?

Also did you have to put any type of sealer on the all thread where it entered and exited the roof rack? What about rust, any issues with the all thread rusting?

I knelt on it a few time but didn't want to push it. I did use RTV to seal the holes. No rust was evident.

One of the things I needed to come up with for this new rack was how to mount the side lights(s) because I don't want to drill holes in the tube frame of the rack. I had them temporarily zip tied on. Well this morning I had an idea pop into my head and I ran over to Home Depot at lunch and picked up some U-bolts. After some shaving of the U-bolt's I.D. and cutting off some excess threads I added a little black paint and whalla. Now my lights are securely mounted to the rack.

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3369




After starting to wire up my lights on my rack I had a vision. On my old rack I had one Hella pointing out off of each side of the rack. That provided me with sufficient lighting to the sides...... oh wait a minute.... there is no such thing as sufficient lighting (right Larry?). So I decided to take the Hell's I had on the back of my rack and put those on the side too. Now I'll have one light toward the front and one light toward the rear like so.

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3370


I have two lights in my garage to add to the rear so now I just need to find a way to mount those and finish up my wiring and the rack illumination will be complete (for now).

I am now drawing up plans for two modules that can be attached to the rack that will hold three Jerry cans each. I'm putting plans together to make everything modular for the rack so things can be added or removed based on the trip I go on then strip it clean for day to day stuff since my FJ is my daily driver.

Thanks for the info.

Looking good. When they came out, I scoped out that rack online. I think if I ever go aftermarket, I'll be getting that one.

I needed a place to mount my Hi-Lift on my new rack so I found some scrap Super-Strut and Super-Strut clamps and fabricated one.

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3376


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3373


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3374


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3375

Nice.

So I found myself in homedepot today, I had to get some things for work, and since I had a couple of minutes to kill, I was looking at items for your OEM rack mod. You used 1/2" all thread, why not 1/2" steel pipe? It isn't that much heavier, but it does feel more stout. Only problem I see with it, is once cut to length you'll need to "die" the ends of it.

looks great Ollie much lower profile than the stock one too which I hated.

You pretty much hit the issue on the head. You need to thread the pipe. If I did it again I'd try to find pipe that the 1/2" all-thread fit fairly closely into then run the allthread through that. You'd have a reinforced steel bar then.

Interesting idea. With it being a reinforced steel bar, would you need as many bars then? I believe you had 7, think you could do it then with say 4 or 5?

Yes, you could. However, the more the better IMHO. You will notice that I placed one bar in between each vertical support bar coming down from the upper bar of the rack to the lower bar of the rack.

Gotcha.

Ever since I got my train horn set(s) I've wanted to get 4 of the seven trumpets onto the roof. I had all kinds of ideas to do it on the old rack but they were all a PITA. Now with the new rack I can finally make it happen. I'll leave three under the rig and put the loudest four on top of the rig. It will make a Very nice surround sound effect with the horns. I made a plate and rigged it so the retractable antenna lays down between the center to trumpets.

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3413


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3414

dude are you kidding me? lol. that is awesome. do you have video or a sound clip?

what if you were to mount the horns on the underside of the rack, then you wouldn't have to worry about possibly needing to take them off should you need your full rack? Assuming they'll fit.

That would have been ideal but as you stated, they won't fit.

That sucks. The angle of your photo makes it look like they'd fit, thats why I said it.

Finally... Lights are lit. :party36:

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3417

Finally received my storage boxes yesterday and installed them last night. These can be removed when I choose to. I like the idea of the extra storage up top.

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3418

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3419

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3420

looks awesome OLLIE!

Thanks.

I'm still working on a way to put that video together with a true feeling of the horns going off.

can't wait :D

Some people have been asking how I mounted the cases on my rack. Here's a shot of how I have secured them. There is one clamp at each of the four corners of each box. Then I got my hands on some very high quality padlocks to secure the boxes with. On the inside of the box I used fender washers with an O-Ring under each washer to maintain the water-tight seal.

http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3421


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3422

That's a big lock!

Ha ha, will be tuff to break into that thing :D

I have been hearing some noises in, what I thought was, my suspension over the last month or so. I was all set to go the TDS Safari with my family last Saturday but the sound turned into something more severe and I cancelled the trip. Turns out that my rear driveshaft forward U-Joint is shelled out. Thankfully I cancelled the trip and I didn't have it break on me with my wife along. I thought it was going to be a rear diff. I took it to M.I.T. in El Cajon and they found it. While they're dropping the driveshaft I'm having drop both the forward and the rear driveshaft and change all 4 U-Joints along with balancing them both. Hopefully I'll pick it up tomorrow and all will be well. It sucks being without my rig for even one day.

That sucks man, but like you said, good thing you caught it before the trip.

Here's a link to the video I got of my air horns in the snow. We were trying to shake the snow off the trees. It didn't work though. Turn up the volume on your computer.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1765115100228

Nice! So I took a little tour of your FB page. Some really nice shots, I don't know if I'd have the balls to do that picture of you and your rig on the edge of that cliff. But more importantly than anything...Twilight... really?

That cliff is "Top of the World" in Moab, UT. It was one of my most memorable trips. On our way back from the FJ Summit each year we do a couple of days in Moab. Makes for a great week.

Yes... TWILIGHT.:big_banana_Dance:

sucks about your rig OLLIE. I don't have facebook and I've been dying to hear those horns can you post it from a youtube account?

I added a YouTube link to my horn post.

Here's a link to a video I made from a run through Anza Borrego State Park a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=C9vgnIAVli4

Looks like you guys had fun. The audio wasn't working on my computer, so I could have missed it being said, but about how fast are you guys going when you were driving at the higher speeds?

You didn't miss any voice. It was all music. We were running abour 40 tops in the dry washes with the Jeep out front. When I was out front there were times we were pushing 50-60 after the Jeep went home. We had to keep moving in the mud because we would have gotten buried. That crap was like quicksand. We got into it and had no choice but to try to get through it. There were eight rigs behind me and some were stock with stock tires and first time drivers. I was really concerned that one of them would panic and get stuck so I kept on the radio telling everyone to keep moving and don't stop, to trust their rigs, and that their rigs would handle it but keep moving and keep up. Everyone did well and got through by taking my line and staying in my tracks. In the mud the speed varied a lot.

My rear LED flashers finally bought the farm so I've been looking to replace them with something. A few weeks ago I orderd some white LED light pods to use for rock lights. Upon receiving the lights I discovered that they were flashers instead of lights that stay on. So using four of the six I purchased, I fabricated a new rear lightbar in conjunction with a lip to stop my fuel cans from sliding to the rear. I'm pretty pleased with the final outcome for now.


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3470


http://www.oausa.net/forums/download/file.php?id=3469

So are you a welder? Or do you know somebody?

I can weld a little. When I want it done right I have several friends who can make magic with welders and I go to them. I've been a mechanic for nearly 20 years. I can turn wrenches on nearly anything from toilets to aircraft.

ahahahahah! that's awesome :D

Wow.....legit...hard to follow an FJ like that....if the the apocalypse comes i'll be trying to find you on side band...awesome FJ ! !