An all aluminum Modular Rack System!

[bullitt5897]

Hey guys pretty new to the community with my 2020 Stingray Rubicon. However not new to the Jeep life or platform. I don’t know about you guys but I wasn’t impressed with what’s out on the market for racks. So I designed my own. I hope this can be a thread to show and follow the progress of this rack system. I do own my own performance parts company so if there is enough interest after my first articles are made I can produce these relatively easily.

So to start let me go over the concept. What I wanted was a light weigh rack system that allowed me to mount anything I wanted on any part of the rack. I wanted to be able to adjust the rack height relatively easily and be able to add hard/soft panels. the best way to achieve this goal is to use a T-slot style system (8020 extruded aluminum) it’s light weight and extremely strong using 6105-T5 aluminum. All my other pieces will be made out of 6061-T6 aluminum. All hardware will be stainless steel and will utilize a minimum number of sizes/styles of hardware to make things easier. The nice thing is that the design can change and grow as the user sees fit.

here is a teaser:

I know a lot of people want a cover with their rack. So mine has a prevision for a soft or hard cover utilizing the t-slot railing.

I will post more pictures and details soon.

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[Bad Luck Bill]

Following, Very curious on how this comes out.

 

[bullitt5897]

I wanted to follow up:

The extruded aluminum will have a safety factory rating of 5-6 for the given static stresses. This means that for a structural component these will be extremely strong. A single piece of this T-Slot material has a strength to hold over 200lbs. When the weight is distributed across all of the legs and rails we are looking at over 800lbs of carrying load capability. All while weighing in under 100#!!!

 

[bullitt5897]

Also Wanted to note that each piece of T-slot has a little over 1.5" center channel that you can route cabling inside the system. If there is enough interest for this kind of feature I can machine the adapter pieces to allow for internal cable routing. I will also be coming up with some accessory items and mounts. If you have ideas or wants/needs please let me know and I can design it for the rack.

Light Mounts
Bear Bottle Opener
Bike Rack Mount
Kayak Adapter Mounts
Roof Top Tent Rails
RotoPak Mounts
Side and Back Doors
Molle Panels
etc...

This rack has taken just a few days to design. My next step is to 3d Print the base and check for overall fitment with the factory rails on my Jeep. For those without factory rails I can likely design and adapter piece very easily.

 

[salsadoc]

great idea! any thoughts on making this rack work w hard trifold tonneau covers? thanks!

 

[bullitt5897]

great idea! any thoughts on making this rack work w hard trifold tonneau covers? thanks!

I can look into it. Is it the oem trifold?

 

[Bad Luck Bill]

I can look into it. Is it the oem trifold?

Since I have a OEM hard trifold, I am definitely looking for this. I would hate to take on and off a cover and rack depending on what the weekend or week holds.

 

[Redjk07]

Very interesting. This might be a rack I want. I’m trying to keep the weight down by using all aluminum pieces. Please let me know if you are going to produce these. I’m wanting to mount a tandem kayak and bike on top!

 

[Visualabstrakt]

Since I have a OEM hard trifold, I am definitely looking for this. I would hate to take on and off a cover and rack depending on what the weekend or week holds.

I’m in the same situation. I have the Undercover Flex cover which is a hard trifold. Would love to have a rack that is compatible.

 

[salsadoc]

I can look into it. Is it the oem trifold?

yes the mopar oem trifold hard tonneau thanks!

 

[InvertedLogic]

Ha, I also got a Sting Gray Rubi this week and have been unimpressed with rack/topper options so far. I started designing one made of 80/20 in SolidWorks on Wednesday! You're a ways ahead of me, so I'll start taking notes.

I've used the material in industrial settings and I know it's super stout. The only thing that gives me pause is that I saw some mention that when this stuff is used in high vibration environments, the fasteners like to come loose and you can't get them tight enough without deforming the aluminum. Thoughts on that?

 

[CokreeateJT]

Looking forward to this design. Been looking for something light that can go over the softopper. If you need 3d printing help lmk

 

[InvertedLogic]

@bullitt5897 are the extrusion connectors custom designed or off the shelf pieces?

Also, as I was going to sleep last night I had the idea of a riser piece to turn a half rack into a full rack just by adding an assembly on top and securing it to the bottom one. One could have a half rack when needed/wanted, then install the upper half to carry kayaks and such.

 

[bullitt5897]

Ok So reviewing the OEM design for the Trifold. Here is what you guys are going to run into. Because the OEM unit and many aftermarket units fold over the bedrail (in an attempt to stop water intrusion) A normal load bearing rack will not work. However, If you guys want I can design a cover for this rack if a trifold is really what you want. Currently, I have provisions for the T-slot for a soft or even a multi piece hard cover that slides Back to Front. I can machine a Delrin or even metal hard cover and then add some small holders on the sides with a quick lock mechanism for storage.

So to recap: no rack system that is load bearing will work with the trifold design given its method to prevent water intrusion. Now we can look at other designs or even an integrated trifold cover if that is what you guys want. Just let me know and I can work on it in my free time.

 

[bullitt5897]

@bullitt5897 are the extrusion connectors custom designed or off the shelf pieces?

Also, as I was going to sleep last night I had the idea of a riser piece to turn a half rack into a full rack just by adding an assembly on top and securing it to the bottom one. One could have a half rack when needed/wanted, then install the upper half to carry kayaks and such.

So the way I am looking at doing this is by providing the vertical bars and horizontal bars for given heights. Here is the reason why. I measured the angle of the Hardtop sides in relation to the bed. I chose to go with a 17* inward angle as this closely aligns with the profile of the hardtop and gave us the most interior volume. Additionally, by introducing joints into the vertical bars and supplying updated horizontal bars you will introduce an additional point to failure. Also the cost to manufacture the adapters would outweigh the benefit. Its cheaper just to buy the 80/20 in a longer or shorter length and swap them out.

Now if you want to do a half rack and then have an add on to extend above the roof line we can do that. since your load wont be too heavy.

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