[gtpowell]

Hey guys, a word of caution.

There are several of these bed extender racks on the market. But, there is only one made in the US and the US manufactured one is the only one worth buying. It is about $180. The other ones are manufactured in 3rd world countries and are not worth the cardboard box it arrived in. These cheep imitations are available on eBay, Harbor Freight, Amazon and more. If you decide to purchase one, be sure you are purchasing the unit made here in the US. I bought the imitation, paid extensive freight charges to get it here, and basically, threw the thing in the trash. Total piece of Junk. The wing wobbled as mush as 10" side to side and several inches front to back. The height adjustment is limited so you end up bowing your wing when you place it on top of this rack and the vehicle’s factory rack. I have extensive fabrication skills and began to improve the unit, but eventually decided my time was more valuable. I built my own rack from scratch in not much more time and I’m far more pleases. The last thing I would do with my $3500 glider is entrust this rack to keep it safe and secure on my vehicle.

[Windlord]

gtpowell
If you are unsure of what you're getting, give your local welder/fabricator da biz.
My rack was finished yesterday, powder coated and on the truck.
Will take some pics, but how da hell do you post them for all to see?

[Windlord]

Finally got pics of my rack.
Middle and rear crossbars are removeable for tall items in the bed.
Has 10ft of support, which leaves 4ft out front and back.
Custom made by a local welder/metal fabricator
Weight- approx. 90lbs, made of steel tubing and is powder coated.
Yeah, I know it's blue. If you lived in this frozen place, your rack would be blue too.
Got to get one of those missle carriers !!

[FormerFF]

Nice design. You're driving!

[MikeB]

[Lobido]

Nice rack, Walt! Quite a background, just beautiful.

[Windlord]

Hey Mike!

For pads, I'm using double layers of 3/4 inch pipe insulation.
Will secure the pads with electrical tape. Not haulin now, so I keep them
off.
There was about 5 inches of snow on the ground before I took the shots.
Rain and warm temp came through yesterday and it's all pau, for now.

Hey Curt!
Yeah, you beat me to the post again, dang!
Outta here tomorrow for 3 weeks in Mexico.

[hgflyer]

Congratulations on your Hang 1 Matt.

hgflyer

[DanTuck]

Here's what I came up with.
It's loosely based on the ladder idea, made out of 2" sq. aluminum normally used to make big sliding gates (I work for a fence company).
It is 12' x 2' so I can carry 2 gliders - my roof can't take any more than that.
I have a Yakima base rack system with the stretch kit that widens the distance between crossbars by 4" - it helps.
The glider rack, at just over 40 lbs., is then U-bolted to the base rack and tied down at the front and back.
I use bits of non-slip padding at the metal to metal points and it really reduces/eliminates any slipping from road vibrations.
It's surprisingly strong and sturdy and I'm happy I didn't have to weld anything to my car.

[wilburleft]

DanTuck,

I like the rack. Would it hold ok without the front and rear ropes? I want a rack that I can open the hood and the tailgate without ropes in the way. The 'ladder' looks like it's bolted on there pretty well. So I guess the weakness would be twisting the base attachments, hence the ropes?

I need a set-up for my 99 Pathfinder.

[FormerFF]

It looks industrial strength, Dan.

Has anybody used one of these to tie down their ladder?

[DanTuck]

Thanks!
The front and back ropes are really just there for safety.
They aren't very tight and attach to bungees for a little bit of shock absoprtion.
The rack only flexes a tiny bit on the road (with glider on top) but the ropes are there for wind gusts from the big rigs on the highway.
I'm not sure that they are necessary but rather safe than sorry!

[DanTuck]

[Nibs]

FF, the best way I have found to tie down a ladder is to use exhaust clamps. They are cheap, strong, and quick to put on if you replace the nuts with wingnuts. I used to use rope... this is much better.... but only works if the ladder rungs more or less lineup with your rack bars.

[FormerFF]

[Nibs]

Doh. I was wondering how you'd use that to tie the ladder to your rack

I've used cheaper versions of that tie to the ladder or wing to my front tow-hook. Home depot sells them for really cheap and they grip pretty well. But what I have done lately is tie the ladder not only to my rack, but to my hood hinges. I loop two super-short hang straps around my hood hinges and tuck them under the hood when not in use. When I need them, I pull the loop out and loop some rope or a tie-down strap through them and secure the glider or ladder to that. Just added insurance in the event the rack fails.

[Redbeard]

[wilburleft]

Look forward to seeing your set up Redbeard. It sounds just like the set up on my other car (selling)...receiver bolted to bumper, but front rack slides snugly into receiver, no pins needed. I haven't decided to drill into the Pathfinder bumper yet...so I can just transfer the rack from the other car, but I think I will cause I put some sweat into it that pretty rack.

[henderthing]

Thanks for all the responses--

Well--I got my hang 2 a couple weeks ago, and finally got around to taking my F3 home. This is what I ended up with, FWIW. Seems to work pretty well with half of a 28' extension ladder. Damn that 195 is long. I think it's safe to say it's the longest-packing glider I'll ever own. After all my concern about front rack vs. ladder--it turns out the glider would have *barely* reached the front rack.

-matt



[/img]

[knumbknuts]

Nice...

If you can get that rear bar lined up with the front two (shorten it?), I don't think you need the ladder... no 13' or greater segment should be unsupported... looks like you've got that covered.