By Carl on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 09:49 am: Edit

I have seen the many wood floors for these racks and most are worthless after a year. Anyone have a better fix? Some use diamond plate aluminum, but this blocks sun roofs? Others I have heard use a "screen mesh" of some sort? Any ideas?

thanks alot for the input.

Carl

By Collin on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 10:58 am: Edit

Carl,

I used a 1/8" aluminum sheet sut to fit. That works fine. I don't have sunroofs so no worries.

Collin

http://www.discoweb.org/collin/lot-010.jpg
http://www.discoweb.org/collin/lot-004.jpg

By han chung on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 11:31 am: Edit

carl,
have you seen the trek vehicles? they used the mesh thing on their d2's and if you look at them now... mesh sags very ugly.
either marine grade plywood or aluminum diamond plate w/ cutout for the sunroof. both wood and aluminum are fairly easy to cut so should not be so difficult to cutout for sunroof.

han

By tc on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 11:39 am: Edit

Collin,

Is this the home-made plate or from ARB? Looks very nice.

By Mike D1 on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 11:57 am: Edit

I was a carpenter for 15 years, so I went with plywood. Wood will last for many years up in the air where it will air dry. I used .75" ply, painted both sides glued stiff foam on the rack side and used U-bolts which I ran through vinyl tubing to protect the vinyl coated rack (Brownchurch). The plywood floor is two years old and looks new. I cut out for the sunroofs and put on some flip-up D rings.

I am happy.

By Collin on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 01:13 pm: Edit

Here is what I did, and it works great. I took a 4'x8' sheet of 1/8" smooth(non diamond plate) aluminum, cut it to fit lengthwise and bent it to fit the contours of the racks. I painted the whole rack with Rustoleum(sp?)(a nice flat black followed by a clear coat enamel. To protect the rack, I placed weather stripping on all the bars that were touched by the aluminum. To secure the aluminum I drilled 19 holes in the rack and generously filled them with an expanding foam(called Great Stuff) to prevent moisture from getting in the bars. I used 2.5" 1/4" carriage bolts with lock nuts and washers in each of the holes. The bolts were a little longer than desired so I had a friend take a reciprocating saw to them. I could have used a hack saw, but where is the fun in that. At this point the aluminum is on the rack, bolted down and the bolts are flush with the nuts thanks to the reciprocating saw. I put the rack on the truck, checked the clearance of the bolts and that was that. It occured to me that the aluminum might get slick in the rain and falling seven feet would hurt alot so I have considered putting some grip tape at certain points on the aluminum floor. I haven't actually installed the grip tape yet, just considered it. :-) I hope this helps. If you have any questions, email me. [email protected]

Collin

Oh yeah, the aluminum I used only weighed about 42 lbs. The wind noise is drastically reduced and the aluminum protects the roof paint from the hot sun.

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 12:34 pm: Edit

collin, you have a ball park cost for materials?

thanks
rd

By C. Ross on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 01:14 pm: Edit

I'm contemplating this mod also. I like the idea of using sheet aluminum. I plan to coat it with herculiner which I found for under $100/gallon. It shouldn't take anywhere close to the gallon to use. That will give me a nice non skid surface that will last. You could also use duraback if you needed colors.

Ross

By Carl on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 01:40 am: Edit

Has anyone Rhino Lined a Plywood roof floor? Could match the color of the vehicle and have great grip?

By Collin on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 09:17 am: Edit

Rob,

Sorry, I haven't gotten back to you sooner. I haven't checked in in a while. Ballpark for materials is about $130. I got my aluminum through a large steel firm.

Collin

Any question, email me.

[email protected]

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 10:12 am: Edit

thanks collin...

rd

By gp (Garrett) on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 10:52 am: Edit

i am getting a getting a nice 1/8" sheet of diamond plate unfinished from a fabricating shop i work with on jobs in Carlisle, PA for $60. i have the wilderness rack which is flat of course. the rolled sheets come in 5x8's i believe and he is cutting it down for me and putting a radius on the corners as well. not cutting out for sunroofs, since i will tossing some chairs from time to time for tailgating. i will prime and paint before putting it up on the rack.