Pic of my m1009!

[forest522]

I'll second that inquiry - been checking the website and haven't seen any ordering details. You certainly have an idea here that will fight a niche market. A quick scan of this thread shows at least three interested buyers.

Question 1 - After the holiday buzz (food, beverage and family) are you still planning on making some of these for sale?

Question - if you plan on mounting to the body under the fiberglass top, will there be a gap up front where the top and body meet? Might be a leak prone spot?

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

 

[rikinwyoming]

Think I'll be doing something like this for mounting, instead:

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/kj/110504/503r4/2300fe2_20.jpeg

I love the fab work on this one also, and no permanent changes in mounting it!

 

[Gunwriter]

I'm interested!

 

[wrex]

I love the fab work on this one also, and no permanent changes in mounting it!

That was my thinking as well. I'm going to change it up a bit, though. I haz ideas. lol.

 

[Anubis8472]

Using the 'bed rails' aproach harbors all sorts of issue's.
Look phenominal mind you, but your talking about cutting and mod'ing the fiberglass and lets not forget the mess you can run into getting that back window lined up.

My 'dream' setup would be an under-cap roll cage. With a removable roof rack that mounts to it. As well as a soft top with through-holes for the rack mounts.

The downside would be no rack with the fiberglass top on.

I gotta say, using the side mounts looks to be the best 'pre-fab' solution I've seen.

You might think about an internal bracing option to increase load cap.
Run a couple bars along the top on the inside with load bearing pads against the roof under where the rack's pads rest.

 

[wrex]

Using the 'bed rails' aproach harbors all sorts of issue's.
Look phenominal mind you, but your talking about cutting and mod'ing the fiberglass and lets not forget the mess you can run into getting that back window lined up.

My 'dream' setup would be an under-cap roll cage. With a removable roof rack that mounts to it. As well as a soft top with through-holes for the rack mounts.

The downside would be no rack with the fiberglass top on.

I gotta say, using the side mounts looks to be the best 'pre-fab' solution I've seen.

You might think about an internal bracing option to increase load cap.
Run a couple bars along the top on the inside with load bearing pads against the roof under where the rack's pads rest.

I'm not seeing where you have to cut into the FG here. Explain? It should only raise the cap about 1/4 above cab (it sits flush with it, now, of course) and the back window has at least that left that it can go up. I know this because my back seal was missing, for a while until I replaced it, lol.

If there is a need to mod the FG, it may not be much of an issue, in my case. I work with FG and CF all of the time, anyway. Other than cap being just a hair higher (cosmetic) I don't understand where any FG modification would be needed and I can live with the higher cap.

 

[Anubis8472]

I'm not seeing where you have to cut into the FG here. Explain? It should only raise the cap about 1/4 above cab (it sits flush with it, now, of course) and the back window has at least that left that it can go up. I know this because my back seal was missing, for a while until I replaced it, lol.

If there is a need to mod the FG, it may not be much of an issue, in my case. I work with FG and CF all of the time, anyway. Other than cap being just a hair higher (cosmetic) I don't understand where any FG modification would be needed and I can live with the higher cap.

Even if the back window has enough travel to make up for it .. is it going to seal and sit firm, or rattle?

The real issue is that by raising the cap 1/4 inch all your cab bolts are now off-set.
That cab seal is likely to leak decently, even if you have enough play to get those bolts in.
The only proper way to do it would be to mill out a 1/4 inch from the bottom of the cap where your mounting tabs will be, or use full length rails and fill/re-drill the cab bolt holes.

 

[wrex]

Even if the back window has enough travel to make up for it .. is it going to seal and sit firm, or rattle?

The real issue is that by raising the cap 1/4 inch all your cab bolts are now off-set.
That cab seal is likely to leak decently, even if you have enough play to get those bolts in.
The only proper way to do it would be to mill out a 1/4 inch from the bottom of the cap where your mounting tabs will be, or use full length rails and fill/re-drill the cab bolt holes.

First, no. The window won't rattle. Like I said, it will raise well over a 1/4"more, as I have already measured it. Even if it didn't it's extremely easy to correct it by adding a 1/4" into the channel to put the gaskets where they need to be.

Second, Bolts are easy. Get longer ones for the sides, correct the ones for the front/top. There are several ways to tackle that: Fill existing holes and re-drill near the old ones, add materials as needed, etc. You've mentioned this, already though, and I didn't think it would have had to be mentioned, but since you have, here we are.

Third, you can fix the seals (rear windows) by adding the needed thickness to make up for the difference. Sides are easy, just seal the bottom of the "new" rail cap. The original intent was a full-length rail anyway.

So I don't see any of these things as being a major issue. I could be wrong and may discover so, once I get into it, but the scenarios presented don't seem to be anything that isn't easily overcome That's kind of part of the fabrication process, anyway.

One other way would be to just route out the mounting points on the sides so the cap isn't raised at all, which is an option I am considering. I'm waiting to see how option "A" works, before moving to option "b" in this case.

Lastly, I also have a plan to mount to existing Antenna mounts, instead of under the cap. I like the cap idea better, so working that angle, for now, but may rever to mounting to the Antenna mounts, instead. Dunno yet. Point is, I want it outside of the cab/cap not inside. Inside is just a waste of space and energy, for my purposes.