Low profile roof rack!

[MauiSportsmobile]

Originally Posted by bobthecow

I might be convinced 🤔

I would be interested in one, maybe two for RB50's. Give it some thought and PM me or message here with pricing please. The ship to address would be Prescott, AZ.

I also need one for Chevy Express SWB with PH top but that would obviously be different dimensioning.

As mentioned, if you went straight across the windshield it would introduce more wind noise? Would I be able to mount an LED strip light like the Fieldvan Classic?

Thank you!

[bobthecow]

I would be interested in one, maybe two for RB50's

I don't have an RB van, so I'm not sure how much room you'll have to work with in front of the pop top. Can you measure along the drip rail, from the front corner of the drip rail back to where the top starts (see attached picture)?

As mentioned, if you went straight across the windshield it would introduce more wind noise?

I fitted it and drove without the fairing for a bit, and the wind noise was noticeable.

I'm not a fluid dynamics expert, so take this all as somewhat informed speculation but: I'd be hesitant to move the fairing any further forward. With where I placed the fairing, wind coming over the windshield "sees" a bit less than a third of the width of the rack. There's about 30 square inches of space for wind to get under the front of the rack in the corners. I.e. almost everything is going to flow over the front of the fairing rather than underneath.

Moving the fairing forward two inches would increase that surface area by 5-6x. At that point, the majority of the wind from the headlights up would be flowing behind the fairing rather than over it. It'd probably be doing more harm than good :-/

Would I be able to mount an LED strip light like the Fieldvan Classic?

Yeah, that's my plan! The fairing is mounted to a t-slot crossbar, and it should be possible to attach most light bars to the top of it. For light bars where that doesn't work, either the front crossbar can be moved forward or another crossbar can be added just behind the fairing (possibly even an inch lower). I designed it to be fairly flexible, because I haven't settled on what I'm going to do for lighting

Edit: sorry, forgot to attach the image.

[boywonder]

Tell us more about the project...


Designed in Solidworks?

CNC'd or Lasercut? then powdercoated?

Steel? Aluminum?



Looks very very nice.

[bobthecow]

Sure!

I designed it mostly in Fusion 360. I laser cut a few prototypes to get the fit right (though to be fair, one of them was basically just fancy pegboard). Once I got something I was happy with, I had it laser cut (on a much fancier laser than I have) from 3/16 aluminum and powder coated.

The gutter clamps are off the shelf (I think for a Defender rack?) because I didn't want the added hassle of designing those. They do the job, but if I did it again I probably would make my own clamps as well.

[bobthecow]

I made a couple of tie-down points as well, and they turned out even better in real life than they were in my head.