I'm wondering (and hoping) that the place in Rancho Cordova bought Blue Collar Supply's remaining stock. I found info on an auction in June but it was all racks, machinery and store fixtures. They did have a 50% off sale back in, I think, May. I wish I'd have known about it.
Not much to see with my van right now. I've been stalled on it for a while and have a rusted out cab floor plan to deal with before I get too involved with the other projects. The smoke and heat is taking it's toll.
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Bob
2005 E350 Super Duty Ext Wheelchair Van
2002 Itasca 35U Motorhome
Check out 80/20 products at 8020.net. Great stuff and easy to work with. I used it to mount my panels. Used some for roof rails (OEM too expensive) and then attached more for mounts. Mine aren't as tall as yours will be but nothing's moved in over two years.
Thinking outside the box - have you considered mounting panels on the side over the side windows? Put them on hinges so you can angle them to the sun. No more height added plus you get adjustable angles and window awnings all in one.
I'm kicking around the idea on the driver's side behind the ladder.
Stumbled across this example while searching for another photo in my album and it struck me it might help you since it showcases another rack design - Not my van, its just another owners approach.
I saved the image for the nerf bars - I liked the integrated side step, and contemplated having a similar one made.
All this roof rack talk got me inspired to mount mine last night. I picked up this used frontrunner rack for a decent price and extended the "legs" to the height I wanted. The rack is all aluminum so light weigh and modular which will be nice. I didn't want to commit to anything permanent so went this route with the modified legs. Might not be the most attractive looking set up but it should work. The legs at the back help with the sway and will also be a nice mounting point for a rear awning or other items down the road. Once I figured out the angles and bending points it was a pretty straightforward process to cut the original foot and weld these on.
I have a 30" fiberine high top on my van and can reccomend Rick at bajavoodoo.com for custom roof racks.
I added two pics as attachments to this post so you can see what it looks like on my van.
They had to make extra long "legs" for the rack and they did an amazing job, just completed a cross country trip and its rock solid. My two friends and i hung out on top of it the other night.
I might be able to help if you haven't found a good solution, or steer you to someone that might be able to help locally if I am too far from you or our timelines can't align. I grew up in Rocklin and I am a van product metal fabricator in the Reno/Tahoe area. I've been in the off road race, production off road products and industrial machinery design and fabrication for over 20 yrs.. Now I just want to build van stuff .
Update to my post from a few months back...I made a change to this rack midway through production, adding the mesh flooring to the bottom of the rack. Unfortunately when they welded the mesh flooring on it made break in the black sealant and now there is a lot of rusting forming all over. And other parts of the rack are rusting as well. Im gonna have the rack sanded down a bit and then re-coated to prevent further rusting. I am still a fan of the rack and if I could do it over I would put an extra coat of pain and rust protectant on before leaving the shop.
Update to my post from a few months back...I made a change to this rack midway through production, adding the mesh flooring to the bottom of the rack. Unfortunately when they welded the mesh flooring on it made break in the black sealant and now there is a lot of rusting forming all over. And other parts of the rack are rusting as well. Im gonna have the rack sanded down a bit and then re-coated to prevent further rusting. I am still a fan of the rack and if I could do it over I would put an extra coat of pain and rust protectant on before leaving the shop.
AWOL
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