Roof Rack Flooring and EO2 Case mount project.

[mbw]

That is a great setup for the roof! Nice work. I expect if any of us see you out on the road/trail we'll recognize you right away. ��. I had to chuckle when I saw the camping chairs. Those things are the biggest pain for me when packing. I have a different style - the type that fold flat. But they're just awkward and big. The most common use of my rack is to carry those things and a table. I have a couple of the smaller backpacking chairs which are great in a pinch but not for lounging.

The camp chairs are not even in the bags they come in. I could use those. I figure at some point we will get some nicer chairs and I will figure out how to pack them. I can't even put those in front to back because they dont fit. But I had more than enough space back there for them. Using the roof cases makes everything easily accessible and allows us to pack tons of food in the passenger side rear bin. We didn't have to have anything in the second row area other than the cooler!

 

[Surfrider77]

Great looking truck MBW!

Love the boat too!

 

[Finlayforprez]

Heading out for camping in 1 minute, but I will get back to you with specifics on the whole project. Nothing I did was that difficult, but I can give you measurements and such to help speed up the entire project.

Thanks, buddy! Looking forward to it.

 

[mbw]

I bought,

2x 16" SnapTop Rail with lock EO1004
2x Low Profile Bottom Rail, 22" EO2001
2x Mounting hardware Kit #2 EO2501
2x Mounting Hardware Kit #1 EO2500

I used the plastic yakima round bar mounts, but I cut the bolts down (roof glass clearance is fine, but you need to cut them down). Used big flat washers on the under side of the plastic with a lock nut under that. The bottom rails needed to be mounted across the vehicle rather than front to back like you see other EO2 setups simply because of where the bars are on the voyager. You could probably get a longer bottom rail and mount front-to-back. This setup works well for huge cases because I can roll the case over the mount across the vehicle. This setup would suck without the flooring to roll the case on.

More details to follow.

@fin .. did you see this post?

I started with a drawing...

I bought the EO2 mounting hardware kit #2. I did not use the tri-handle nut things, but you can see they have lock nuts inside them. No way those would fit. I cut down the bolts (which is hard, they are stainless). From top of the rack going down, the order of components is bottom rail, bolt, Yakima Round bar plastic clamp, big flat washer to support the plastic underside of the clamp, then a lock nut.

For the flooring, it was just a matter of measuring and using a jigsaw to cut the plastic floor panels. A jigsaw goes through it like butter.

Let me know if you have other questions. It was mostly just measuring and thinking about how I would use it. I wanted to be able to open both cases while on the rack, so being able to undo the latches, and have room for the lids,etc... so don't put them too close together on the rack.

You can't see the washers I used, but this is what those look like.

 

[antichrist]

I just looked at the pricing. Holy smokes!
I'll stick with the greater flexibility and ease of use of ratchet straps.
Plus I needn't ever worry about an attentive trooper pulling me over for having an unsecured load.

 

[Finlayforprez]

@fin .. did you see this post?

I started with a drawing...

I bought the EO2 mounting hardware kit #2. I did not use the tri-handle nut things, but you can see they have lock nuts inside them. No way those would fit. I cut down the bolts (which is hard, they are stainless). From top of the rack going down, the order of components is bottom rail, bolt, Yakima Round bar plastic clamp, big flat washer to support the plastic underside of the clamp, then a lock nut.

For the flooring, it was just a matter of measuring and using a jigsaw to cut the plastic floor panels. A jigsaw goes through it like butter.

Let me know if you have other questions. It was mostly just measuring and thinking about how I would use it. I wanted to be able to open both cases while on the rack, so being able to undo the latches, and have room for the lids,etc... so don't put them too close together on the rack.

You can't see the washers I used, but this is what those look like.

Thanks so much!!!

Wow, your glass is CLEAN!

 

[mbw]

Thanks so much!!!

Wow, your glass is CLEAN!

I cleaned it before the pictures. The glass is a prisoner beneath the rack flooring, so it rarely ever gets a real cleaning. I try to shove a microfiber under the flooring to clean it up every so often, but for the most part I just let it be dirty and get rained on.

In general, my rover is way too clean anyway. I had it good and dirty a week or two ago from mud and huge muddy water crossings, but the bugs were attracted to it at our camp site and it was really nasty... the bugs annoyed me and I had to clean it.

 

[mbw]

I just looked at the pricing. Holy smokes!
I'll stick with the greater flexibility and ease of use of ratchet straps.
Plus I needn't ever worry about an attentive trooper pulling me over for having an unsecured load.

Nothing wrong with that. Its what almost everyone uses. But the reasons I went with this is.

1. Security. Locked to the rack. Cases have good locks.
2. Easy to get into on the rack. I can pop the cases open and load/unload them on the rack without taking straps off.
3. Clean and quick. I can throw the case on, roll it across the rack, snap it down and push the lock in 20 seconds. Removal is just as quick. I don't use a roof top tent, so I value anything that can make breaking camp or setting up easy. Also, for the size of these cases, i would probably need at least two straps and I hate dealing with the straps.

I will still use straps when I need to carry fuel or water up top, until I get a jerry can mount... which will come soon.

I just ordered a front runner stainless steel prep table, and I can use it as an aux wind fairing on the front part of the rack, or as a divider in the rear cargo area. (its 45" wide, which should fit in those channels, and 21" wide... so perfect size to mount over a 24"x48" polymax roof floor panel.)