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Rola rack and mounts


02_Pathy
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Alright second post. For the rack I used a Rola Rack with extension as the length almost fits perfectly on the roof of the pathy. For the hardware that I used were electrical conduit clamps that I picked up from Home Depot (they come in a pack of 5), lock washer, locking nut, bolt that threads into the stock sliders in the rails and a washer. Most of the hardware I had were Cerakoted black as I didn’t want a galvanized beacon on top of the truck which wouldn’t look so sharp. I chose Cerakote because it is extremely durable as it is a ceramic coating and they can withstand the abuse of the elements and tree branches. Cerakote also is flexible so when you clamp the conduits to the rack it doesn’t chip off. Cerakote application is a little involved as you have to get the materials for it and bake it but I have a certified Cerakote applicator at my work and he gave me a really good deal so I did that route. I used 10 clamps total and it holds the rack very securely, I can rock the whole vehicle by grabbing onto the rack and it doesn’t move or creak at all. I’ve driven up to 90 mph with it and had about 60 pounds of cargo up there and had no issues with it. I can flex the vehicle just fine without the unibody flexing the mounts off or ripping them out of the rail. The rack sits very low to the roof which could be a plus or minus. I can still open the sunroof but the glass touches the bar ever so slightly. After a couple of deadlifts of bending the bar upwards the glass still touches it. The rubber mouldings along the roof sit maybe a ¼ inch or less between the rack. I’m going to fix this issue by probably getting thicker washers and slightly longer bolts to help sit the rack a little bit higher so I can fit straps underneath the lower bar and the stock roof rack rails.   36c0b12d8517772e83394ad683920629.jpg4dec4377c16bf6911cb80e74c004ce6b.jpg395d4a4d917cfc43a9c4de2737e08bd6.jpg0f7fd6ca830aedd85929cd09177cd532.jpgf1c4e2ca74b0a83e5beeb07c1d98174f.jpg525d114407e5ef7fd7d46a279261d5a4.jpg008e815326be3d76a82570618815be27.jpg259695b1867ea13153ef8e82cbb06048.jpg301f3ab184c49a74d4d6aec0465b300e.jpg

 

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My trip to Home Depot returned 3/4” conduit clamps in packs of 3 (instead of 5) and they are slightly larger than 02_Pathy’s. I was fortunate to receive his extras so I’ve compared them side by side as he had about 8 that he gave me, so I need 2-4 more.

I use cam straps for everything on the roof. The plastic coated hooks won’t go around the top side bars as they are 1.5” diameter but they will go around the front & back & lower longitudinal bars, which are all 1” diameter. As mounted, 02_Pathy’s rack didn’t quite have enough clearance for the hooks so I plan to use something like spacers or simply small aluminum “towers” to elevate it another cm or so.


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Rola V-Tex 59504 (by Draw Tite)

RolaV-Tex 59505 Extension 18 3/4”

 

PATH DIMENSIONS

71"Front to Spoiler Up

54.5" Sunroof to Spoiler Up

41" Wide

 

RACK

74” bottom center to bottom center with extension

48”x37.5”x5” OUTSIDE

46-48”x37”x4” INSIDE

 

Bars:

Top 1.5”,

Bottom 1”,

Cross 3/4”(6+5+6)

 

Screws #10-32 Self Tapping (Quantity#12)

Ext +15”

 

Weight: 50#(35#Rack +15#Ext)

130# Capacity

5yr Warranty

 

Manufacturer Installation instruction

http://www.rolaproducts.com/support/installation/N59504.pdf

http://www.rolaproducts.com/support/installation/N59505.pdf

 

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My cost estimates:
COST
$192.60
$129.93($118+$11.81t)Used-VeryGood@Amazon
$62.67 ($56.97+$5.70)Used-VeryGood@Amazon

$145 + $55 ext
$147.65+t@HomeDepot
$146 & $126+t@Walmart

Extension 18 3/4” 59505
$71.28($55.33+$15.95)@https://www.rvautoparts.com

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Notes I collected from reviews. The main complaint was rust but this was primarily before Rola updated the connections with sleeves. I considered welding it but thought I might want it to flex a little to accomodate the rocker of the roof rails & the welding would necessitate sanding & repainting the powdercoating. For what it’s worth, mine has sat unassembled under our kid’s LEGO table & couch in the living room for months (another wife pleaser). I’ve been surprised at how easy the powdercoating has marked up (though not through to the metal). I figure in a few years I’ll take it off & POR-15 Chassis Black it like everything else on the truck.

 

FAIRING

*White Flakes OFF of Fairing - Red more Resistant

*Rola logo was silk screened onto the fairing as opposed to a sticker which made it more difficult to remove/cover up for a logoless rack

*How much wind noise? it will double the amount of road noise in your car at 75 mph.

Making a bigger wind screen for the front will not help. do not waste your time. take it from me. I spent 2 weekends building different models and nothing worked better than the stock one.

 

CONNECTIONS:

*Silicone or Vegetable Oil on rubber sleeves for ease of assembly

*3:1 heatshrink tubing with adheasive for the joints to keep water out of the tube seam joints

Silicone Sleeves to keep it from rusting. *Rustoleum-Spray it inside the tubes to coat it which can help prevent rusting from the inside out, which is the main cause of the rust on these baskets. Then use black outdoor silicone caulk (?RTV Silicone), like the type you'd use on home windows, etc... to seal all screw holes (including the wind deflector) and the 4 tube seems. Check all welds for any holes/ openings where water may get in.

*I sprayed a generous amount of WD40 inside each piece before I connected them.

jb weld on the screws, followed by the rubber sleeves provided by Rola.

 

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I really like that rack. I went back and forth on Rola and the generic Ebay rack for a while. It all came down to how I would mount and still have proper operation of sunroof, so I went with generic.These clamps were so temping for me as my route was tedious and these are simple to install. Ultimately I was able to get it done and I couldn't be more satisfied. I am going to be following your thread as you have very tasteful mods and I love how your truck looks! ?

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@TowndawgR50 also used conduit clamps with his generic rack. The cerakoting is an innovative approach to painting. My understanding is that they were sandblasted to remove the galvanized surface. I’ll attach some photos of what happens if you just try to paint them with self etching primer without scraping up the surface first. It didn’t really work on the stainless screw heads either.

79c50734d0fdbe138c2c065ff5368e83.jpg399a5258885b6265829e612b8a287497.jpg

 

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5 hours ago, Astrorami said:

I really like that rack. I went back and forth on Rola and the generic Ebay rack for a while. It all came down to how I would mount and still have proper operation of sunroof, so I went with generic.These clamps were so temping for me as my route was tedious and these are simple to install. Ultimately I was able to get it done and I couldn't be more satisfied. I am going to be following your thread as you have very tasteful mods and I love how your truck looks! ?

Thanks I appreciate it! Yeah definitely coming up with more posts about mods and such, stay tuned!  

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3 hours ago, AlabamaDan said:

Nice write up dude.  I like mounting with the OE rails and electrical conduits for mounting.

Thanks man! Yeah going with this route was super easy and kept it looking stock as possible. I actually had people ask me if the rack was an option from Nissan and if it was stock lol

 

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7 minutes ago, 02_Pathy said:

 

 

7 minutes ago, 02_Pathy said:

Alright second post. For the rack I used a Rola Rack with extension as the length almost fits perfectly on the roof of the pathy. For the hardware that I used were electrical conduit clamps that I picked up from Home Depot (they come in a pack of 5), lock washer, locking nut, bolt that threads into the stock sliders in the rails and a washer. Most of the hardware I had were Cerakoted black as I didn’t want a galvanized beacon on top of the truck which wouldn’t look so sharp. I chose Cerakote because it is extremely durable as it is a ceramic coating and they can withstand the abuse of the elements and tree branches. Cerakote also is flexible so when you clamp the conduits to the rack it doesn’t chip off. Cerakote application is a little involved as you have to get the materials for it and bake it but I have a certified Cerakote applicator at my work and he gave me a really good deal so I did that route. I used 10 clamps total and it holds the rack very securely, I can rock the whole vehicle by grabbing onto the rack and it doesn’t move or creak at all. I’ve driven up to 90 mph with it and had about 60 pounds of cargo up there and had no issues with it. I can flex the vehicle just fine without the unibody flexing the mounts off or ripping them out of the rail. The rack sits very low to the roof which could be a plus or minus. I can still open the sunroof but the glass touches the bar ever so slightly. After a couple of deadlifts of bending the bar upwards the glass still touches it. The rubber mouldings along the roof sit maybe a ¼ inch or less between the rack. I’m going to fix this issue by probably getting thicker washers and slightly longer bolts to help sit the rack a little bit higher so I can fit straps underneath the lower bar and the stock roof rack rails

 

Looks sick bro. I watched a video on youtube by one of the guys on the forum that talks about how bolting your rack directly to the roof can cause the bolts to bend with the unibody when it flexes off road. I know a lot of people do it but just keep that in mind.  i keep my yakima load warrior on the 04 LE crossbars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, 02_Pathy said:

 

 

 

 

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 I watched a video on youtube by one of the guys on the forum that talks about how bolting your rack directly to the roof can cause the bolts to bend with the unibody when it flexes off road.

 

So I take this comment in the genuine spirit of a helpful warning with which I’m sure it was intended, however, I’m curious to hear some input from the forum. I’ve heard this theory several times but no one seems to have seen an actual failure. We have a handful of people with full length racks mounted to their rails & I myself ran a small Yakima Basketcase mounted to my rails for 14 years. Has anyone out there actually seen this problem occur? I’m wondering if it is more of a theoretical problem become urban legend.

 

It seems to me that while the load bars would allow some deformation, they too would be at risk for this problem, though to a lesser degree. I also wonder if the conduit clamps in these applications might even allow for more deformation and flexing than load bars. In any case, I expect that it might take some significant flexing & rock crawling to cause a problem to occur. Having disassembled several R50 racks now, I note the rails are very stiff & likely only flex up & down. They are then crossbraced not only with the load bars, but also with multiple smaller crossbars on some versions. Finally, while I realize the R50 is a different vehicle from most other trucks because it is a unibody, there are ALOT of overlanding trucks out there these days with full length racks (with lots of anchor points) and I don’t really hear about this problem actually occurring.

 

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Yeah I have flexed my vehicle to the point where I could here the whole body creak from the articulation and I haven't had an issue with the mounts ripping out of the rails because the conduits themselves and rack flex to a degree. So my theory is the longer the rack, it's easier for it to bend and flex compared to those who run short racks. It's kind of like having a really short pencil and it's really rigid and hard to bend and I can see where short racks like that can be an issue because they dont give enough give to bend and flex. Then on the other hand if you have a really long pencil like a new one it's a lot easier to bend and has some play in it, like the rola rack with extension it's long enough where it could bend and flex especially too when it's in 3 pieces but again too the length allows it to bend just like a long pencil. If that makes sense

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Yeah I have flexed my vehicle to the point where I could here the whole body creak from the articulation and I haven't had an issue with the mounts ripping out of the rails because the conduits themselves and rack flex to a degree. So my theory is the longer the rack, it's easier for it to bend and flex compared to those who run short racks. It's kind of like having a really short pencil and it's really rigid and hard to bend and I can see where short racks like that can be an issue because they dont give enough give to bend and flex. Then on the other hand if you have a really long pencil like a new one it's a lot easier to bend and has some play in it, like the rola rack with extension it's long enough where it could bend and flex especially too when it's in 3 pieces but again too the length allows it to bend just like a long pencil. If that makes sense

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Also when I had a small rack before the rola mounted to the factory LE cross bars I could actually hear the plastic cross bars break a little too when flexing on mine when I had them

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Yup. Conduit clamps have worked great. Enough give to handle the flex and stress of wheeling and strong enough to hold tons of weight at highway speeds.
 
I left mine galvanized but the cerakoting would be nice. Great work!  [mention=39493]02_Pathy[/mention]
Well the perk for you is the galvanized conduits match your paint so it works out good imo.

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29 minutes ago, RainGoat said:

So I take this comment in the genuine spirit of a helpful warning with which I’m sure it was intended, however, I’m curious to hear some input from the forum. I’ve heard this theory several times but no one seems to have seen an actual failure. We have a handful of people with full length racks mounted to their rails & I myself ran a small Yakima Basketcase mounted to my rails for 14 years. Has anyone out there actually seen this problem occur? I’m wondering if it is more of a theoretical problem become urban legend.

 

It seems to me that while the load bars would allow some deformation, they too would be at risk for this problem, though to a lesser degree. I also wonder if the conduit clamps in these applications might even allow for more deformation and flexing than load bars. In any case, I expect that it might take some significant flexing & rock crawling to cause a problem to occur. Having disassembled several R50 racks now, I note the rails are very stiff & likely only flex up & down. They are then crossbraced not only with the load bars, but also with multiple smaller crossbars on some versions. Finally, while I realize the R50 is a different vehicle from most other trucks because it is a unibody, there are ALOT of overlanding trucks out there these days with full length racks (with lots of anchor points) and I don’t really hear about this problem actually occurring.

 

Yes my intentions were just to warn him of a risk that i learned on mjotrainbrain616's video on YouTube titled "Overview of My Modded 2002 Infiniti QX4" . He talks about the Unibody flexing while he was on trails causing some of the screws to become unhinged. Not trying to debate anything just a friendly warning about something i recently learned. My loadwarrior was always on the crossbars and i dont mind the look. 

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9 minutes ago, JackFletcher said:

Yes my intentions were just to warn him of a risk that i learned on mjotrainbrain616's video on YouTube titled "Overview of My Modded 2002 Infiniti QX4" . He talks about the Unibody flexing while he was on trails causing some of the screws to become unhinged. Not trying to debate anything just a friendly warning about something i recently learned. My loadwarrior was always on the crossbars and i dont mind the look. 

Yeah I appreciate the warning. So in that video it looks like he just used bolts through the rack and into the rails of the Q without using conduit clamps. I can see why they came unhinged as the bolts didn't allow any movement so the weakest point had to give. With using the conduit clamps they give some play between the rack and the body flexing.

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1 hour ago, JackFletcher said:

Looks sick bro. I watched a video on youtube by one of the guys on the forum that talks about how bolting your rack directly to the roof can cause the bolts to bend with the unibody when it flexes off road. I know a lot of people do it but just keep that in mind.  i keep my yakima load warrior on the 04 LE crossbars.

 

Yup, that's my video.  Never followed up with further thoughts, kinda just left my experience hanging.  Basically it can be taken as evidence that unibody flex really should be taken into account when making modifications that span the length of these vehicles.  Although, skidplates and rock sliders could have potentially stiffened the vehicle enough to make this a non-issue.  Even so, conduit clamps seem to be the way to go.

 

9 minutes ago, Pathy_02 said:

Yeah I appreciate the warning. So in that video it looks like he just used bolts through the rack and into the rails of the Q without using conduit clamps. I can see why they came unhinged as the bolts didn't allow any movement so the weakest point had to give. With using the conduit clamps they give some play between the rack and the body flexing.

 

Yes, that's more or less what happened.  My rack was actually bolted to a very stiff piece of rubber (cheap-o/sketchy coil spring spacers from AutoZone like these https://www.autozone.com/suspension-system-coil-springs-and-lift-lowering/coil-spring-booster/superior-automotive-coil-spring-booster/541731_0_0) which was then bolted to the rack, however that piece of rubber was SUPER stiff; the rack may as well have been bolted directly to the roof (which it would have been if not for the fact that my Curt roofrack was too narrow by an inch or so, could probably bend conduit clamps enough to make them work though).  Couple that stiffness with an 80+lb tire strapped up top and beating the crap out of my rig at a challenging offroad park within a week of this modification, and it's no surprise that multiple bolts sheared.

 

Initially this made me skeptical of any method that bolted the roofrack to the roof rails (rather than clamping onto the crossbars), and I may have vocalized this skepticism; I don't remember.  In any case, I have now seen enough examples of the conduit clamp method to be convinced it is the best way to do it, unless you want the convenience of easy-on/off, in which case the stock mounting solution to the crossbars is best in my opinion.

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What is the weight limit of a rack on top of an R50.
The rola rack with extension is about 50 pounds, I've had about 60 pounds of cargo up there(110 total) and one time that I stood on the rack with everything in it brought the weight up to 260 but that was stationary, but everything held up fine. Those are just some numbers I'm throwing out but I've seen people load more but I am not sure what the actual weight limit is on the R50

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I've carried Christmas Trees, lumber, and various things on the roof with the standard bars, but I've never known what the limit is.   I would love to be able to stand not he roof, but I'm too nervous to try.

 

I really like your electrical conduit mounts.  I think that's exactly the solution I've been looking for.

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I've carried Christmas Trees, lumber, and various things on the roof with the standard bars, but I've never known what the limit is.   I would love to be able to stand not he roof, but I'm too nervous to try.
 
I really like your electrical conduit mounts.  I think that's exactly the solution I've been looking for.
Yeah they're cheap and effective. And they allow flexibility for when the unibody flexes as well while keeping everything secure

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Load limits are calculated conservatively for dynamic loads on the load bars. Static loads would be greater. Additionally, 10 conduit clamps, distributed as 5 per rail, pretty evenly distributes the load to the 4-6 bolts holding the rail to the roof (depending on if you count the endcaps which insert pretty solidly into the rails). Personally, I think this can likely take a higher load.

That said, I’ve carried on the facelifted load bars something like four 3/4” treated sub flooring 4x8’ panels & a dozen 8’ treated 2x4”s - once even with a 35mph emergency stop. While probably not advisable, I think it can probably take alot. I will definitely consider standing on the mounted full length Rola rack & as long as I limit fluids to 5-8g, I can’t imagine I can put too much camping gear up there-I’m sure I’ve done more with lumber in the past.

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