alloyguitar Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 So my pathfinder's roof rack has snowboard racks on it, and they whistle. A lot. It's annoying. So I'm making a wind deflector. Started with a piece of what used to be shelving in a TjMaxx. It's not galvanized. It's just painted silver. I didn't measure the wall thickness, and, honestly, I don't really care what it is. It doesn't need to lift the car off the ground, so no big deal. Lol Mitered the ends and welded 'em to get the angle I wanted. Welded the ends of the little pieces back on reverse from where they started so "cap" the ends of the tubing so I can get a weld all the way around, and so water and such can't get inside the tube. Started on the side plates. Yes, that's a sawblade. Makes great plate steel since I have 20394203948320948 of 'em laying around. Best part about sawblades is that they're tempered, so you can score the steel, then hit it with a hammer and break it cleanly enough. Tacked the two side plates together so I could drill some securing holes and grind them to identical shapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Making sure everything's nice and level. TADA! We're getting somewhere. Added the mounting points. It'll just mount to my stock roof rack with bolts that will slide right in. Fun little action shot. And here's the finished frame after painting and adding a few tabs. I added four tabs in case I want to add lights later, which I probably will. I didn't take photos of making the actual windscreen, but it's made out of a single piece of 1/2" ballistic lexan or plexi or something heated and bent to shape, because it's what I had. It was clear, so I hit it with a quick nasty coat of black paint. The screen itself will be plastered with stickers, I'm sure, so it doesn't have to look too good. There were a few runs in the paint on the actual deflector since I was painting it in a dark corner of my garage at night, so, to hide them, I "embellished" the thing in stickers. Good thing I have a lot of different hobbies that involve buying things that come with stickers. Lol. This, like my cargo cages, was a zero dollar project as well, so I'm really happy with how it came out. Sorry for the last camera phone shot. I'll get better ones tomorrow when I'm off work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrariowner123 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Dang that thing is sweet!!! And sick shot of you welding!!! -Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Dang that thing is sweet!!! And sick shot of you welding!!! -Kyle x 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Thanks, guys! It tilts a bit forward, so I need to shim the front up a bit, but other than that I'm happy with it. Hopefully it's not too tall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wo0denSp0on Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 (edited) Nice job man! Looks a little inspired maybe.... haha Edited April 2, 2012 by Wo0denSp0on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Haha, I was going to say that I borrowed part of it from ya, but couldn't remember what thread I saw it in. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theexbrit Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I'd like to see a photo of it on your Pathy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 I'll get a more decent photo tomorrow since I'm off work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Yeah, I lost a center cap romping around in the woods and never got around to replacing it. I put that door trim around all the "sharp" edges in case I use those holes to tie down a tarp or something while camping. Bolting system Drove it to work yesterday and the wind deflector works great. NO whistle at all. I'm very happy with it's performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedgood/7042177423/in/photostream There's a quick video of me pulling on it. Safe to say it's mounted pretty securely. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E_ROCK Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 (edited) What's wrong with this picture... Edited April 3, 2012 by E_ROCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wo0denSp0on Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Its all good man! I like yours more than mine. I dont really like how high up it puts my lights. Think imma slide it back a little more like you have yours. When I turn on the middle lights you can barely see out of the cab for the glare on the windshield. And E_ROCK imma guess you notice welding next to a pile of airisol cans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrariowner123 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 What's wrong with this picture... Tons of explosive, pressurized cans right next to 1500 degree welder? just hazarding a guess on that one, lol -Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Lol, well here's the thing with the aerosol cans. I'm pretty sure that my bare arms (wearing a tshirt) would sense any heat issues before the cans would get hot enough to matter. Those have been there for months without issue, so it isn't really a concern of mine. If I was using my OA torch, then yeah, I'd be concerned, but the welding sparks don't really worry me. Stupid? Probably, but it has yet to be a problem. Woodenspoon, Mine's a bit shorter than yours, and the angles aren't really the same, but I have it as far back as I can. The front edge of the deflector is about an inch in front of the sunroof, and it seems to work really well there. I'm still debating on whether I'm going to put lights on it or not. I work at a parts store, so I may take one out of the box and hold it up there to see how it looks before I make a decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wo0denSp0on Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Yea. I just got lucky mine worked out as easy as it did. I may change up the tabs later but for now it works great. I like to be able to light up the party in the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 I'd like to be able to do that, too. I go snowboarding a lot (was a snowboard instructor for 6 years) and end up in some bad weather where they'd be handy, but we'll see. I need new tires and to build a hitch for my small motorcycle trailer, so they're first on the list before lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now