TeslaKen
Well-known member
- First Name
- Ken
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2024
- Threads
- 92
- Messages
- 1,093
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- 1,578
- Location
- Overland Park
- Website
- www.halocybertruck.com
- Vehicles
- Cyberbeast, M3PD+, GT4, XK140OTS
- Occupation
- Currently Occupied
- Thread starter
- #1
First, I want to say thanks for Mars @Mars Adventure Gear (www.marsag.co) for the awesome cross bars. I opted for the 2 rear-most bars at this time as I am currently only looking to put things above the bed of the truck. I have an upcoming 3000+ miles guys trip over an extended Labor Day weekend and while I could throw my spare tire in the bed, I really wanted the Mars Baja tire rack for their crossbars. Sadly, Mars is sold out and the next batch won't be available in time for my trip. Solution? Build my own! I thought I'd document the process here for anyone else who might want to do the same thing.
I sourced 2 - 38" long aluminum square/rectangular tubes (1" x 2") and a flat piece of aluminum sheet that is 1/4" thick, total price for the metal was just shy of $90 plus tax. You can see in the picture above that I was using the Mars version as inspiration.
I marked where I wanted the T-bolts (the ones that go down into the tracks of the Mars bar) to go and drilled out the bars at either end. The distance between the bars was 34" so I came in 2 inches from either end, centered the hole and drilled all the way through both sides of the bar. BTW I actually had been looking for an excuse to buy a small table top drill press so I bought this one from Harbor Freight. It worked well, even if I just set it on the floor of the garage.
Here I am just laying one of the support bars on top of the Mars bars so I can check fit and make sure the holes are lined up with the center channel. So far, so good!
The next item was to center up the aluminum plate on the support bars, mark its location and then drill holes for the bolts that will go through the bars and plate. The plate is 8" wide and 22" long which means it was positioned 15" from the end of the bar on either side of the plate. Holes were drilled 2" in from edge of plate and centered on the width of the bar.
Drilling the holes through the plate and the bar. I drilled one hole, put a rod through it to hold that position, then drilled the 2nd hole to make sure everything lined up. I started with a smaller bit and then drilled the holes out larger to fit the stainless steel bolts that I purchased. I'd have to check but I think they were 5/16.
Here I am just test fitting items, making sure holes line up, etc. The plate will actually go below the bars so as not to touch the tire, but here I just have it resting on top because I haven't attached any hardware yet.
Meanwhile checking to see if the jack and 4 way lug nut wrench will fit inside the wheel and sure enough they do. I will probably store the jack in the cubby below the bed for our trip but I might leave the 4 way in the wheel packed in with some foam or maybe a bungie cord.
Here I have attached the plate with the stainless hardware (I later added lock washers after I was done testing fit) It still looks like everything is lining up as it should, on to the next item.
Here I am testing out the 3/8 x 5-1/2" bolt and the spinner knob combo to see if the height works for the wheel to where enough threads come through for the knob to attach to but the wheel if it touches the bolt will do so below the threads. I could always put some black rubber tubing around the bolt but for now this lines up well. I had given thought to making a round plate to go over the bolts then attach the knobs and use the plate as a base for anything I want to store above it. I may still do that, but I'd need someone else to cut an aluminum circle for me as I don't have the means to do that myself. Well I do, but I don't think a saber saw by hand would look all that great...
I next made a pattern using the back side of the wheel and a piece of paper and then laid that pattern on top of the aluminum plate and marked where I wanted to drill the 3 holes for the 3 bolts I would be attaching as pins to hold the wheel to the plate.
Here I have put the 3 bolts through the plate and through the wheel and then attached the 3 knobs to secure the wheel to the plate.
Here I lifted up the wheel so you can see the three bolts going through the plate. I later added lock washers, this was simply for test fitting. Looking at the Mars solution I believe their 3 pins are fatter and are welded to their plate. I thought about going this route but decided against it because this wheel and tire combo is heavy. No way I'm holding it up trying to perfectly align it over some pins before setting it down, if I missed then I could mark up the wheel if the wheel hits a pin. In my solution I can set the tire on the bars with the plate underneath it, scoot the tire into place and then put the bolts through the holes, the wheel, and into the knobs up top. This also allows me to completely disassemble this setup into the bars, plate, and a bag of hardware.
This is a closeup of the black bolt with allen wrench head, lock washer, and the T nut on the bottom. These are M6x1 metric bolts, 45mm long. I ordered a set of assorted M6 bolts and T nuts from Amazon at the suggestion of Mars since they know what works well in their bars. Unfortunately, the set I got did not have any bolts long enough to go through both ends of the support bars and into the channel with the T Nut so I went to my local Home Depot and got 4 bolts along with some stainless lock washers.
Here is the rack installed with the T Bolts, I tried them with and without lock washers to check spacing and depth. It would work either way. Obviously now I can slide this left or right across the Mars bars. I chose to keep the rack closer to the right because I didn't want to put all the weight right in the middle of the Mars bars. This also leaves me more room to the side to work, toss other things in the bed, add other accessories, etc. Feel free to position where you want, just explaining why I went the route that I did.
Here it is from another angle, all ready to put the tire on top now. I need to get some plastic fittings for the ends of the rectangular tubes, I can probably find those on Amazon.
Here I have placed the wheel and tire on the rack. The wheel clears the bolts going through the rectangular tubes that connect to the plate so no issues there.
This is in the bed looking up from underneath so you can see the positioning and the three bolts that are going up through the plate to the knobs on top of the wheel.
A view from behind so you can see how the rubber of the tire rests on the rectangular cross bars, the wheel itself doesn't touch the plate or cross bars.
Here is a picture looking down on the wheel and tire so you can see the 3 knobs that hold down the wheel. As I mentioned the three bolts I added lock washers to on the bottom plate side and these knobs are able to put enough pressure down on the wheel to keep it in place to where it doesn't slide or move around. I took the truck out and ran some beast launches, speeds up to significant speeds and the rack and wheel and tire were all rock solid.
Here is a shot showing the full test rig from rear quarter view. Next I dismantled the rig so that I could sand and paint it.
Here is a shot of painting the aluminum pieces a satin black. You can see the can of Rustoleum paint and primer in one combo that I used. By the time I was finished painting it was dark so I will re-assemble tomorrow and maybe take a couple more pics. Overall I'm pleased with the outcome. Total cost for metal and hardware (not counting the drill press I bought) was probably around $125. I plan to use this on our trip next weekend and will report back on how well it held up and hopefully we don't have to get it down and use the spare, but nice to know it is there if I need it. If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
I sourced 2 - 38" long aluminum square/rectangular tubes (1" x 2") and a flat piece of aluminum sheet that is 1/4" thick, total price for the metal was just shy of $90 plus tax. You can see in the picture above that I was using the Mars version as inspiration.
I marked where I wanted the T-bolts (the ones that go down into the tracks of the Mars bar) to go and drilled out the bars at either end. The distance between the bars was 34" so I came in 2 inches from either end, centered the hole and drilled all the way through both sides of the bar. BTW I actually had been looking for an excuse to buy a small table top drill press so I bought this one from Harbor Freight. It worked well, even if I just set it on the floor of the garage.
Here I am just laying one of the support bars on top of the Mars bars so I can check fit and make sure the holes are lined up with the center channel. So far, so good!
The next item was to center up the aluminum plate on the support bars, mark its location and then drill holes for the bolts that will go through the bars and plate. The plate is 8" wide and 22" long which means it was positioned 15" from the end of the bar on either side of the plate. Holes were drilled 2" in from edge of plate and centered on the width of the bar.
Drilling the holes through the plate and the bar. I drilled one hole, put a rod through it to hold that position, then drilled the 2nd hole to make sure everything lined up. I started with a smaller bit and then drilled the holes out larger to fit the stainless steel bolts that I purchased. I'd have to check but I think they were 5/16.
Here I am just test fitting items, making sure holes line up, etc. The plate will actually go below the bars so as not to touch the tire, but here I just have it resting on top because I haven't attached any hardware yet.
Meanwhile checking to see if the jack and 4 way lug nut wrench will fit inside the wheel and sure enough they do. I will probably store the jack in the cubby below the bed for our trip but I might leave the 4 way in the wheel packed in with some foam or maybe a bungie cord.
Here I have attached the plate with the stainless hardware (I later added lock washers after I was done testing fit) It still looks like everything is lining up as it should, on to the next item.
Here I am testing out the 3/8 x 5-1/2" bolt and the spinner knob combo to see if the height works for the wheel to where enough threads come through for the knob to attach to but the wheel if it touches the bolt will do so below the threads. I could always put some black rubber tubing around the bolt but for now this lines up well. I had given thought to making a round plate to go over the bolts then attach the knobs and use the plate as a base for anything I want to store above it. I may still do that, but I'd need someone else to cut an aluminum circle for me as I don't have the means to do that myself. Well I do, but I don't think a saber saw by hand would look all that great...
I next made a pattern using the back side of the wheel and a piece of paper and then laid that pattern on top of the aluminum plate and marked where I wanted to drill the 3 holes for the 3 bolts I would be attaching as pins to hold the wheel to the plate.
Here I have put the 3 bolts through the plate and through the wheel and then attached the 3 knobs to secure the wheel to the plate.
Here I lifted up the wheel so you can see the three bolts going through the plate. I later added lock washers, this was simply for test fitting. Looking at the Mars solution I believe their 3 pins are fatter and are welded to their plate. I thought about going this route but decided against it because this wheel and tire combo is heavy. No way I'm holding it up trying to perfectly align it over some pins before setting it down, if I missed then I could mark up the wheel if the wheel hits a pin. In my solution I can set the tire on the bars with the plate underneath it, scoot the tire into place and then put the bolts through the holes, the wheel, and into the knobs up top. This also allows me to completely disassemble this setup into the bars, plate, and a bag of hardware.
This is a closeup of the black bolt with allen wrench head, lock washer, and the T nut on the bottom. These are M6x1 metric bolts, 45mm long. I ordered a set of assorted M6 bolts and T nuts from Amazon at the suggestion of Mars since they know what works well in their bars. Unfortunately, the set I got did not have any bolts long enough to go through both ends of the support bars and into the channel with the T Nut so I went to my local Home Depot and got 4 bolts along with some stainless lock washers.
Here is the rack installed with the T Bolts, I tried them with and without lock washers to check spacing and depth. It would work either way. Obviously now I can slide this left or right across the Mars bars. I chose to keep the rack closer to the right because I didn't want to put all the weight right in the middle of the Mars bars. This also leaves me more room to the side to work, toss other things in the bed, add other accessories, etc. Feel free to position where you want, just explaining why I went the route that I did.
Here it is from another angle, all ready to put the tire on top now. I need to get some plastic fittings for the ends of the rectangular tubes, I can probably find those on Amazon.
Here I have placed the wheel and tire on the rack. The wheel clears the bolts going through the rectangular tubes that connect to the plate so no issues there.
This is in the bed looking up from underneath so you can see the positioning and the three bolts that are going up through the plate to the knobs on top of the wheel.
A view from behind so you can see how the rubber of the tire rests on the rectangular cross bars, the wheel itself doesn't touch the plate or cross bars.
Here is a picture looking down on the wheel and tire so you can see the 3 knobs that hold down the wheel. As I mentioned the three bolts I added lock washers to on the bottom plate side and these knobs are able to put enough pressure down on the wheel to keep it in place to where it doesn't slide or move around. I took the truck out and ran some beast launches, speeds up to significant speeds and the rack and wheel and tire were all rock solid.
Here is a shot showing the full test rig from rear quarter view. Next I dismantled the rig so that I could sand and paint it.
Here is a shot of painting the aluminum pieces a satin black. You can see the can of Rustoleum paint and primer in one combo that I used. By the time I was finished painting it was dark so I will re-assemble tomorrow and maybe take a couple more pics. Overall I'm pleased with the outcome. Total cost for metal and hardware (not counting the drill press I bought) was probably around $125. I plan to use this on our trip next weekend and will report back on how well it held up and hopefully we don't have to get it down and use the spare, but nice to know it is there if I need it. If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
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