View Full Version : Stone Soup roof rack
wrenchin hobo
04-16-2011, 10:45 AM
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/04/100_0019-1.jpg
More pics and such coming soon. Uploading pics to the bucket as I type this.
J
wrenchin hobo
04-16-2011, 10:48 AM
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/04/100_0091-1.jpg
One of the Jeep at our campsite.
That is another nice looking product from Stone Soup Metal Works, I wish I had seen it in his shop before he sent it out but it looks like a perfect fit for the Commander.
Looking good.
I'd live to see some close ups and how it mounts.
wrenchin hobo
04-16-2011, 07:27 PM
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/04/IMG_0372-1.jpg
Mounts have to be redesigned. The rear of the commander's longitudinal rails happens to be closer than the front. So the rear mounts wouldn't work at all all the way back. And would just barely work where I have them in this picture.
wrenchin hobo
04-16-2011, 07:31 PM
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/04/IMG_0371-1.jpg
another
Just replied elsewhere but might as well ask here too...
Is Doc doing this as a one-off or is he planning on making a few of these for other buyers once the bugs are worked out? This would be an awesome 'fathers day' gift... ;)
Just replied elsewhere but might as well ask here too...
Is Doc doing this as a one-off or is he planning on making a few of these for other buyers once the bugs are worked out? This would be an awesome 'fathers day' gift... ;)
Doc keeps all his measurements so I am sure he would make you want if you wanted it.
wrenchin hobo
04-16-2011, 07:57 PM
He will make more once the mounts are sorted. Read this, NOT CHEAP. If you think the defender and others are pricey then don't ask. But with Doc you get options that you can add or subtract to keep the price reasonable. I had to have the expanded metal flooring due to the small things I like toss up there.
In example we used it to transport firewood from campsites to our campsite. And just tonight I forgot a plastic insulated cup with a lid on the roof rack and drove home, from downtown Houston. That's about 25 miles of both slow and fast driving...speeds up to 75 mph. When I got home it was still there, just scratched up from rolling around.
The rack is amazing. I am very happy with it. Just would like to get the mounts sorted, guess I need to tell Doc that so he can work it into the schedule.
The rack is amazing. I am very happy with it. Just would like to get the mounts sorted, guess I need to tell Doc that so he can work it into the schedule.
I dropped off one of my Commander cross rails so he could get some measurements.
Sal-XK
04-16-2011, 08:47 PM
Another fine product pretty cool.
wrenchin hobo
04-17-2011, 07:27 AM
I dropped off one of my Commander cross rails so he could get some measurements.
I really appreciate that. However neither he nor I took the time to measure both the front and rear width of the longitudinal rails...which would have allowed us to discover the narrowing as you go to the rear. This is the only reason the mounts are giving any trouble. The rack is of course rectangular.
I need to get busy with getting the pics to Doc.
CT-riverrat
04-17-2011, 07:36 AM
Dare I say it? Nice rack! LOL
I really appreciate that. However neither he nor I took the time to measure both the front and rear width of the longitudinal rails...which would have allowed us to discover the narrowing as you go to the rear. This is the only reason the mounts are giving any trouble. The rack is of course rectangular.
I need to get busy with getting the pics to Doc.
I am dropping off the Commander on Monday for some "other" work, he can get new measurements then.
07JeepXK
04-19-2011, 02:59 PM
Thats a nice looking rack. To bad i wouldnt fit in the garage with it on. I only have a few more inches to spare as it is and im saving those inches for more lift in the future.
I know it's only been a week... but any updates?
My wife wants me to get a roof rack for fathers day. Only one currently available that i like is the Defender... but i'd really like to roll with a Doc product.
Sal-XK
04-23-2011, 07:53 AM
Thats a pretty nice daddy's day present.
lol that it is... since we've started having kids we've decided to wait for excuses to buy things we want... Daddys Day is perfect because it splits the time between my birthday (March) and Christmas! lol
Any new development on Docs roof rack??
I saw two more in his shop yesterday, one for a WK I think.
Sal-XK
05-11-2011, 09:44 AM
I saw two more in his shop yesterday, one for a WK I think.
Throwing the bull **** flag bro, no pictures it didn't happen.
PS thats a good idea for a smiley, have one throwing the BS flag LOL
True. Pics & specs needed by yesterday.
wrenchin hobo
05-11-2011, 04:36 PM
Sorry guys, I haven't even had the time to talk to doc about the thing. I had to quit my job, find a new one, and get setup there...so, yeah ummm, life kinda threw me a curve ball. I'll get with him soon. New job has me working longer hours 6 days a week.
Sorry about dropping the ball on this.
J
No problem man. Hopefully you got everything squared away with the job. It may be longer hours... but that's better than 0 hours.
wrenchin hobo
05-11-2011, 04:43 PM
No problem man. Hopefully you got everything squared away with the job. It may be longer hours... but that's better than 0 hours.
Amen to that!!!
Sal-XK
05-11-2011, 04:45 PM
All jeep jokes aside a job is way important. :)
without sounding pushy....
COUGH***updates?****COUGH
Doc in AZ
07-19-2011, 02:16 PM
damn, i had no idea about any of this and this is the first pix i've seen. i knew there were a couple issues with the brackets, but i didn't have a comander here and didn't know there was a difference from front to back. if jon didn't have so many cool upgrades on his i could have made some new brackets while i had it here... ahhh, such is life.
i can make the racks any size you want up to 20' around... so like 4x6' or any variation similar. steel comes in 20' sticks and once i have to graft two sticks together it gets to be very time consuming and well, ummm, time is money. please don't get the idea that i'm only building for the silver spoon crowd, but i offer a lifetime warranty on all of my products and build them much stronger than anything you will find on the market. we price them by size and it works out to about $85 per linear foot. there are also upgrades like a spare tire mount, expanded steel bottom and i've even made them with custom side support gussets that look like spider webs & even one with the Wu Tang Clan logo on the side supports.
all of our racks are made of 1" round tube, have 4 light tabs up front, two tabs in the rear (for a big back up light & a CB antenna) and all have tabs on the side for mounting the hi-lift, jacks, shovels, whatever.
Thanks for the update Doc.
I'd like to get a rack but I want to mount it as low as possible... do you make mounts as well? I don't have load bars on my XK. Although I do have some Thule load bars I could use, i'd have to make my own custom attachments for them since I dont have the mounting feet (and the stock ones raise the bars too high for my liking).
Doc in AZ
07-19-2011, 02:53 PM
i can make anything you want with blue prints... or you have to bring me your rig. i normally try to use as many stock components as possible to keep things as cost effective / marketable as possible. on the other hand when i don't have a huge draw for a product it's hard to devote a couple days to engineering something really trick for it. don't get the idea that i only build things "good enough" but i can't charge someone 8 hours labor to design some stanchions. if you guys were interested in a group buy, as always you will get a better price, but then it would warrant designing a mount just for the commander.
good example for me is the rear bumpers... everyone wanted one, everyone had some input and design ideas. i have over 120 hours into the rear bumpers from inception to production... i have sold only 3 and have not even come close to making a profit yet. and now i have requests for the front bumpers coming in day after day and from as far away as australia... but no one has decided to anti up and have me build one. but again, i need to make sure you guys are willing to dish out between $12-1400 for them before i even start trying to put it into production or i'm just wasting my time on a business level.
while the price may seem a little high you should compare mine to the bumpers ross built. nothing against him but they were very thin sheet metal, had weak mounting points and crushed the centre cross member on jon's rig before he ever hit anything. those bumpers are such thin material i can grab the side by the fender flare and pull it away from the body almost an inch... and i'm only 125lbs. and i think those were about a grand.
Hey man, i completely understand. I've been around this stuff long enough to know exactly what you're talking about. For what its worth, I fully intend on having your bumpers some day... but those will have to wait until my kids are out of daycare (or until someone rear ends me and i need a new rear bumper... you'll get an E-mail that day!)
A roof rack however is a bit easier to justify in the mid-term.. hence why i've been very interested in this thread. Reviews of the defender racks have been iffy, and i like to support the "local" businesses as much as i can (my dad is an entrepreneur as well).
In terms of your rack... is it basically designed to mount to standard crossbars with a few U or square bolts? I might pick up some aluminum and make some mounting blocks for my Thule load bars (basically I'll just need slight spacers so I have about 1/2" of clearance at the closest point with the load bars). I wasn't sure if you already created something like this, that's why i asked. They're easy enough for me to make out of some stock material.
If I do a good enough job, i'll send you the drawings in case someone wants a similar set and can't make them.
Edit: and FYI, i'm pretty handy with 3D modeling and designing. So if you need something modeled, say like the roof rack rails or something, shoot me a PM. I could probably get you some professional quality drawings of these parts.
Just curious... what's the expanded steel bottom look like? And what's the standard bottom like? Might try to swing this as an anniversary gift... worst case, Christmas is less than 5 months away :)
Doc in AZ
07-19-2011, 09:56 PM
Expanded steel is that stuff that looks like its sheet metal with diamonds punched out of it... you could google it for a picture too, I'm too lazy to find one and post it, otherwise the bottoms is just one inch tube ever 8 inches or so. I'm going to try and fix the link in my signature but go look at Facebook.com/stonesoupmetalworks
Ah yeah, I got ya.
What size is the rack that was posted in this thread? I'm having trouble deciding between 4x5 or 4x6....
Doc in AZ
07-20-2011, 04:49 AM
I would have to look back thru my notes, bit it was as wide as the outside of the stock roof rack rails and about 6 feet long. It was as big as I could make from a single stick of tube.
I was measuring my roof last night and 48" wide (outside) would put the edges even with the inside of the roof rails in the rear, and 72" long would span from the rear of the sun roof to almost the back hatch (I'd need to see if there would be an issue with opening the gate.. maybe 65-68" would be better.
I wouldn't want my rack to be wider than the I side edge of the roof rails, basically for the sake of mounting options but also because I may put extra accessories on the sides that I would like to stay "above" the roof. Looks like 47-48" is the sweet spot.
I think my tray is 76" x 54"
Hey Doc, I shot you a PM looking for a rough quote. I'd want the width (outside measurements) to be 47.5-48" and just have to decide on the length (probably 68-70"... need to measure roof with rear hatch open).
Also, from the picture below its hard to tell if the front goes straight across or if its curved. Did you curve it for aesthetics? I'll probably make a wind deflector out of plexi or something...
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/04/100_0019-1.jpg
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