Finished canoe rack - poss bike rack, too...

[ScouterMom]

worked ont he camper all day yesterday & this morning before going back to work @ noon today - thought you might like to see the finished canoe rack -


rear view


Front view

Click on the photos to go to my album, if you want to see the construction process.

wasn't hard to do, but I did discover that the back bumper is bent, and has a broken weld.  So we put a 2X4 inside the channel of the bumper and will have my welder friend fix the broken weld and possibly, reinforce the bumper.  But it's still plenty sturdy!

The front, being welded to the frame is rock solid, and the back has a little more 'give' - but both will also help support the beds when in the 'down' position.

the canoes themselves will help tie the front and back together and reinforce the whole thing.  The beauty of this idea is that there is NO WEIGHT on the roof or body of the PUP anywhere - all weight is on the frame only.

I plan on tieing the front and back frame together with some kind of channel or support, to ride bikes on.  thinking of using the aluminum 2X4's I found for the lifter pole covers (tires would ride nicely in those channels!) but am not sure they come in the 12' length i would need, or if they are strong enough to span that length without buckling.  

But I CAN carry a canoe or two now! Can't wait to test it out!

Laura

[austinado16]

Pretty cool Laura!  I like the simplicity and the fact that they can be adjusted for height super easy.  Less is more, and those are very dialed in!  I also like that you painted it to match so it blends.  Nice work.

[Funrover]

Cool!! Keep it easy and original!! I like it!

[ScouterMom]

yeah, I liked the paint, too -

we had painted the tongue black - and I painted the bottoms of the square stock, too, because the welds started showing rust just a day after it was done.   It was very rainy & humid here in August. Color-wise, it just worked out that the front of the camper is black, too.

The white boards are a fluke - a quart of exterior enamel that actually came WITH my house when I bought it over 10? yrs ago.  (let's see - 1995?)  it was left here on a basement shelf with other household paints. It had never been opened, and I thought I'd try it. I just wanted to use anything to make the raw wood more weatherproof.  I had to stir it up quite a bit, but it has a really thick, semi-gloss, water -resistant finish.  It took two coats, as the first coat absorbed into the pine quite alot, especially the knots.  I painted the boards we use for the van roof rack, too.

 I like it so much I'm thinking that I might use it to paint the very faded and down-to-the-bare-aluminum roof. It says it can be used on wood or metal - so after I caulk up the roof, I might give it a primer coat and then use that enamel with a foam roller.  It's certainly bright enough to reflect some summer light and heat!

Laura

[austinado16]

........... I like it so much I'm thinking that I might use it to paint the very faded and down-to-the-bare-aluminum roof. It says it can be used on wood or metal - so after I caulk up the roof, I might give it a primer coat and then use that enamel with a foam roller.  It's certainly bright enough to reflect some summer light and heat!

Laura

That's exactly how I painted my roof about a month ago.  An oil based primer for metal from Sherwyn Williams and then an oil based tinted to match my 1987 Starcraft tan.  Took a quart of each, exactly.  Looks pretty darn nice too.

[ScouterMom]

Someone from Pop-up Portal mentioned that they would attach to the frame in back, instead of the bumper - which is not really possible, as the back curve and body overhangs the actual frame by quite a bit.

here's a diagram:



there is a partial broken weld - causing quite a bit of 'bounce' and flex in the bumper and probably caused by whatever bent the bumper - of course, I'll have my friend fix that broken weld.

But the bumper is actually lighter weight channel than that which makes up the frame, and the bumper (the red part in the drawing) is bolted to the welded-on supports that stick out from the rear frame (black part of drawing) .

I don't know if the bumper was designed that way for a reason, like, so it would crush or shear off if hit? or if it's just because that was the easy way to do it -possibly allowing for different camper configurations on the same frame for starcraft? or just an easy way to replace the visible bumper if needed (bolts instead of welds)

Anyway, I'm wondering if we should add supports between the bumper and frame, or possibly have an extra support or two welded out from the frame to support the bumper? (weld to the frame, bolt to the bumper) Paul keeps wanting to reinforce more - he has a tendency to over-engineer stuff and be extra, extra safe - I tend to think less is more, and that the simple answer is usually the best.  We usually average out about right  :p

I have two thoughts on this -

weld additional supports to the frame and bolt them to the bumper?  this would make the rack much stiffer with less bounce and give. however, If something hits the bumper and it's welded with a cross piece to the frame, the shock will go thru the whole camper frame, not just crush the bumper. of course, the way these campers are put together, if anything hits it, it's probably trashed anyway

OR

maybe the bumper isn't supposed to be rigid. If it's too rigid on the road,with weight on it,  it could put MORE stress on the frame and crack other welds or cause unknown problems.  The troop's canoe trailer is old -  the racks to hold the canoes look pretty flimsy for what they do, but the base frame is solid. Many, many multiple canoe trailers are built the same way; they bounce, shift and creak and I've never heard of one losing a canoe on the road - ever. Our racks seem  massively strong in comparison.

What would you do?  add extra supports? or not?

laura