What's on your roof?

[shade]

What are you driving?

By stepping on the tires or the back seat of the truck i can reach most everything. I often carry a 3 step ladder and just added a two step ladder that will stay in the truck permanently. When I add tabs to the roof I might add tabs to the legs of the rack to make a cross bar on the legs going up to put a four step ladder premanently on the truck.

I have a few other ways to get to the roof but not onto the roof. If I had a platform to land on I could easily get to the roof to tie stuff on, and to hang out on the upstairs balcony. I have other ways to access the upper floor. I will take photos tomorrow to show them.

A Werner AP-30 or AP-35 may work for side access. I use an AP-30 frequently for construction, and it's useful for gaining access to the roof of my truck, or when working in the engine bay. They collapse smaller than a ladder, are very stable, and it's easy to use the step on the side legs if making the 20" step is too much. Skip narrower models; too tippy.



Another Werner product I like is the Werner Work Stand. It's a short, wide step ladder (both sides) that can be used individually, or in pairs as a scaffold support. Different heights are available in aluminum or fiberglass. Again, a very stable platform.

 

[rayra]

It looks like your second version removes the utility of the roof rack, so it is just a sun shade now. I still want a roof rack.
...

By an amazing coincidence that's exactly what it was designed to be. I've got 54cu' of storage space behind the 2nd row seat in my Suburban, ****** do I need to put stuff on the roof for?

I wasn't posting it as THE solution for YOU. I was posting it as an example of what's possible using plywood. Make yours any way you want. The tacked thread at the top of the Storage forum has dozens of design solutions for tie-down anchor points, metal tracks, holes, rings, etc. There's no reason you can't have a full flat deck / shade AND have strong attachment points on it for attaching gear. It's possibly to have BOTH at the same time.

Good luck with your design.

 

[AbleGuy]

What are you driving?

I have a 2011 F-350 Tiger but my more simple backwoods rig is my ‘03 Chevy K2500 HD. Like you I’m considering (if I keep this truck) building another plywood “roof” over the shell, and putting 2 kayak towers plus my 82” long Thule box, plus a PVC water tank on top....maybe alternately two bike racks instead of the kayak mounts.

I’m thinking of mounting the Thule box so it’s way far over on the passenger side (it opens to that direction) and accessing it by climbing up on the rear tire using that above folding tire step. Seems like it would work.

I just want to make sure the tire step would be stable and that’s why I asked for input. I don’t want to repeat the injury that I got years ago when I was exiting my full size camper. That day, I was backing out of the door while carrying an old, heavy steel frame folding bike, getting ready to go for an early morning ride. I was carelessly using an over turned milk crate on uneven ground as a step down from my rear bumper.

When I stepped down backwards onto the milk crate, it tilted over on me. I lost my balance and fell over backwards, landing painfully on my coccyx as that part of my anatomy immediately was contacted by a perfectly placed rock on the wet ground. I had the briefest moment of awareness right then, even with the wind knocked out of me, to think “oh sh+t” as I watched that heavy folding bike frame spring wide open (I’d kinda thrown it up into the air as I fell over backwards), seeming to hover above me for a microsecond, and then crash down forcefully on to my face and chest.

Yeah, I’d really like to not do that again.

 

[Photobug]

By an amazing coincidence that's exactly what it was designed to be. I've got 54cu' of storage space behind the 2nd row seat in my Suburban, ****** do I need to put stuff on the roof for?

I have 8 feet of space behind my 2 rows of seating, why the hell would i need to put stuff on the roof, yet somehow I still do or would like the option to. Thanks for sharing your work with us. Even if it does not work for me it gives me ideas to work with.

 

[rayra]

Go seek @pappawheely and his long-running build topic. He's an off-road racing photographer and he and I chatted there about several ideas for a roof deck / platform he could shoot from. He's had a moving van / mobile office / camper / off-road rig in work for a long time. He can probably shortcut a lot of ideas / photography considerations for you. Or be better suited to bouncing bouncing ideas / needs

/and pappawheely, I finally got a heavy duty sewing machine - but I have to re-cord it first - and I still have the 1000D and 1" webbing I bought to try a prototype Hobie-Cat deck idea on the Sub. And I just last week pulled the MkII deck off to build MkIII, so the roof is nekked. Perfect timing for the fabric test.

 

[Photobug]

Go seek @pappawheely and his long-running build topic. He's an off-road racing photographer and he and I chatted there about several ideas for a roof deck / platform he could shoot from. He's had a moving van / mobile office / camper / off-road rig in work for a long time. He can probably shortcut a lot of ideas / photography considerations for you. Or be better suited to bouncing bouncing ideas / needs

I have seen the autonomous thread before it is pretty awesome. I wish I had the space and skills to weld. It would be awesome to fabricate whatever I needed.

Here is my mock up ideas.

• 2-3 tabs on both sides each empty space (between the factory crossbars)
• A cross bar between the tabs.
• Add 3/4" plywood ontop of the crossbars.
• Paint the top of this ply a light color to keep things cooler in the truck.
• The plywood platforms would be roughly 3/4" shy on all dimensions to allow access to all the racks bars.

I was thinking the front space would have made the best platform but since that area is unsupported it is probably not a good idea for me to camp out in this space and having my weight cantilevered over the truck cab. Just to clarify the second mock up the light wood colored things are just a representation of the crossbars. I am not sure if I will do wood or metal crossbars.

 

[Photobug]

How are you going to access stuff on your roof?

I’ve been thinking about getting one of these:
View attachment 533558

Anybody here have any experience with using one of them?
Are they stable enough to stand on to unload gear from the roof or use to climb up onto it?

My roof rack has a support plate that sits between the shell and truck's bed that lets me get so that my waist is at top of roof rack level. Other options are standing on the seats or this hook that gets me even higher.

I have a 3 step stool I often carry and added a two step just for the truck. When I get some tab welded onto the rack i will likely add some to the sides as well to carry some type of ladder to make it easier to get onto the roof when I have a platform up there.

Amazon.com: Car Rooftop Doorstep Automotive Step Rails Portable Slam Latch Doorstep Vehicle Door Ladder To Roof-Rack Folding Foot Pegs For Suv Jeep Access (Black): Automotive

Buy Car Rooftop Doorstep Automotive Step Rails Portable Slam Latch Doorstep Vehicle Door Ladder To Roof-Rack Folding Foot Pegs For Suv Jeep Access (Black): Step Rails - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

This telescoping ladder is pretty cool. Packs small extends a ton.

12.5 Foot Aluminum Telescoping Ladder 330 Pound Capacity - - Amazon.com

12.5 Foot Aluminum Telescoping Ladder 330 Pound Capacity - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[AbleGuy]

That portable door hinge step idea above is brilliant!

And I don’t think I'm too fat yet to be able to use it safely !

Thx.

 

[Photobug]

That portable door hinge step idea above is brilliant!

And I don’t think I'm too fat yet to be able to use it safely !

Thx.

It popped up in an add window on the web. It is likely the only time i bought something from a pop up add.
On my Dodge it slopes pretty badly and I have not used it but have it if needed. I have the table saw out for a costruction project I will cut some wood to make a wedge to try to get it level and useable.

If I had a taller rig like your Tiger i would consider a real ladder like the telescoping one.

 

[AbleGuy]

It popped up in an add window on the web. It is likely the only time i bought something from a pop up add.
On my Dodge it slopes pretty badly and I have not used it but have it if needed. I have the table saw out for a costruction project I will cut some wood to make a wedge to try to get it level and useable.

If I had a taller rig like your Tiger i would consider a real ladder like the telescoping one.

Yeah, I do have a pretty nice, short ladder affixed to the rear for the Tiger.

So my needs for some kind of a step is for the 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 with a cab high shell on it. I want to put a sheet of plywood on it’s roof and use that to hold my Thule box and some other gear. That’s why I’m following you here.