Ideas on what to do with old spare mount or back door??

[Cyrus Avey]

Ok didn't get to hit it much today either..... Something is always coming up.......

[emoji631]It's a Hummer...... That's why we bought them isn't it........???? To drive up sh*t????[emoji848][emoji631]

 

[Woodtick]

That looks good, there may be a market for that ladder. I never thought of the cost of the spare and they would also have to up grade their carrier. Dem poor Jeep fellers.BBQ mount on the front? You my friend ,are living the Highlife.

 

[JPaul]

That looks pretty sweet, glad to see you bent the top in, I was worried you were going to just leave it straight. How does it do with you climbing on it? I just worry that to much stress might be put on it with the leverage you can get when grabbing at the top of the ladder.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

Well I haven't climbed on it yet, in that last picture I just had the top two bolts in just so I could make sure it was looking ok. And ya after I put it on the first time I realized I needed to bend the top in, I actually took out one of the steps as well as the ladder was too hi. Im gonna stop by the hardware store today and pick up the rest of the stuff ill need to finish (bedliner, bolts) Im a little worried about the load bearing as well, but the way I used to get on top was to climb and stand on my spare.... so that's a 35 inch spare with my 240 pound ass standing on it. Like you said though the leverage will be a little different. Im still considering a way to attach it to either the top of the door or the roof rack for stability if its needed. But if I do the rack then I have to deal with a pin or something every time I open the door......... oh well......... Ill work on it a bit tonight maybe and keep you all posted, thanks for the input. And that big ammo can is awesome!!!!!!!!

 

[JPaul]

I'd anchor it to the top of the door the way the Gobi ladder is, it's basically a clamp I think, just clamps over the lip of the top of the door.

 

[4speedfunk]

Or stop it short. Do you really need those last two steps? Seems like you could stop the ladder at the window sill...and still be able to access the roof. Less is always more.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

Ill probably end up doing that, now to just figure it out......... im gonna also get some rubber stripping today to put between the ladder mounts and the paint..... and 4speed I do see what your saying but with my heavy ass up there ill probably need to go to the top of the door, just so I can have the extra bracing.

 

[650Hawk]

Looking good, can't wait to see it painted/bedlined. I'm not sure that I would put rubber between the mounts and the door, though. Seems like that would introduce some flex/movement under load (while climbing up on it). Better to have a good solid mounting to the door.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

That's true as well.......... I was thinking some heavy duty rubber 2 inch strips maybe a 1/16"or 1/8" thick... Can yall think of anything else to separate it from the paint of the truck? Im gonna bedline the whole ladder but Im thinking it would be better to still have something in between.

 

[JPaul]

Run a bead of silicone on the bracket before you bolt it on. That will help protect the paint and keep it from making any noise. I'f you want to be able to remove it easily after then spread the silicone out thinly and let it cure first. Or spray the backside of the bracket (or that part of the door would probably be better) with Plasti-dip.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

That sounds like a plan jpaul. I got impatient and just left it as a ladder and went ahead and bed lined it today...... I'm just gonna make some more attachments for my receiver hitch when I get around to it. Y'all all had great ideas about the extra stuff to put on it though and I appreciate all the help from everybody that put in there opinion!!! I'll be installing it tomorrow and putting up pictures!!

[emoji631]It's a Hummer...... That's why we bought them isn't it........???? To drive up sh*t????[emoji848][emoji631]

 

[Jeremy]

I would go with the gas cans and a storage bin and paint "HUMMER" into the storage bin and a Gobi ladder and line-x everything

 

[Cyrus Avey]

well that was the only thing I like building stuff so I didn't want to spend all that money on a Gobi rack and ladder so I just built my own. (Gobi is what like $1500??) and the Gobi ladder is like $250 or $300 I think, I could be wrong. But anyways My whole setup I have about 250 bucks in for rack and ladder both. Plus its really heavy duty stuff. (not knocking the gobi I don't know the quality of those) and I got to enjoy doing it. Storage bin would be nice though, I just got impatient.

 

[Jeremy]

Gobi is way too expensive, there's no denying that. I got the Rola with extensions for like $200 and I've beat the hell out of it and it's still doing great and no rust or major dents.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

here's the ladder installed!!!


[emoji631]It's a Hummer...... That's why we bought them isn't it........???? To drive up sh*t????[emoji848][emoji631]

 

[4speedfunk]

Don't kill yourself building a mega-duty roof rack. The roof seam itself will fail long before any rack you can put up there. I would never load more than 150 pounds or so on top of an H3, so anything beefier than this capacity is sort of over-engineered. The greatest rack in the world is useless if the gutters that it's bolted to...separate from the roof! Check out a thread from a former member named "Nugget"...it shows what happens when you overload an H3 roof....not an easy repair.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

I did the roof rack a long time ago. I just built the ladder recently to match it. Ive used the rack a lot since I built it over about a year and a half ago, me and my wife always bring chairs up there and sit or when me and my boy went dove hunting we used it a few times, haha he enjoys it. Ive had about 375 lbs up there a couple times. Not while driving and no issues to report so far. its made of 1 inch square tubing 1/8 inch, so is the ladder.

 

[woodwardsh3]

You could use the camper top foam tape sticky on one side. auto zone has it or home depo.
#2 You could box in the square mount with sheet metal to make a box and drill some 1/4'' drain holes in the bottom, and when wheeling you could put your tow strap in there

 

[rsc]

It always drives me nuts when I see people wanting to build a HD steel roof rack that could support the titanic. At a certain point, the weight of the rack kills any load carrying ability.

 

[Cyrus Avey]

Wooodwardsh3, that's actually what I ended up using as a backing for the ladder!!!!

 

[Cyrus Avey]

Im not sure about the titanic but I wanted it to be able to hold my weight along with my wife or boys weight. Im not sure how much the Gobi racks actually weigh do any of you? I could pick mine up by myself off the ground(though it was heavy to do), I know the round tubing is 1 inch on the gobis but I didn't want round I wanted square, so I just used 1 Inch square tubing and built it.

 

[JPaul]

The heaviest thing I'll probably put on my roof rack is my gigantic tent (big enough for my wife and I and our three daughters), and maybe a couple cans of gas. Otherwise I think it's perfect for light and bulky stuff like camp chairs and sleeping bags and whatnot. And I might sleep up there if it's just me. It wouldn't be hard to rig up a simple tarp tent over it, and it's just about long enough for me to lay down in. Who needs a RTT when you have a tarp?

 

[rsc]

There's a big difference between static loading and dynamic loading. I wouldn't be against putting 600 or 700 lbs on the roof and having a picnic up there. I would not put 500 lbs of rack and gear on the roof and go offroading. I think that keeping the weight manageable is the key, if you can't put it on the roof by yourself with minimal assistance it's getting to be too big to haul a load around on.

Your stuff looks good, and I'm in no way bashing your efforts. Just bringing up a counter-point to the idea that "it's a HUMMER, so it's got to be tough".

 

[Babyjohn460]

here's the ladder installed!!!


[emoji631]It's a Hummer...... That's why we bought them isn't it........???? To drive up sh*t????[emoji848][emoji631]

How's the rear door mounts holding up climbing on the ladder?

 

[SedonaBound]

I think the ladder is a great idea, and it's practical. I wouldn't do anything permanent. You may like carrying the spare on the roof, but buyers may not, and someday you'll want to sell it.