©2005 - 2007 Tsunami Fishing Systems
|
|
The Rack
An in-depth review of our luggage rack - why, how we developed it, what's next
|
|
We have a friend who owns a welding shop, and was experienced in working with stainless
steel. We gave him a drawing with dimensions based on the previous rack, and he
returned in a week with the new version.
The picture to the left shows the new stainless rack compared to the old PVC version
(which is broken on the right).
|
|
|
|
|
Of course, we managed to screw it up a little:
The stainless version was not deep enough to clear the vertical rod racks.
It turns out the PVC version was flexible enough so that the front legs bent slightly to
allow the rear legs to move into the right location.
The stainless tubing is pretty stiff, so this was no longer possible (see picture to the left. The front tube is
the original leg).
To correct the situation, we had our friend weld a couple of
short extensions to the back legs (see picture to the right). This moved the resting
point just far enough back to clear the vertical rod racks.
|
|
|
|
We shortened the new rack vertically - enough, we thought, so that we could
theoretically leave it in place and still drive it out of the garage.
Well...we
were close, but
it still was a bit too high. We thought we could just cut the legs
off a bit, but it turns out that the rear leg extensions would have been too short (see above).
So we left it the way it was, and worked out a way to lift the door over the rack
as we drove out (see photos left and right).
|
|
We also had to put some sort of cushioning on the feet, in order to protect the deck. We first tried some rubber crutch tips, but the heavy load, plus pounding in
rough water, quickly caused the leg ends to cut through the rubber. We replaced the
crutch tips, but this time, we placed a large stainless steel washer into the bottom of the crutch tip before we replaced it on the leg.
The washer protects the crutch tip from the ends of the legs.
We've found the top level of the rack is a convenient place to leave the camera case, or a tackle
bag with frequently used stuff.
|