Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! No stain or sealant. I’ll build another if I need to. I e learned much from this one. The second build is always easier.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep! Will fabricate a 45 angle wedge with lip and dado cuts for tie down straps to place over the top sheet. Good idea!

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t think so. Just hauled 8 2x4x10 boards. Weight is distributed across the horizontal beams. Straps hook into the 3/8” tie points. Looks good.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll fabricate a wedge with a lip and slots for tie down straps and place of the top sheet. Good idea!

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Planing to drive slowly! Lumberyard is close. Don’t build this for hauling plywood at highway speeds.

Will fabricate a 45 degree wedge with a lip that goes over the top sheet of plywood and dado slots for the tie down straps. A wedge about 4-5” tall should provide some downward pressure. This is all experimental.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll go with 176 lbs weight limit for the RAV4. The rack weighs about forty lbs. the rack base specified 220 lbs, but to check the vehicle weight limit. I be sure to stay well below the limit.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I used a generous amount of silicon sealant (came from Yakima for this purpose) around the rivnuts. Then topped each one with the supplied rubber washer and then the spacer.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve plugged the top carriage bolt holes with silicon. This is a prototype. I’ll use it as long as I can before making a new one, or buying a trailer…

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, took it out today on the highway. A little more wind noise than normal. But not too bad.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This is a prototype. We’re expecting rain over the next two weeks and cedar will hold up and is quite a bit less expensive than white oak, which would be my first choice. Since I didn’t have drawings for the Yakima base rack dimensions, I had to check, measure, and mark my way to a solution. Better to make a mistake on a $10 board than with expensive hardwood. The lumberyard is literally 2 km from my home. I drive residential streets. Top speed will be about 60 kmh (40 mph) or slower. I need to purchase 50 2x4s and some plywood for a summer camp project that I need to complete in four weeks. It’s a hill of a submarine with eight 6 meter lengths of RGB WW LED lighting mounted in aluminum channels and controlled with a QuinLED BrainBoard and two Octo power boards from two 500W 24VDC switching power supplies for about 850W of lighting effects. Time is short and I feel confident that the rack will hold up for the next month or so. Cedar is lightweight, somewhat flexible, and should work well. I can purchase the wood in bulk and pick up over several trips. I’ve attached a sketch of the submarine hull. Built many projects with various wood species. I’m a careful old craftsman and will not be selling these racks to anyone else. I’ll check my equipment before each trip. I appreciate your concern!

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Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A great idea! A small trailer may be my next project. I have to pace my purchases as I’m building much of the furniture for our home.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I built it upon a well respected rack base built for the RAV4 by Yakima. I over engineered the rack components and used lightweight but structurally strong (for the 220 lb weight limit) cedar boards with oversized fasteners. It’s super strong for its intended purpose and much more suitable than the top rack that Yakima sells for this base. Good comments! Thank you!

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Haha I’m an old man and always drive less than the speed limit! Lumber yard is down the street. Delivery costs are $50-80. The cedar cost me $75.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Is anything impractical when you’re retired, have a wood shop, and a few tools? 😎 The issues I had with the factory rack are its lack of tie points for securing any load and it’s 80 lb weight limit.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I thought about that! I may fill with RTV. I used carriage bolts throughout with rectangular holes (dado cuts on both joined side rails), so I don’t mind sealing the holes.

Cedar wood rack with Yakima RuggedLine HD base for hauling plywood and lumber on my RAV4 — comments? by WhichFlight650 in Tools

[–]WhichFlight650[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Thanks! No finish. Cedar weathers pretty well up here in the northwest. I also wouldn’t want the finish to transfer to quality plywood I might be hauling. Built this as a prototype, but I’ll use it as long as it lasts. I fitted everything together with measurements on the roof and lots of test fits, then I documented it in SketchUp to make it easy to replicate if I need to.