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Old 05-04-2008, 09:58 AM   #10 (permalink)
BellyDoc
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Member Number: 9768
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Re: PullPal - Where do you keep yours?

I started by recognizing that I didn't want to carry the weight up on the roof rack. I'm off camber far too often to feel comfortable about extraneous weight up there and the RW14000 Pull-Pal is HEAVY!! Also, I hate when stuff rattles around.

I chose this space because I could get the shovel section to fit into the hollow behind the overhang of the seat, and the shaft section fits across the space on top. It impacts my cargo capacity minimally, if at all.

The base is a giant C shape made of angle iron. I have two little tabs welded onto the ends of the C which go UNDER the tie down D-rings near the door. The tabs have a small bend in them so that they form into the hollow space under the mat where the D-ring bolts down. The bolts and D-rings come out, the rack goes in and the bolts and D-rings go back in on top.

Vertical angle iron segments come up off the frame just behind the seats, and are cut at an angle on top, so that they don't gouge into the seat backs. I have an angle iron crossbar which makes a shelf for the shaft section. The shelf sits at a height that gives me just enough room for the shovel piece. The shaft section clicks in behind a lip made from a couple of pieces of 3/8 round stock welded to the edge of the shelf. The shovel part clicks in behind a similar lip welded to the base.

Behind the shaft section, I welded on an independent upright with a piece of 1/2 x 13 all-thread in it. The threaded section comes out between the folding portions of the shaft. I bent up a piece of thin 1" wide stock with a half inch hole in the center to grip onto both the shaft and the shovel at the same time. It locks down with a single wing nut.

The shelf and contact surfaces which touch the Pull-Pal parts are covered with neoprene foam tape that's used for insulating pipe.

At the front corners, the D-rings are inset into the angled plastic transition behind the seat backs. Rather than modify this, I drilled holes halfway up the uprights. I use a pair of turnbuckles to hook into these holes and into the D-rings. When I tighten them hand tight, they lock the rack DOWN and forward into rigid stabilization.

In order to offset the bending force that the turnbuckles have on the uprights, I have a pair of 3/8 round stock struts welded in at an angle, behind the uprights. This fixates the uprights in a triangle.

The rack is sturdy enough to rig other things off of. Ultimately, if anything fails, it's going to be the weenie little bolts that hold it into the sheet metal!

This one fits the 14000 pound version nicely, but the space would work equally well for one of the smaller models.

I'd be happy to bang one out for you. You just have to come over and bring your Pull-Pal. I've got everything else on hand except the turnbuckles, which we can get around the corner at Lowes.
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