Sherpa Equipment Company - 5th Gen

SherpaEquipmentCo said:
We actually have a aluminum spacer inside the rubber. So, inside our seal is no different than any other rack on the market. This what most rack companies on the market uses to keep the foot up off the roof and what most tell you to glob silicone all around to keep your roof from leaking. In our design, the rubber is not what supports your load, but what creates the seal on your roof.

The problem with over tightening the feet is the metal on the roof is thin, and when you take a big wrench with leverage, you turn that spacer into a punch, you can easily keep tightening that bolt and pushing the spacer through your roof until it bottoms out on the nut inside the roof. The rack does not need to be as tight as say your lug nuts, the hardware isn't made for it, the factory nuts in the roof are not made for it and the metal on your roof is not made for it. But, once all 4 points are snug, rubber is compressed down a bit, you have a fully sealed roof, plenty strong rack system, and hassle free no mess install.

Hoping to just shed some light on the design, and clear up any confusion on the subject. I appreciate the question as well, lets us explain our thinking and how the system works.
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Thank you :)

So if the metal insert is what really supports the rack and load, then over-tightening the mounting bolts isn't really compressing the rubber more and more after a certain point? It's sending the metal inserts through the roof's sheet metal? Then why doesn't this happen on other rack systems? I've at least never heard of it happening. When watching mounting videos for other racks, you can see people torque down their mounting bolts (with metal standoffs) until they basically can't apply any more torque by hand and it doesn't seem to damage the roof as you explain.

I'm not arguing against what your'e saying, I just don't understand how this actually works in practice and I'd like to before making a decision on what rack to buy.
 
FourT6and2 said:
Thank you :)

So if the metal insert is what really supports the rack and load, then over-tightening the mounting bolts isn't really compressing the rubber more and more after a certain point? It's sending the metal inserts through the roof's sheet metal? Then why doesn't this happen on other rack systems? I've at least never heard of it happening. When watching mounting videos for other racks, you can see people torque down their mounting bolts (with metal standoffs) until they basically can't apply any more torque by hand and it doesn't seem to damage the roof as you explain.

I'm not arguing against what your'e saying, I just don't understand how this actually works in practice and I'd like to before making a decision on what rack to buy.
Click to expand...

To push it through the roof requires a good bit of force, you'll absolutely know that you are doing it. The one time we have seen it happen the customer was installing their rack with an impact wrench. So, they had no idea of torque and just assumed the impact would stop itself once tight. It is not something you should have to worry about when installing the rack, just good to be aware of, especially if you use air wrenches or electric wrenches. It could happen when any other rack that uses a round spacer but definitely a rare occurrence caused by lack of attention.
 
A question not about installs for once... [MENTION=413201]SherpaEquipmentCo[/MENTION]

Would y'all ever consider partnering with Affirm to offer financing on your products? I've personally been really satisfied with their service from the buyer's end, but I'm not sure what it looks like from the seller's end. If it makes business sense for you to offer it, I think it would allow many more people to buy your products because they can spread out the cost over several payments with little to no interest who otherwise couldn't afford to drop ~$1,000 all at once.
 
SherpaEquipmentCo said:
To push it through the roof requires a good bit of force, you'll absolutely know that you are doing it. The one time we have seen it happen the customer was installing their rack with an impact wrench. So, they had no idea of torque and just assumed the impact would stop itself once tight. It is not something you should have to worry about when installing the rack, just good to be aware of, especially if you use air wrenches or electric wrenches. It could happen when any other rack that uses a round spacer but definitely a rare occurrence caused by lack of attention.
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Is there a published torque spec for these bolts?
 
If someone can point me at a torque wrench that measures inch-pounds accurately, I'll buy you a beer sometime. The only one I could find at the local auto parts store was accurate +-100% from my testing ...
 
rageandlove said:
If someone can point me at a torque wrench that measures inch-pounds accurately, I'll buy you a beer sometime. The only one I could find at the local auto parts store was accurate +-100% from my testing ...
Click to expand...

Borka Tools makes an in-lbs torque driver. I mainly use it for torquing down scope ring caps, but it will work for getting the 22 in-lbs the rack calls for. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s an option.
 
rageandlove said:
If someone can point me at a torque wrench that measures inch-pounds accurately, I'll buy you a beer sometime. The only one I could find at the local auto parts store was accurate +-100% from my testing ...
Click to expand...

Capri Tools makes an awesome inch pound torque wrench but it is on the pricey end of them. If you find yourself needing one often I would recommend it. To reiterate, snug is plenty good on these bolts, a torque wrench is nice but not a necessity for the install.

Capri Tools 31200 20-150 Inch Pound Industrial Torque Wrench, 1/4" Drive, Matte Chrome - - Amazon.com
 
rageandlove said:
If someone can point me at a torque wrench that measures inch-pounds accurately, I'll buy you a beer sometime. The only one I could find at the local auto parts store was accurate +-100% from my testing ...
Click to expand...

I use an awesome in-lb torque driver from Wiha for my rifles. It's accurate to +/- 6%. Wiha Adjustable Screwdriver Torque wrenches

Also, 22 in-lbs seems suuuuper light for something like a roof rack, but that's just me I guess lol
 
rageandlove said:
If someone can point me at a torque wrench that measures inch-pounds accurately, I'll buy you a beer sometime. The only one I could find at the local auto parts store was accurate +-100% from my testing ...
Click to expand...

We use them in the shop to assemble various rifle components. Haven’t had any parts fall off yet so they must be good :D
 
sl0wd0wn said:
I'm on the other side of 8 weeks for my order. It seems like the combination of COVID-19 and the increased demand for camping, etc. has really slowed things down.
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Thanks for the heads up.

Coming up on 4 weeks of the 8 week lead time for mine. Hoping it’s not too much more than 8.
 
Probably an odd question - I have a front runner 3/4 rack that I bought before learning about your company. I will be taking it off to repaint it soon and would rather not use sealant again. Would you be open at all to selling only your rubber inserts that the rack sits on?
 
JeuTheIdit said:
Probably an odd question - I have a front runner 3/4 rack that I bought before learning about your company. I will be taking it off to repaint it soon and would rather not use sealant again. Would you be open at all to selling only your rubber inserts that the rack sits on?
Click to expand...

We do sell a whole mount set with rubber included but we do not sell just our rubber seals. Sorry for any inconvenience. We designed and tested it using our mounts and will not sell them for other applications for liability purposes.


Lead Times​
As far as lead times go, we greatly appreciate everyone's patience as we work through our order list. We are taking steps to minimize the lead-times and keep everyone's orders on track as best we can. The lead times are trending towards the longer end, and some are sadly over the estimated time.

If you have questions about your order call or email, we are happy to update you on the status. We have well over 250 pending orders and we are shipping out 25-30 racks a week which is over double where we were a month ago. Our suppliers are struggling to keep up as well, but we are making strides on this regard as well.

We are doing what we can! Thank you for bearing with us and supporting us through this craziness! I promise we will get you all your racks and accessories as soon as physically possible!

Appreciate you all!
 
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