Sherpa Equipment Company Rack Systems

[tx_shooter]

The roof is severly weak but better weight distribution contact points will help with some of the deflection. I had a 3/4 rack I built that had almost no deflection but it was solid contact from the first bolt to the last bolt. It replaced the factory rack base due so as to make a stronger more distributed contact system.

 

[Flemster]

I promise we have not blown this front foot thing off. Over the past few weeks, we have been testing many adhesives and are continuing to do so. We are currently using a 1300 series from 3m that has had way more positive results. We also have a 3m rep coming out to meet us on Friday. Ill update with some test videos and our findings.

We have also Found freezing the feet as the adhesive sets make for a much stronger bond. Interisting to say the least, these are the days I wish I was a chemist. We are also testing under heat, up to about 150 degrees.

Also to add, we are still holding a close out sale on the Antero rack, there are only 5 left in stock so get them while you can. The Antero Ext. will be our only available half rack after these sell out.

Thanks for your patience as we work on these feet.

 

[winkster]

Thanks for the update however I found that it didnt matter how much or how little pressure I had on the front feet. The rack would still wiggle while driving on bumpy roads with an RTT on the rack and cause the rubber to come off of the feet. My opinion is that you need to remove the wiggle from the rack.

My solution was to triangulate the front of the rack with some aluminum angle. This has completely stopped the front wiggle and I no longer have the rubber sliding off of the feet.

I promise we have not blown this front foot thing off. Over the past few weeks, we have been testing many adhesives and are continuing to do so. We are currently using a 1300 series from 3m that has had way more positive results. We also have a 3m rep coming out to meet us on Friday. Ill update with some test videos and our findings.

We have also Found freezing the feet as the adhesive sets make for a much stronger bond. Interisting to say the least, these are the days I wish I was a chemist. We are also testing under heat, up to about 150 degrees.

Also to add, we are still holding a close out sale on the Antero rack, there are only 5 left in stock so get them while you can. The Antero Ext. will be our only available half rack after these sell out.

Thanks for your patience as we work on these feet.

 

[bodean123]

Also to add, we are still holding a close out sale on the Antero rack, there are only 5 left in stock so get them while you can. The Antero Ext. will be our only available half rack after these sell out.

What's the closeout price for the Antero? Also, any idea of shipping charges to Canada?

Thanks!

 

[formulate]

Speaking of the front feet of the rack, has anyone put any protective film/layer on their roof under the feet? Even disregarding the foot adhesive issue mentioned above, I'd think that over time dust/dirt would get between the foot and roof and damage the paint?

I was thinking of a couple layers of automotive vinyl wrap material, or maybe some adhesive-backed neoprene?

Has anyone else done this?

 

[tx_shooter]

Thanks for the update however I found that it didnt matter how much or how little pressure I had on the front feet. The rack would still wiggle while driving on bumpy roads with an RTT on the rack and cause the rubber to come off of the feet. My opinion is that you need to remove the wiggle from the rack.

My solution was to triangulate the front of the rack with some aluminum angle. This has completely stopped the front wiggle and I no longer have the rubber sliding off of the feet.

Pretty close to the issue I am seeing. The overall play of the roof rack is enough to allow the rack to move side to side if all the crossbars are not installed. I found that as I put each bar in place the overall rack got stiffer but still not 100%. If I can get some free time I plan to add the aluminum 1/2" angle right below where the bars mount to stiffen the side pieces up. Hopefully that will stop the side to side movement.

 

[Nate_GB]

Speaking of the front feet of the rack, has anyone put any protective film/layer on their roof under the feet? Even disregarding the foot adhesive issue mentioned above, I'd think that over time dust/dirt would get between the foot and roof and damage the paint?

I was thinking of a couple layers of automotive vinyl wrap material, or maybe some adhesive-backed neoprene?

Has anyone else done this?

I put a pice of clear bra down under each of the front feet to avoid them wearing through the clear coat and paint.

 

[Flemster]

Thanks for the update however I found that it didnt matter how much or how little pressure I had on the front feet. The rack would still wiggle while driving on bumpy roads with an RTT on the rack and cause the rubber to come off of the feet. My opinion is that you need to remove the wiggle from the rack.

My solution was to triangulate the front of the rack with some aluminum angle. This has completely stopped the front wiggle and I no longer have the rubber sliding off of the feet.

This has been coming up a few times from customers, we have had a lot of trouble with metal quality since being forced to use non-imported metals. We have now made the switch to 6061 Aluminum on all our racks which is much more stout and does not allow near to any "wiggle" up front (Our racks are made of 100% American Made materials now as well). This being said I still run our old 5052 side plates on my rig and have no issues. So there may have been some batch discrepancies that have shipped out which would not surprise me at all. I'm glad the angle reinforcement is working well for you.

What's the closeout price for the Antero? Also, any idea of shipping charges to Canada?
All of that can be easily priced on our website with the updated Antero pricing
Rockymtnracks.com

Thanks!

Speaking of the front feet of the rack, has anyone put any protective film/layer on their roof under the feet? Even disregarding the foot adhesive issue mentioned above, I'd think that over time dust/dirt would get between the foot and roof and damage the paint?

I was thinking of a couple layers of automotive vinyl wrap material, or maybe some adhesive-backed neoprene?

Has anyone else done this?

This would be a great idea, especially if you really care to keep the paint immaculate on your roof. We often drag our rigs through low hanging brush etc, so micro scratching from the feet is the least of our worries, but I could see how some would care greatly to keep it clean. Some people have also opted to replace our rubber with a 3m double-sided adhesive pad like on GoPros and have found good luck from that, it would reduce the rubbing effect you speak of.

 

[tv4184]

are you guys planning a 4th gen rack?

 

[Flemster]

are you guys planning a 4th gen rack?

We are working hard to have it finished by the start of 2019.

 

[Flemster]

Front Feet Adhesive

We have finally settled on an adhesive that is working well for the adjustable front feet. Mine has been under heavy abuse for a month now and has seen no issue. [MENTION=121903]Black798[/MENTION] has been running a set with the new adhesive set up, while he wheeled with us in Moab he had no issues, he can add if he has since seen any issue.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/140899154@N02/44780753884/in/dateposted/" title="FLEM9383"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1956/44780753884_76232122fa_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="FLEM9383"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/140899154@N02/30565584877/in/dateposted/" title="FLEM9315"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1967/30565584877_e2b44f9301_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="FLEM9315"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This being said if anyone currently has issues with their levelers we are more than willing to send you a new set of levelers, we just ask that your return your old set. We are providing a return label in the package we send out.
Please email me ([email protected] or [MENTION=107971]derpiful[/MENTION] ([email protected] with a picture of your old feet as well as your order number if you are in need of a new set and we will get some out to you asap.

Thanks for all your patience as we tested out the new adhesives.

On another note, our Double Cab Tacoma rack has been completed and we are very excited to see it hit the market!

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/140899154@N02/45785331851/in/dateposted/" title="FLEM8981"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4877/45785331851_f6a250eece_b.jpg" width="1024" height="576" alt="FLEM8981"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/140899154@N02/45785321691/in/photostream/" title="FLEM8987"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1918/45785321691_aea1544d0c_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="FLEM8987"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/140899154@N02/44592541585/in/dateposted/" title="FLEM9121"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1942/44592541585_b0a227bc2b_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="FLEM9121"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[tv4184]

We are working hard to have it finished by the start of 2019.

Do you guys have any details on it yet? I'm interested in a full rack and the only other option before I saw a post by someone on FB was the Prinsu/CBI rack.

 

[Black798]

Happy to report that after switching to the new adhesive I have seen zero movement in the feet over the last month, much better than the previous adhesive that I could see shifting every time I went out. They survived Moab, carrying a 150lb FJ bumper from Salt Lake to Bozeman, the recent temps that have been down into the low teens, and a TON of washboard.

 

[tx_shooter]

We have finally settled on an adhesive that is working well for the adjustable front feet. Mine has been under heavy abuse for a month now and has seen no issue. [MENTION=121903]Black798[/MENTION] has been running a set with the new adhesive set up, while he wheeled with us in Moab he had no issues, he can add if he has since seen any issue.

This being said if anyone currently has issues with their levelers we are more than willing to send you a new set of levelers, we just ask that your return your old set. We are providing a return label in the package we send out.
Please email me ([email protected] or [MENTION=107971]derpiful[/MENTION] ([email protected] with a picture of your old feet as well as your order number if you are in need of a new set and we will get some out to you asap.

Thanks for all your patience as we tested out the new adhesives.

...

I was thinking about this today as I was getting my CVT Mt Shasta mounted on my 4Runner for the first time and noticed the damn feet had come off and started chewing up my roof again. And then I mounted the tent....


This material is crap. I doubt the rack as I received will hold up to mounting/unmounting my RTT on a semi regular basis like I do. I appreciate that you have mounted yours and had no issues with it; but have you mounted/unmounted it many times? The front bolt slots collapsed under the weight of the tent and I had to have my wife push up just to get the bolts into the crossbars. This is first thing I have bought for my 4Runner that just flat out pisses me off and I wish I had never bought.

I will be throwing these side pieces away once I have the time to replace them with the proper material. Sorry - but this is the truth. I do not believe the rack will fail but I do not believe it will last many years of use either. So this has been an $800 lesson the hard way. I would love a refund but at this point I doubt that would be an option.

Cross bars do not sit flush with the side so my awning mounts do not sit flush. There is a small lip where the rail and side bar meet. I am sure this is because I mounted the rails wrong; like the front pressure feet.

The product is overbuilt? How? The materials are too soft. I do not care if the material is thicker than Prinsu's sides; the material is soft and that does not make it stronger. Now add fitment problems to this and you have steel gouging aluminum. Not a winning situation.

The bolt slots need to be shortened or the rails just cannot support the weight of my CVT Mt Shasta (without anyone in it). My wife had to push up to relieve weight so I could get the bolt in there. Again - wtf?

And to drive home the "too far without a proper reinforcement" idea - I can wiggle the top rail of the side piece where my RTT sits by hand without much effort.

https://youtu.be/2cn7UZn2W20

At this point I highly doubt I would get a refund; I just want to let other people know how the racks hold up. I should have just built a rack myself. My 3/4 rack was significantly stronger than this and had no deflection issues up/down/side-to-side. Now that I have a few more tools in my garage I will have to replace this rack and consider it a tough lesson learned.

Flemster - if you think I got a "bad batch" then send me a new set and make this right. Because this is crap; if I was not 7 days away from going to Big Bend this rack would be coming off tonight. Otherwise I am going to be building a proper rack out of 7075/6061.

 

[Flemster]

[MENTION=129885]tx_shooter[/MENTION]


In response to your continued issues with your levelers, we have offered to send you and anyone else who has had issues new levelers.


We mount and unmount 3+ tents on our racks on a weekly basis, and have been doing so for well over a year. We have never had any issues and there should not be any wear and tear aside from maybe scratching the paint with your hardware or crossbars. In the pictures you have posted here, and your response, it looks/sounds like you have your tent resting directly on our side plates. In accordance with tent manufacturers, you should not have the base of your tent resting directly on the rack itself. RTT companies will supply you with two mounting and support bars that you should always be using with your tent. Our rack is designed to work with these bars. The bars should raise your tent about an inch off of the rack and support it perpendicular to our crossbars. We have had customers mount that exact tent with zero issues.


In regards to the small lip where the cross bars meet the side plates, it was a part of our design and is the same on all the other racks we produce. If this is a design issue, we can open it up to the community for comment and would love to improve upon the design. We would have never imagined that the small lip would cause issues with mounting an awning. It is designed to provide ample surface area above the mounting hardware.


I can't think of any other reason that you would have thread marks on the top of that slot other than you resting large amounts of weight down on the top of the slot that goes over the bolts and not the crossbars themselves.


Our racks are rated up to 300lbs dynamic and 600lbs static. With that being said customers have sent us images of their racks far exceeding those weight limits with absolutely zero issues. Other than roof deflection under serious loads and dynamic forces. Hence why we do not recommend exceeding our limits and the limits set by the manufacturer as it does mount to OEM hardware. Yes the section of the rack that you push on in your video will move, and it moves on 6061 side plates similarly, but it is not designed to be loaded in this direction.


It sounds like the issue you have is with aluminum as a whole. The reason we use 6061 is that it drastically reduces the weight of the rack with little to no sacrifice in strength. The 5052 we used before was not much different, and it's hard to tell the difference between the two. The biggest factor in us switching aluminum was a manufacturing standpoint. With that being said if you had a 100% steel tube roof rack yeah it might be a little stronger. You also would not have the modularity or adjustability that comes along with a rack of this style.


We appreciate your feedback as with all of our customers, and we hope to help make things right. We are willing to provide you with the 6061 side plates and levelers.

 

[tx_shooter]

Interesting approach at a response -

But at this point I think I will invest my time elsewhere. I wish your company and customers good luck. I am going to go screw off in a different general direction before you can again tell me I am using the rack wrong. Maybe you should have included a list of approved uses for the rack? :biggrin2:

:juggle:

As for the mounting of the RTT - I and several people I know have used a direct mount system for quiet a while with no issues other than reduced overall height.

 

[tv4184]

They did offer to make it right and a potential explanation / solution. The same issue might arise if you had direct mounted it to another off the shelf rack vs one that your own diy solution.

 

[tx_shooter]

They did offer to make it right and a potential explanation / solution. The same issue might arise if you had direct mounted it to another off the shelf rack vs one that your own diy solution.

Just to give you an idea what truly "overbuilt" means -

1" angle 1/4" thick full length for the rails to rest on and the retaining bolts to bolt through

5 - 1"x2" 11 gauge uprights that the 1" angle was welded directly to

18 gauge plate with dimples between each upright just to sexy it up a little

All done with a bottle jack, dimple dies, grinders, and a cheap Lincoln flux core welder. Since this project I have upgraded all my tooling so the next version will be much sexier.

My RTT mounted flush to these rails without any problems in deflection or the holes for the bolts tightening up. I also did contact CVT about direct mounting before I did it and they stated as long as the length of the tent floor was supported it was an approved mount. So yeah - more than one way to skin a cat.

So keep an eye on the T4R Classifieds for a gently used Matterhorn for sale sometime before Spring.

 

[tv4184]

:thumb3:

 

[Flemster]

Interesting approach at a response -

But at this point I think I will invest my time elsewhere. I wish your company and customers good luck. I am going to go screw off in a different general direction before you can again tell me I am using the rack wrong. Maybe you should have included a list of approved uses for the rack? :biggrin2:

:juggle:

As for the mounting of the RTT - I and several people I know have used a direct mount system for quiet a while with no issues other than reduced overall height.

Well, we are sorry to hear that our rack does not cater to your needs and has caused you more trouble than its worth and we wish you luck with your replacement.