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Ok , Well , took me a little bit , few days to get this done. I'm putting this on here for those who are adventurous enough to want to tackle this small task, No Pun intended , well maybe a little intended. So there is some other options around but my goal was to design something functional but sturdy and useful in application of other task. I also accomplished this with only spending about 200 bucks total. I'll try to remember each part I used for the pictures following but you can alter some parts as needed and still accomplish the same result. Its not a hard mod by any means.
This is how it started off with a bracket to mount to the trail site.
I marked the profile I wanted and then decided to move it a bit before I cut it roughly to shape. The stock used was I think 2 and a half inch aluminum and it was, I believe 3/16 inch thick. I used aluminum over steel due to it only corroding and not rusting and delaminating. I lined up the bottom with the line on the bottom of the inside oval of the trail site and then used a black marker to mark the holes to drill on the inside of the trail site. I wanted it to follow the body line but still be far enough away to not rub the paint with any applied torsion from the engine and chassis. The mounting hardware is a 8 mm stainless steel bolt I think its 30 mm maybe 36mm long and the head style is hex. You could use a pan head Phillips style as well. I just like the Hex for the look on the bronco. The head in inserted on the inside of the site and the nut on the outside. On the other side in between the aluminum bar and the trail site, the first washer to go on and is a rubber washer , solid rubber , this is an anti vibration protector cause aluminum is soft and this will minimize cracking. Next is another washer but this time its Teflon , the reason is the Teflon will reduce the damage from slippage on the rubber, cause the rubber washer will grip it and the site better. The next piece to go on is the aluminum bar , this is the unfinished piece but this same process is done with the finished bracket so nothing changes. I'm just explaining it now. Then after the bar , the next is a stainless steel washer. Next and the last part is a stainless steel Nylon locking nut. Obviously so it does not backoff and you do not need to use red or blue thread locker.
This is the finished piece before being painted. I used a grinder to get the edges just right, and then I used the wire wheel on the grinder to give it a little polish on the edges so it's not a risk for breaking my line if it grazes it for some reason.
This is the other side on the bracket.
This is the painted bracket. I did not have anything locally to make the bond better on aluminum and it really does not take paint well. Maybe one day I'll get them Cera coated for a durable finish but I figured for now , matt-black is good enough.
This is the mostly finished product. Shown in travel mode. Angled down to just clear the roofline. Rear lock not in place so the reels can be locked into the pole holder.
This is just showing that not only can you use the pole holders to travel but you can also turn them around with your nose facing the surf and use them to hold the pole.
Another closer shot.
Inside View
Rear view
Ok this is a close up of what I used to mount to the bracket. The first thing mounted is a Railblaza Side Port mount which is a starport design. This has a smaller profile and I already use these on my Kayaks. The next piece is the Railblaza Pole Holder that locks into the starport side port so I can instantly transfer the holders from the bronco to my kayak. The holder has a rear backstop so you can keep the pole from passing through it and use it to fish from, with the holder turned towards the water. It has a twist collar to allow you to lock the reel into the holder so it can not slide out. This is typically used for trolling baits but here it's just used so a 400 dollar setup does not end up on the highway. The grey ish looking piece at the bottom is the lock to unlock or lock the pole holder to the side port.
This is showing them both deployed as if I would be fishing on the surf with my nose towards the waterline. Rear stops in place so the pole never touches the Bronco and scratch my paint =).
Hope you enjoyed this mod , its cheap , very efficient and the poles ride really well. The fish holders do have a hole to put a lanyard on them and attach the reel to the holder. I plan on using that with some bungee cord to give some resistance to any unwanted bouncing I might have from potholes etc. I'll just loop the bungee around the reel post and attach it back to itself and that will completely secure it.
I also have some other cheap mods on my You tube channel , I plan on doing some other fabrications in the future so please subscribe and I'll get some of my other mods on here as well in the future. Thank you for all the support.
OBX Hatman - YouTube
This is how it started off with a bracket to mount to the trail site.
I marked the profile I wanted and then decided to move it a bit before I cut it roughly to shape. The stock used was I think 2 and a half inch aluminum and it was, I believe 3/16 inch thick. I used aluminum over steel due to it only corroding and not rusting and delaminating. I lined up the bottom with the line on the bottom of the inside oval of the trail site and then used a black marker to mark the holes to drill on the inside of the trail site. I wanted it to follow the body line but still be far enough away to not rub the paint with any applied torsion from the engine and chassis. The mounting hardware is a 8 mm stainless steel bolt I think its 30 mm maybe 36mm long and the head style is hex. You could use a pan head Phillips style as well. I just like the Hex for the look on the bronco. The head in inserted on the inside of the site and the nut on the outside. On the other side in between the aluminum bar and the trail site, the first washer to go on and is a rubber washer , solid rubber , this is an anti vibration protector cause aluminum is soft and this will minimize cracking. Next is another washer but this time its Teflon , the reason is the Teflon will reduce the damage from slippage on the rubber, cause the rubber washer will grip it and the site better. The next piece to go on is the aluminum bar , this is the unfinished piece but this same process is done with the finished bracket so nothing changes. I'm just explaining it now. Then after the bar , the next is a stainless steel washer. Next and the last part is a stainless steel Nylon locking nut. Obviously so it does not backoff and you do not need to use red or blue thread locker.
This is the finished piece before being painted. I used a grinder to get the edges just right, and then I used the wire wheel on the grinder to give it a little polish on the edges so it's not a risk for breaking my line if it grazes it for some reason.
This is the other side on the bracket.
This is the painted bracket. I did not have anything locally to make the bond better on aluminum and it really does not take paint well. Maybe one day I'll get them Cera coated for a durable finish but I figured for now , matt-black is good enough.
This is the mostly finished product. Shown in travel mode. Angled down to just clear the roofline. Rear lock not in place so the reels can be locked into the pole holder.
This is just showing that not only can you use the pole holders to travel but you can also turn them around with your nose facing the surf and use them to hold the pole.
Another closer shot.
Inside View
Rear view
Ok this is a close up of what I used to mount to the bracket. The first thing mounted is a Railblaza Side Port mount which is a starport design. This has a smaller profile and I already use these on my Kayaks. The next piece is the Railblaza Pole Holder that locks into the starport side port so I can instantly transfer the holders from the bronco to my kayak. The holder has a rear backstop so you can keep the pole from passing through it and use it to fish from, with the holder turned towards the water. It has a twist collar to allow you to lock the reel into the holder so it can not slide out. This is typically used for trolling baits but here it's just used so a 400 dollar setup does not end up on the highway. The grey ish looking piece at the bottom is the lock to unlock or lock the pole holder to the side port.
This is showing them both deployed as if I would be fishing on the surf with my nose towards the waterline. Rear stops in place so the pole never touches the Bronco and scratch my paint =).
Hope you enjoyed this mod , its cheap , very efficient and the poles ride really well. The fish holders do have a hole to put a lanyard on them and attach the reel to the holder. I plan on using that with some bungee cord to give some resistance to any unwanted bouncing I might have from potholes etc. I'll just loop the bungee around the reel post and attach it back to itself and that will completely secure it.
I also have some other cheap mods on my You tube channel , I plan on doing some other fabrications in the future so please subscribe and I'll get some of my other mods on here as well in the future. Thank you for all the support.
OBX Hatman - YouTube
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