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I have begun planning for some summer roadtrips with the family in the Bronco. Though we have a four door, space is going to be tight. I have been researching options for external storage: receiver racks, over-the-spare racks (none currently for Bronco) and exoskeletons, like the GOBI rack.
The GOBI appeals to me, but the difficulty of lowering the soft top with it loaded is an issue. I have just about decided I need to design my own. Here's my idea:
The soft top flops back to its half position and leaves around 1/4 of the top in the closed position. A rack that covers only that portion would be ideal to provide extra storage without limiting tailgate operation or soft top flip-back. So like here:
So the first order of business was to investigate fastening options on that portion of the Bronco. If you have a soft top, note the gap at the bottom of the side windows...large enough to fit a bracket, if there were only a place to fasten it. Note the following pre-threaded holes in the top of the Bronco side rail:
There are three of these that are accessible with the soft top installed--one near the tailgate, another about 2 inches up the rail toward the front, and another just behind the backseat back. So theoretically, a bracket could extend along the rail, with three anchor points, and contoured flanges could protrude out from under the bottom seal of the soft top to hold legs for the rack. The side window would allow for this, and the legs being on the side would mean they wouldn't interfere with the tailgate opening.
I have some talented machinist friends who could fab this. What do you all think? Did I miss something obvious?
The GOBI appeals to me, but the difficulty of lowering the soft top with it loaded is an issue. I have just about decided I need to design my own. Here's my idea:
The soft top flops back to its half position and leaves around 1/4 of the top in the closed position. A rack that covers only that portion would be ideal to provide extra storage without limiting tailgate operation or soft top flip-back. So like here:
So the first order of business was to investigate fastening options on that portion of the Bronco. If you have a soft top, note the gap at the bottom of the side windows...large enough to fit a bracket, if there were only a place to fasten it. Note the following pre-threaded holes in the top of the Bronco side rail:
There are three of these that are accessible with the soft top installed--one near the tailgate, another about 2 inches up the rail toward the front, and another just behind the backseat back. So theoretically, a bracket could extend along the rail, with three anchor points, and contoured flanges could protrude out from under the bottom seal of the soft top to hold legs for the rack. The side window would allow for this, and the legs being on the side would mean they wouldn't interfere with the tailgate opening.
I have some talented machinist friends who could fab this. What do you all think? Did I miss something obvious?
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