P500 P520 Aluminum Bed Rack

[NeHunter13]

Hey All,

Here's my take on a rear rack for my P520. I had a few things in mind when designing/building this. In no particular order I wanted it to be lightweight, low maintenance, increase hauling space for hauling in an elk camp, and hold a couple rifles. I kept the top of the rack lower than the roof so I don't lose any clearance.

To cover most of the above "wants" I decided to go with aluminum. I bought a welder that came with a spool gun knowing that someday I would want to fabricate an aluminum rack so that was covered.

I used four rivnuts into the bed to secure the frame. I was going to add some support straps with quick connect clamps to the upper roll cage, but after the four bolts are in, its pretty damn solid. I'm sure if I were to tip it over it may rip the rivnuts out but beyond that, it should hold up.

Rifle scabbards:

"Dry" storage underneath bottom shelfs:

I made the bottom shelf split and the right side removable so my heavy cooler could sit directly on the bed when its loaded down.

I used a sheet of PVC trim board for the shelfs and doors to keep weight down and add to the low maintenance. The upper shelf also acts as a roof for the items below on the split shelves.

The real test will be a week in the mountain's chasing elk and bear the middle of october!

 

[crewcabrob]

Looks really good! Good luck with the elk hunt. I used to go every year, but its been a long time since I shot my last elk.

Do you have an enclosed trailer? I'm curious about your doors and how well they will hold up if you are trailering with an open trailer.

We never did meet up this summer. I believe we are only 5-8 miles from each other.

Rob

 

[WagginTail]

Nice work. Hope it works well for you

 

[BadMechanic]

Thats amazing! Very creative and utilitarian. Its like a mini work truck.

Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

 

[NeHunter13]

Looks really good! Good luck with the elk hunt. I used to go every year, but its been a long time since I shot my last elk.

Do you have an enclosed trailer? I'm curious about your doors and how well they will hold up if you are trailering with an open trailer.

We never did meet up this summer. I believe we are only 5-8 miles from each other.

Rob

Rob,

I know, id still like to meet up at some point.

Open trailer for now. We will see how it goes. Hoping the cab blocks most of the wind and doesn't give me any issues. I have the EMP roof and had to add some support to that because it was bending in the middle when trailering.

Any elk "honey holes" you would like to share!?!?

 

[crewcabrob]

.

Any elk "honey holes" you would like to share!?!?

What state? I can tell you I’ve never drawn out for elk in Nebraska. And only limited elk hunting in Colorado because of how stupid their laws are. I spent most of my elk hunting days in Utah, but thinking about going to Wyoming for my next Hunt.

 

[NeHunter13]

What state? I can tell you I’ve never drawn out for elk in Nebraska. And only limited elk hunting in Colorado because of how stupid their laws are. I spent most of my elk hunting days in Utah, but thinking about going to Wyoming for my next Hunt.

I'm headed back to Colorado. Will be hunting around the Aspen/Basalt area. I have a bear tag this year but going with a guy that has an elk tag.

 

[crewcabrob]

We used to hunt around the very western part of Colorado, but most of my elk hunting was done on the Utah side. I spent time growing up in Moab Utah and still have family there. We would hunt the La Sal mountains and sometimes on the Colorado side. Finding good hunting areas in Colorado is rough and they have pushed the burden of knowing if you are on private or public property on the hunter, not the land owner.

It is my opinion that it is better for everyone when the land owner takes the lead and marks his property. Land owners in Utah need to mark their land as private and no hunting, which is easier for people to understand. The property owner knows, (or should know the boundaries better than anyone) where his property ends/starts. Colorado is the exact opposite; a hunter has to know if he is on the right side of a property line, even if there is no indication of a property line. That puts a lot of assumptions on the hunters navigation skills. Hunting is already hard, let's not set up people for failure. I do believe there is a burden on the hunter to know where he is at and to be cautiously respectful if they do not, 100% know where they are.

I try to be responsible, and do not want to trespass or harvest an animal on the wrong side of a fence. I do not want to lose my hunting privileges or any equipment I have by making a mistake. I have seen people I know lose, firearms, ATVs, trucks and campers for harvesting an animal illegally and get fined too. And guess what? No more hunting in that state...

 

[KYhillbilly]

We used to hunt around the very western part of Colorado, but most of my elk hunting was done on the Utah side. I spent time growing up in Moab Utah and still have family there. We would hunt the La Sal mountains and sometimes on the Colorado side. Finding good hunting areas in Colorado is rough and they have pushed the burden of knowing if you are on private or public property on the hunter, not the land owner.

It is my opinion that it is better for everyone when the land owner takes the lead and marks his property. Land owners in Utah need to mark their land as private and no hunting, which is easier for people to understand. The property owner knows, (or should know the boundaries better than anyone) where his property ends/starts. Colorado is the exact opposite; a hunter has to know if he is on the right side of a property line, even if there is no indication of a property line. That puts a lot of assumptions on the hunters navigation skills. Hunting is already hard, let's not set up people for failure. I do believe there is a burden on the hunter to know where he is at and to be cautiously respectful if they do not, 100% know where they are.

I try to be responsible, and do not want to trespass or harvest an animal on the wrong side of a fence. I do not want to lose my hunting privileges or any equipment I have by making a mistake. I have seen people I know lose, firearms, ATVs, trucks and campers for harvesting an animal illegally and get fined too. And guess what? No more hunting in that state...

I nearly shot a trophy bull in Wyoming with a Colorado license. It was a new lease for the guide and his OnX was slow to update. It was a really nice bull, took everything i had to wait and not pull the trigger, i was in Colorado but the bull wasn't. My daughter now lives in Salt Lake, hope to hunt Utah elk with her.