Pioneer roof rack fit out

josh.huber · 10th April 2020, 07:44 PM

Hey guys,

I did throw some photos in "what happened today". But I thought I would throw up it's own post for those looking to do something similar.

First: after talking to insurance company about what's covered etc I realised I had over loaded the roof when going away before, only just, but still. LR says 75kg

Second: now that the kids are older we need less ****. So the roof basket on the factory rails could come off.

Third: gumtree come up tops and I got a full size 1426 wide pioneer platform cheap.

Fourth: I wanted to always have a solar panel on top. My gas bottle, awning, Max traxs when needed.

So I bought the rack.. Got some back bones, installed it.
Didn't like the look. Looked like a table mounted on my roof. After doing the maths on weights and what I carry. Drew up how it would lay out. End up taking it off and doing a few test runs on the shed floor.
Seen some cruisers with the same rack. More back bone was visible which looked better then mine. So that's why I started cutting mine down.

The pioneer system is easy to modify. I kept all 5 panels but on one side they are all touching but the other they are gapped out . Simple cutting. Use wattyl kill rust Matt Black. It's a perfect colour match to the rack.

I decided I wanted to mount the mppt controller to the rack to keep it out of engine bay heat. I used an alloy enclosure so it would discipate heat. Painted it the same colour as the rack to hide it. Used glands to get the solar wires in. But used a DTP plug to get the power it out of the box. That way I can disconnect quickly to get the rack off the car. I made sure all the glands and plug were at the rear so wind wouldn't force water into my box.
I used a 4 pin plug. Power comes from MPPT to the fuse back into the box and out to the wiring. That way I can change a fuse without removing the rack. All wiring is 6mm tinned automotive cable.
The wiring runs underneath the roof rail cover to the A pillar cover, I took the die grinder to get the wiring down the A Pillar and brought it out where my aerial wiring comes into my battery box. I'll need more photos of the final wiring connection to battery.

Anyway. This isn't a post to talk about what could have been used etc. Just incase your wanting to do something similar ask a question I'll take more photos.

Joshy

That's the final layout.

This is on the car

160w solar installed

With all the paint matching you can't see the panel or the controller

Wiring finished

DTP plug installed

Lid is back on

The car end fuse from panel is external for easy service if needed.

Last job is to hide that wiring with some black wrap.

**Eric SDV6SE** · 10th April 2020, 08:03 PM

Look great Josh, I really like the way you’ve mounted the MPPT unit. When I bought my pioneer rack from the 4WD show, the bloke I spoke to did say that if you went for the widest one, it looks weird, like a table on your roof. because the cars roof line tapers slightly in plan view from wider at the front to narrow at the rear. This is why I went for the narrower one, and i m really happy with the look. We run a Hard-Korr folding 200w solar panel, plugs in via the Anderson plug at the rear and lays over the windscreen, or you can move it around to follow the sun. This leaves all the room on my roof for bikes, kayaks, jerry cans etc. we travel pretty light and mostly have all the gear in the camper anyways.

i reckon it’s also pretty good that the rhino rack system is that versatile. Only mod I’ve done is tek screw the long travel strips at each cross over as it was rattling when you close the door.

josh.huber · 10th April 2020, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by Eric SDV6SE

Look great Josh, I really like the way you’ve mounted the MPPT unit. When I bought my pioneer rack from the 4WD show, the bloke I spoke to did say that if you went for the widest one, it looks weird, like a table on your roof. because the cars roof line tapers slightly in plan view from wider at the front to narrow at the rear. This is why I went for the narrower one, and i m really happy with the look. We run a Hard-Korr folding 200w solar panel, plugs in via the Anderson plug at the rear and lays over the windscreen, or you can move it around to follow the sun. This leaves all the room on my roof for bikes, kayaks, jerry cans etc. we travel pretty light and mostly have all the gear in the camper anyways.

i reckon it’s also pretty good that the rhino rack system is that versatile. Only mod I’ve done is tek screw the long travel strips at each cross over as it was rattling when you close the door.

Yeah Eric, the roof is tapered. About 100mm from memory. I originally was gunna cut it down to your size, but then while on the saw I thought I'd make it really special.

I had some door closing noise which was unriveted panels, every plank has 2 rivets at every cross bar, very quiet now.

Little wind noise. I ordered a wind deflector to test. However I will need to build my own mount as my planks are in the wrong spot. FYI for anyone that modifies there plank layout. The wind deflector will need some extra thought to mount

**Eric SDV6SE** · 10th April 2020, 08:35 PM

Bought some stainless rivets, will replace the tek screws as they sit a bit too proud, hampers the bike fork mounts when they slide in.

**DiscoJeffster** · 10th April 2020, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by Eric SDV6SE

Bought some stainless rivets, will replace the tek screws as they sit a bit too proud, hampers the bike fork mounts when they slide in.

Don’t use stainless into Ali. They will cause galvanic corrosion of the aluminium over time and rot it out. Use aluminium rivets in aluminium.

josh.huber · 10th April 2020, 08:39 PM

We're not doing this again!!!!

But I used these. I like them. They are really easy to pull down.

**DiscoJeffster** · 10th April 2020, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by josh.huber

We're not doing this again!!!!

But I used these. I like them. They are really easy to pull down.

Hahahahaha. Rivets are awesome. Just use the right metal rivet drilled into the correct sized hole with the right number of rivets.

**Eric SDV6SE** · 11th April 2020, 08:12 AM

Cheers thanks, forgot about galvanic corrosion, will get ali rivets instead.

Mustve missed the rivet chat (phew) sensitive topic by the sounds of it....

**p38arover** · 11th April 2020, 11:17 AM

I'm not sure why you rearranged the panels.

I found that getting rivets larger than 3.2mm hard to pull down with a hand rivetter. So I bought an air rivetter like this: YouTube (I bought a cheap Chinese one, not Kinchrome.)

Ahh, what a difference. Perfect every time - providing you don't accidentally touch the trigger before you are ready.

I've been thinking of putting my solar panels in drawer slides under the Pioneer Platform so they can be slid out when stopped. I saw this on a bloke's Toyota. Putting the panels on top would mean, for me, losing too much load area. A spare wheel takes up a lot of space** (and it's heavy)! Admittedly, I'm not sure that drawer slides would survive corrugated roads for too long.

The Deutsch DTP is a good choice. I do like their connectors.

** The spare goes on top because when the drawers are in, access to the spare is impossible as it's loaded from inside the car, it's not underneath.

josh.huber · 11th April 2020, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by p38arover

I'm not sure why you rearranged the panels.

I found that getting rivets larger than 3.2mm hard to pull down with a hand rivetter. So I bought an air rivetter like this: YouTube (I bought a cheap Chinese one, not Kinchrome.)

Ahh, what a difference. Perfect every time - providing you don't accidentally touch the trigger before you are ready.

I've been thinking of putting my solar panels in drawer slides under the Pioneer Platform so they can be slid out when stopped. I saw this on a bloke's Toyota. Putting the panels on top would mean, for me, losing too much load area. A spare wheel takes up a lot of space** (and it's heavy)! Admittedly, I'm not sure that drawer slides would survive corrugated roads for too long.

The Deutsch DTP is a good choice. I do like their connectors.

** The spare goes on top because when the drawers are in, access to the spare is impossible as it's loaded from inside the car, it's not underneath.

I rearranged my panels to get my gas bottle holder on and get my tie down points exactly where I needed them to make the rack as narrow as possible. My quick shade is 25kg and the rack is 35kg so that only leaves 15kg to be legal. Plus I leave my fridge in and on 24/7 so I need the panel up there full time. I think it's less effort to unload the rear then lift a wheel up there.. I have a set of tuff ants and I can't imagine having to lift I've up there.

Alloy 3/16 or 4.8mm rivets are a piece of **** to pull down properly. Steel or stainless are a different story.

You don't need sides. You can just mount the panel in C channel itll never wear out. Cheaper and easier. But you need to pull it it when you get to site.

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