Overland Trailer Rack

gosborne

gosborne

TJ Enthusiast
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Nov 22, 2020
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Columbia Falls, Montana
I looking to build a telescoping rack for my RTT. Need to find lift struts for the 4 corners. Total weight with rack,tent and awning will be around 275lbs. I'll need about 15" of lift. Any ideas? I need it to go up but I need to be able to lower it without jumping on it. lol. It will get pinned in the up and down positions.
 
gosborne said:
I looking to build a telescoping rack for my RTT. Need to find lift struts for the 4 corners. Total weight with rack,tent and awning will be around 275lbs. I'll need about 15" of lift. Any ideas? I need it to go up but I need to be able to lower it without jumping on it. lol. It will get pinned in the up and down positions.
Click to expand...
Id look at electric camper jacks. They are designed for the job you're asking but oversized for RTT.
 
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gosborne said:
I looking to build a telescoping rack for my RTT. Need to find lift struts for the 4 corners. Total weight with rack,tent and awning will be around 275lbs. I'll need about 15" of lift. Any ideas? I need it to go up but I need to be able to lower it without jumping on it. lol. It will get pinned in the up and down positions.
Click to expand...
A buddy is doing the exact same thing, what he did is telescoping square tubing at each corner with a linear accelerators at each corner. Then when at height the tubing gets pinned. It’s not done yet so I don’t know how it works. Here is the type of actuator he used.
https://www.google.com/search?q=lin...837,oid:12459094272755142852,pvt:hg&oshop=apv
 
gosborne said:
I looking to build a telescoping rack for my RTT. Need to find lift struts for the 4 corners. Total weight with rack,tent and awning will be around 275lbs. I'll need about 15" of lift. Any ideas? I need it to go up but I need to be able to lower it without jumping on it. lol. It will get pinned in the up and down positions.
Click to expand...

Check out my build thread it covers my solution. You can do a simpler 4 actuators version instead of 8 if you only need 15”
Of travel.
 
LONGJP2 said:
If this is a common thing, can someone explain why 15" up and down is needed?

Haven't done much research yet, but a trailer may be in my future.
Click to expand...
The reason is to lower the heavy tent down for driving to lower tje center of gravity, then when you raise it there is a screen room and awning that essentially comes out at floor level of the tent.
 
NskLJ said:
The reason is to lower the heavy tent down for driving to lower tje center of gravity
Click to expand...
Seems like it would be easier to just leave it up.
Then you have more space to store stuff on top of the trailer.

Highland-Expedition-Outfitters-T3-Stuart-Bourdon.jpg
 
Acme lead screws in 1/2-10 single start have the capacity you need. Both the nuts and lead screws can be purchased readily. The nuts are usually weldable mild steel. They will last a life time. Using a cogged belt and pulley system ( like on CNC encoders or linear motion gear), they can be timed and cranked with one handle eliminating the need for a 12v setup, or even a drill motor......

1/2" acme can fit in 1"x 0.120" dom. Use a short piece of 1-1/2"x 0.250" wall dom or whatever you can fit the 1" tube down. Thrust bearings on the bottom to support the load.


Rod/leadscrew:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/06053904
acme nut, steel/weldable:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/06055321
Thrust bearing (seems pricey):
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/03379831
timing pulley:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/35376086
timing belt (I have seen them longer):
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/35370030
 
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