Driver's seat front facing storage rack, part II
Picking up from where we left off...
Step 7: paint it. Here are the products I used:
This is aluminum, so I began with a primer
followed by 2-3 coats of black truck bed liner
Step 8: I chose to add the door edge trimming at this point, but you could wait and do this and paint last. Note that the trimming does come with adhesive in it, so you only want to put it on once.
Step 9: Now we're going to make the second attachment method. At this point, it'd just act as a hinge and flop downward if pulled on. This rod will make sure it stays in place. Look under the seat and you'll find a 7/8" bar about 6" behind the bar you use to move the seat forward/back. We're going to wrap around that, then bolt to our aluminum. Begin by bending one end of the 12" threaded rod into a hook to fit the 7/8" bar under the seat.
Here is a shot of it wrapped around that 7/8" bar:
Step 10: mount the aluminum piece on the seat, and line up about where the threaded rod would pierce it. Keep in mind, you need to be able to raise/lower that bar to move the seat forward/back. If you mount the rod too high on the aluminum, your seat will be locked in place. Here is where I ended up drilling my clearance hole:
And here it is sticking out
Step 11: mount whatever you want to it. I put my flashlight and a portable charger.
Step 12: Time to mount it up. For the two bolts on the tab, the order will be bolt, washer (forgot this but it should be in there), aluminum, washer, lock washer, nut. For the threaded rod, the order will be nut, lock washer, fender washer, aluminum, fender washer, lock washer, nut. You can see all of it loosely assembled here:
And I chose to spray paint my outside pieces so it's all black:
Step 13: Now, time to tighten it up. Begin with the two carriage bolts and snug those down. As you put force on them, they should bend that tab over even more, making a tight hinge on the bar. Don't overtighten. Nothing crazy needed here. Once those are good, tighten the two nuts on the threaded rod up, starting with the outside one. You want the aluminum piece pushing on the seat a little bit so there is a static load there, putting the threaded rod in tension. This way it won't move around as you drive. Tighten both nuts down to lock it in place.
Step 14: thread another 1/4-20 nut on the rod, then use your dremel and cutoff wheel to cut off the remainder of the threaded rod. Unscrew the nut you just put on there and replace it with the 1/4-20 acorn nut for a finished look.
All done! Here are some more shots of it finished:
And here is one of me sitting, so you can see just how much space there is. Not worried about anything rubbing on my legs while I drive.
Really happy with the way it turned out. Very solid, no vibrations, and I have room to mount more stuff on it. Hope that helps someone else!
thanks. Not the best shop shoes but it's been so hot lately.
