We Fitted Unistrut For a CHEAP Van Roof Rack SOLUTION
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Watch here how we made the shelf storage above the cab in our crafter • Van Build DIY VW Craft...
We Fitted Unistrut For a CHEAP Van Roof Rack SOLUTION and saving money is something we all need when building a van, Some roof racks are so expensive ranging from £400 up to £1500 and the weight that they add to your van is beyond imagination, for under £100 you can have unistrut fitted to your van and have everything safe and secured to the van roof with ease, Fitting unistrut is as simple as fitting a roof rack but will save you heaps of cash when your building a van.
#vanconversion #vwcrafterconversion #urbanexplorer
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Love, love, love your hat! GEAUX TIGERS!!!
It’s a great hat!!
Just did this job myself mate. Easiest way I found to get the cover hole things out was to use a heat gun inside for about 20 seconds then use a pozi 2 screwdriver in the hole and push up quick and it just pops out 👍🏼 …I got the idea for the unistrut from this vid ages ago so thanks for that 👍🏼 surprised I never commented originally!lol
Cheers buddy . And mate I forget all kinds of stuff
Thank you, man. Same with me as well, didn't buy in my previous life, not going to buy in this life or will buy in my next life; don't want to be ripped off by the rich companies. Your girlfriend is sweet thanks for her too.
thanks buddy shes a angle and puts up with me as well lol , thank for the complement buddy
lol At the beginning of the video I thought he was saying roof racks were 600 lbs lmao, I was like wtf are these racks made of?
She did a great job painting those. Thinking at the rate you guys are going, you'll have this built in a couple more weeks.
yer they look really good , our emma loves getting stuck in and getting it done , hope you guys are ok
What a fantastic idea. I’ll be purchasing these through your Amazon store for my Sprinter when I convert it. 👍
Love your channel, so many great idea. Now, I’m off to buy a cap.
Thanks buddy and I thing I seen a cap sale as well now I know who . The unistrut is a brilliant thing abs saves a lot of money time and weight as well . Thanks bud
@@UrbanVanlife No worries man. Haha yep indeed ‘‘twas me. I wear caps all the time so you might see it in one of my vlogs….. at some point…. In the future lol. Keep up the great work 👍
I work with unistrut everyday going on 25+ years and can tell you that shit gets heavy fast! Consider Aluminum unistrut,, more expensive but a shit-ton lighter. Your van will thank you.
Hi mate, we only have 2 pieces on the van and it’s a lot lighter than a rhino roof rack, but we will definitely remember this too tip for the next big build!!! Thanks 🙏
What a cracking idea Neil being looking for a roof rack for my van now I will use this
It a brilliant and easy thing mate . And you can get it in aluminium now as well , cutting the weight right down
@@UrbanVanlife being looking on Amazon and EBay I need 2 x 4 metres Neil have not being to get the same price as you paid, but everything is going up buddy
If someone didn't have a van that they were installing these on... how would you know what size hole to make and what size of bolts or whatever to secure the strut? Thanks.
Well if they didn’t have a van they wouldn’t need to know how to do it I’m guessing
You didn't really show how to bolt it down, from inside.
It just screws in to the riv nuts from the top . Pretty self explanatory
I love doing things myself. It frees up money for so many other projects. Great job!
yer me to mate and i love saving as well, we get riped off so much for stuff like this and its nice to have some thing diffrent and cheaper
Hi guys thanks for the video I am definetly going to do that on my van too ! I would have loved to see how do you mount the rails accros the roof, or how do you fixe the panels on it ? It’s the second time I see people use this technique but I never see until the end how they actually join things. Thanks for your help !
If you check out the tilting solar video mate that should help . ua-cam.com/video/8zAuMtiQpZ0/v-deo.html
@@UrbanVanlife thanks !!
I wish I did this instead of the Rhyno roof rack if I'm honest. The vans looking sweet mate 👊🏻
i was going to get the rhino but was then like I'm only have in solar whats the point , and 34 quid over 700 , unistrut won , and you should get back to painting lol
Great idea that saved you a fortune! What ever happened to the T4, did you sell it?
no mate we still have the T4 but we do need to think about selling
great idea, I completely forgot about that stuff was thinking about just using aluminium angle pieces gonna fit my 2 160w panels similar way
you iz da trend setter dude see ya on the road
Hahaha Trend setter go me lol that’s funny but buddy I’ll take that . And yes yes yes we need to get back on the road and hopefully see you there one day mate
How did you fit the unistrut as mean bolted on please show more detail cheers.
Hi sadly we unfortunately wiped a lot of the footage when filming this which just happened to be of the part when we were explaining and showing how we did this, we used riv nuts and a riv nut tool, oh and an Emma on the van roof!
Uni Strut is also available in aluminum.
If it is I can't find it!
Your Google must be broke cos Iv just googled aliminium unistrut and it brings up loads
@@UrbanVanlife you can find it but not readily available, can't find anywhere you can walk in & buy off the shelf
Oh man I can’t remember the last time I walked in some where and bought off the shelf . Most can related stuff is on line . Plus it allwsys seems to be cheeper as well mate
Another great video, you guys are a breath of fresh air with the entertaining / comedy style of your videos compared to some of the van build stuff thats getting created. Quick question, what paint did you use for coating the unistrut? Anything fancy like truck liner paint etc or just run of the mill hammerite / black spray paint?
we just used a box standard pain in a can mate it was nothing special at all , but can be touched up any time as well , may be we should have used something a little better , but we have used this cheep stuff before and it dose seem to stand the test of time
@@UrbanVanlife Makes sense, i was looking at boot liner, Raptor etc. But its going on the roof and i dont plan to be looking down on the roof very often so dont need a top class finish, I grabbed a can of hammertite hammered black and gave them a coating yesterday. I now just need to fit them and shape them to the sloped rear of the new shape crafter roof oh and make sure they are waterproof :) Your builds looking great and giving me some great ideas and more importantly motiviation to get my arse in gear with my build :)
oh man motivation is low world wide now i think , we get you there mate , we havent been able to film for a few days and thinking what to do , half is christmas things an the othere is motivation as well , but im sure we will all get there mate
First i went looking for a roof rail for my FORD work van. 😂😜 I know a Ford, eh? But then got caught by tour ingenuity and ability to transform your van and a self sufficient ultra performant Urban Explorer. Congratulations for your yout good work! Amazing videos. All of them! Have watched them out of order and checked the date. Man, oops ( madam too!) you guys are amazing. All of them! Wonderful that you have a job supervisor which helps you out.
I keep saying to people too. But you got it better
The best for me is " Whatever you doing it, do it well!"
Cheers from a brazilian big fan o DIY projects.
thanks mate for the kind words , its so nice when we get comments like this and it really makes it all worth doing , and there isnt any thing wrong with fords in my eyes , we have just had vw vans lover them and stick with them , but car wise ford is my go to , ic had cortina , xr2 , granada , xr2 , mondeo and the list goes on , the thing i love about fords is there ease to be fixed and lets face it your never going to struggle getting ford parts , again thank you for watching mate
Excellent video! I was looking for ideas to install on my van - do you have the dimensions? Height and width?
I don’t have the dimensions mate sorry but you’ll 100% get them with a bit of Googling for unistrut it’s the 38 mm one we have high and 4 mtr long
good info! I want to give you a second like for the Tigers Hat!
lol thank you , i was sent that had by some one i use to know in America
Will be fitting this to my van. But!!!! What ladder is that please
It’s a telescopic straight ladder, can get them in all shapes and sizes on Amazon or eBay, hope this helps
Cheers fast reply more videos down to earth you guys .
came here from wills whereabouts. doing my first van conversion and i have my unistruts. tips on the best way to fit them? as my van roof doesnt have a channel quite big enough for them to sit flat in.
I’d mark up some points where there are holes in the unistrut probable 1.1/2 to 2 ft apart mate and then riv nut them in to the roof . That way you can always take them off if you need to .
i was hoping i would have been fortunate like others to have a roof where i could use the pre bunged holes from the manufacture but alas looks like im going to have to make new holes haha.
great Idea urban explorer .. let's hope there are no leaks :)
not with my over use of sikaflex lol I go a bit mad with it lol
What a fun video! Keep up the great work.
Thank you 🤗
Great video, did you know you can get a lower profile version of 21mm instead of 41mm, btw did your wife like your number plates🤣
She was not impressed
Quick question - did you use the 1.5mm or 2.5mm thick strut?
Thanks
2.5 mate
@@UrbanVanlife Is that not a bit heavy?
where is th elink to buy it.. 42 quid delivered u say from amazon... current price is 50 plus quid for one 3m length......
Just loving it bro!
Thanks buddy 🤜🏼😛
Hi, just wondering what brand of ladders you are using look quite sturdy! Am needing a set.
Cheers
honestly there nothing special and im no light weight as well , these are the ones we got off amazon www.amazon.co.uk/Extendable-Telescoping-Multi-Purpose-Decoration-Lightweight/dp/B07NJM4BDH/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=F2JB038W5DJ1&dchild=1&keywords=ladders+extendable&qid=1620606431&sprefix=ladder%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFOQlBXNzJaVENaTkImZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA2MTk2NDYxRE83SzBHSTVPQ0JEJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxMDE3OTc5WjZJM0ZEVE80SSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
@@UrbanVanlife perfect thank you.
Great video an looks best option all round that diy rack. ( not sure if seen but mels van world’s last video may be of interest, cat 1) 👍🚐
yer man i seen it , i wasnt aware that people still stole cats , and weirdly enough the company we god his cat guard from iv been talking to as well so hopefully there will be one fitted
not that cheap in 2022 but i managed to find 4 x 3m lengths for £56 from a local electrical supplies
It’s the same for everything now unfortunately Mark, we are finding everything has shot up in price, but that’s not too bad in comparison to a lot of other things! Thanks for the info though 😬😬
I will definitely be doing this! Is is necessary to rivnut the unistrut down or would just bolting with normal screws and bolts be adequate?
to be honest mate bolting probably would be better , unless you want to take it off , but its a lot more secure with bolts
@@UrbanVanlife Nice one buddy, your channel is a big help :)
I'm looking for the roof rails if anyone can point me in the right direction please. The link posted is not working anymore.
It’s just uni strut . You’ll find it all over eBay and Amazon . I think we used the 42mm ones but they so a 21mm as well depending on the height you need . This is the stuff mate amzn.to/3D5kQEZ
Brill !!! What's the distance between the rails please dude ?
as in the width of the actual unistrut bud is 41 mm or the distance in width of the van roof fixing , that is off memory 1300 mm
Yep between the struts across the roof @@UrbanVanlife :)
What measurement did you get for the unistrut
Thinks there's in link in the amazon store for the ones we bought, but we got the 41mm for our van
How do you fit unistrut to a Transit hi-roof?
ii would imagine the same way mate find the fixing points for the roof bars and go from there , or you may have to make your own holes
Did you rivet these through the roof holes ?
Yes we did …. But someone accidentally deleted the footage of Emma working hard …. 😂😂
@@UrbanVanlife of course 😂😂😂🙏🏻
Wish you have showed the rivnut process instead of skipping it. That’s the bit that worries me. I think most of us know how to spray paint stuff.
Appreciate your opinion and I do believe that someone else had a similar comment, unfortunately sometimes cameras/equipment fails when filming and you can’t go back after you have done the job and redo it, and this was one of those times
@@UrbanVanlife good point, most of us have probably experienced camera equipment failure too. It’s just that I’d never heard of rivnuts until recently, never seen the equipment for sale. Is it something you could get in say B & Q?
sure would like to see how you rig up cross braces and such using the unistrut
they have littls brackets that slot in to them and you can basicaly use small er depth unistrut cut to width and bold on , lust like lego mate
@@UrbanVanlife Could you tell me the name of the brackets? I'm not visualising how the cross members will connect.
@@lukejones1244 The same type of strut channel bolts to the main channel . Just cut to what ever length you need .
Didn’t show the actual process of securing the bolts 😔
Sorry, we had some camera issues when filming this and that part was unfortunately corrupted so we couldn’t include it
What size and type of rivnut did you use?
not sure the size of the nut for they take a m8 bolt
@@UrbanVanlife Cheers dude
Does anyone know what size rivnuts were used?
M8 bolts mate with the obvious matching riv nut
Thanks mate didn’t want to start and find I have the wrong
Ones I know it’s not the best whether but it’s the only time I’ve got
@@UrbanVanlife are holes in the roof big enough to take M8 rivnut please. I’m about to install rails but was wondering if need to drill bigger hole as M8 requires 11mm hole. Thanks
@@Pit8800 I’m on the roof doing this now mate, I’ve widened the holes using a 10.8 to fit a rivnut that’ll take an M8 bolt
@@K20CUP thanks mate. I thought so, more hammerite on order to protect widened hols lol
Would be great if you showed the work. It doesn't help to see you presenting. I'd like to see what your doing not seeing you describe it. Otherwise your video has good info.
Hey, totally agree! That was the plan and we had filmed it but unfortunately a lot of the footage got deleted which sometimes happens when trying to work and film, modern technology is all good until it or the human trying to use it malfunctions!!!
What size and length of bolts did you use to bolt down the rails mate?
40mm ones mate , as long as you get a good depth in to the riv nuts then your good to go , we have been 70mph on the motorway and this stuff aint shifting at all , which is a bonus
@@UrbanVanlife cheers for that.
What size rivnut did you use?
I wish I could get a roof rack for $750USD. They’re all around $1,700+ I’d give my arm to have a roof rack only cost $750USD. I get wanting to save money, but come on. You’re trying to get it for nothing if you want it less than that. Getting the parts alone costs more.
Hence why we did what we did at the time as we didn’t want a full roof rack and we needed bars to fit the solar to, but we do now have a wonderful roof rack which cost more than the USD prices you have stated, it’s about working with the funds you have a the time for us.
BO SELECTA!
It’s all because of the magic
Montageskena in swedish.
Seriously dude have you heard us try and pronounce things …. Our Englands broke never mind trying to speak Swedish 😂😂😂 we would massively miss pronounce that!!!
😊👍
cheers buddy
@@UrbanVanlife 👍
Disappointed you didn't show anything. Only unistrut on roof. Not bolting it down. If you used anything like rubber washers. Crap video.
I'm sorry i didn't show you how to put a bolt into a riv nut , that we put in the existing hols in the van like we showed, i guess we need to go into more detail, but then again this wasn't a how-to video, and if you can't figure simple unistrut out then id recommend buying a built van buddy, thinking may not be your thing, maybe a should do a boring moving pictures video with words lol
@@UrbanVanlife do you mean a normal threaded bolt into a rivet nut? Trying to understand how that would work.... the rivet nut doesnt have a thread, does it?