# got frustrated lookin for an overhead rod rack so i built one



## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

having searched the internet and the leads fellow 2coolers gave me on a previous post i frustrated myself searching and not being able to find an overhead s.u.v. rod rack that i had confidence in (nobody stocks the only one that seemed feasible) and those i did find were not very "substantial". so a trip to the local big box store for materials(pvc plumbing fittings and short sections of p.v.c. pipe) and a few hours cuttin and fittin and i ended up with what you see in the pics---total cost $37.50 and the sweat equity---- i'm satisfied









this is in my ford expedition and attaches to the clothes hooks with simple nylon wire ties.

it rotates flat with the roof when empty if you need the headroom, holds six rods---keeps em out of harms way on the floor---if ya don't know the rods are there ya have to look "up" from outside the locked vehicle to see em----pretty tough with the tinted windows. i loaded it with 71/2 foot poppin rods, 7 foot spinning rod and a take apart 12 foot surf rod and drove it for a week----nothing failed----not much rattle (a little padding will help the slight "jiggle" rattle). ready to start fishin the summer patterns
dave


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## troy merrill (May 21, 2004)

Did you look at FTU for the FPHUT (fishing pole holder up thingy)? It runs around $35 or so. PVC pipe with straps on it.

Yours looks pretty cool. How are you going to secure the rods to the rack? Or are you not concerned with that?


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

hey troy:---testing (even over some rough rr crossings) didn't shake anything out of place so i decided to leave any strapping for later if need be -like i said i just got frustrated burning fuel and finding a few racks that didn't really impress me guess the "tinkerer" in me needed some satifaction 
also easy to load and unload and nothing to hook rod guides on when your inna hurry to get in the boat (no sharp edges)


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## Alex3 (Mar 29, 2006)

I think it's just more fun to make. One more fishin thing to do.


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## jtburf (May 26, 2004)

Now that is 2cool ...if you would like to make them and sell'm I'll put them on my site!


John


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## txranger (Jun 23, 2005)

Nice job, that looks awsome. But I would also think that those rods would bounce around and/or slide around. I had something similar in a truck of mine with a hard topper, and they bounced around alot. Looks great though!


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## Canuck (Dec 14, 2004)

I just had one of those moments......"why didn't I think of that?". Good job!


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

hey guy's: thanks !!!!!!!!!----------i'm gonna add a little padding on the contact surfaces and see how it goes for a few weeks-that will deaden the slight rattle and keep the rod blanks from gettin bruised ----stilll debating strapping down----with my luck i'd be inna hurry and strip of the guides forgettin to unhook strapping.---------thanks for the promo offer but i posted it for everyones benefit, easy and inexpensive to build and -----just another fishing thingy to fiddle with.
titelines
dave


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## timberhuntr (Nov 15, 2005)

Thanks for the info, I myself have been looking for something like this for my Suburban for awhile. When I saw this thread I said, to myself, "Self you can do that" so after work I picked up the necessary parts and built one it doesn't look near as good as yours because I was rushing to get it done. THANKS Again!

I tried to solve the rattle/ movement problem, so I used what I had at the house. I used a Self Adhesive Elastic Bandage it is cheap and during the test run down a very bumpy dirt road it worked. Just some food for thought.


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## Aggieangler (May 28, 2004)

I would love to make one of these that was a dual layer job. We often need double the capacity of that one b/c we are rod hogs. I guess I need to make something like this slightly for my crew cab truck. They will probably have to go in the back...hmmm....finding thinking cap. Rod tube seems so dull but sure gets the job done!


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

hey aggie:

you could double deck it with a couple of t"s and short drop's to a set of el's and then the second v-bar-------might get a little heavy but if you dropped ti 1/2 inch stuff the twin v-bar should be stiff enough-------mine is hung from the clothes hooks and i'm not certain how much load they would ultimately support---------i'm still looking for a strip of material to reduce rattle
tite lines
dave


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