I've been searching for the Farmtec chicken coop flooring locally and nobody carries it. Also, my roof rack is 50X50, which is very inconvenient because the Farmtec flooring is 48X24 so i'd have to buy 3 pieces and waste most of the 3rd one...

Has any done/seen anything different for roof rack flooring? I'd like to get more use out of mine. I know diamond platting is an option but I'm not sure how I feel about that...

 

Cam - Not sure if these guys would cut-to-fit, but it might be worth asking. Maybe you could find the stuff from another seller. I would look, but I have to get back to work

This stuff looks pretty cool though, especially on the SD rack. Let me know if you find anything, I am looking for some flooring myself.

http://www.offroadtuff.com/DiscoIILRN50120.htm

 

Cam i wouldnt use diamond plate unless you plan cutting loads of vents in it. otherwise its going to be like a wing trying to take your roof rack off your roof at highway speeds. maybe welding more metal into your rack is a better idea if you don't want to use the farmtek or cant find anything else to strap down there. personally i dont think losing an inch on each side is that bad if noticable at all...

 

This is what I am going to use Cam, you can buy it locally, weld it to the rack and then paint it.
Several coats of paint both sides would be best.
It is alot less than the farmtec stuff and just cut to size and tack weld to the rack.

http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/hrsteel2.phtml?page=expanded&LimAcc=$LimAcc

 

Spike, I like that stuff... Which product and item size are you going to use?

I actually just went out and measured my roof rack and I measured wrong the first time. I included the sides where the flooring wouldn't sit. My roof rack is actually 48"X48". So Farmtec may be back in play, but I really do like that metal stuff...

 

I am going to go with the cheapest I can get Cam.
I dont need it to be really thick, that stuff is strong and the cross bars on the SD rack are pretty close together so even with the cheapest stuff it will still support us when we sit up there next year and watch fireworks.
Get out the yellow pages and find steel mills/wholesalers in your area and start calling.
I have a small mechanic shop close to me who builds race cars and can fab/weld/paint.
I am going to have him do mine, drop off the rack and then when done put it back on.
I have yet to talk to him about pricing.

 

Yeah, I'm with you on going cheap.
The Farmtec is 19.95 per peice, and I think I can get away with 2 peices, so with shipping im going to pay around or just over $50.
If I can find I good deal on the metal flooring and someone to weld it, I'll go that route.
It will come down to whats cheaper...

 

I considered expanded metal, but decided against it for several reasons.
- No matter how well you paint it, it's will rust.
- Welding it to the rack wasn't an option as I didn't want to introduce rust points on the rack. I want it to last as long as possible. (My powder coating is intact. For some maybe that's not an issue since the coating is already missing in places)
- I've worked a lot with expanded metal as a weldor, and I don't care for the sharp edges, even on the flattened. I didn't want gear getting torn or sharp edges that might cut straps.

The chicken coop flooring is a little more, but it's absolutely zero maintenance. It's nice to have one thing on a Rover that is.

 

Let me just add that when I used the expanded metal on my front grill I had to be especially careful not to blow out the expanded. When you start dealing with expanded metal against a different metal it is a little more detailed to get it to tack without blowing it out. It can be done, as evidenced by my grill, just thought I would throw that out for anyone considering it that is not really up to snuff on their welding skills. And as far as the rust issue you could get everything tacked up and then have everything powder coated and that should take care of the rust for awhile anyway.

 

The Farmtec stuff is 1/2" thick Cam, so you will loose space.