Pallet rack over car hood
- Thread starter jay8s
- Start date
southalabama
Well-known member
Dad's garage at the end where the front of the car he has racks hanging from the ceiling. He made them from all thread and they hang from the ceiling.
Richard Cranium
Well-known member
Just make sure you secure the racking so that they don't fall onto the car.
southalabama
Well-known member
Dad used uni strut between the all thread
Two on each end then a couple in the middle. Put 1x boards across the uni strut to form a shelf.
Two on each end then a couple in the middle. Put 1x boards across the uni strut to form a shelf.
M35A2
Well-known member
joe_padavano
Well-known member
I did pretty much the same thing in my garage. The bottom shelf is high enough that the hood fits under it. Of course, if the battery ever goes dead you have to push the car out to jump it.
sberry
Banned
I like that, really slick.
Kaizen
Well-known member
typically pallet racking cross beams have a groove on the inside for wood to fit in. how did you support yours and what did you use for wood. slick how your 4 post fits into the plan.
M35A2
Well-known member
Yes the beams are notched for 2X material. I put 2X8 on 24" centers on every section then covered the whole 10' x 12' section with 1-1/8" T&G plywood that fit nice and tight between the uprights....locked everything in very solid. Both sections have 6 beams rated at 5000lbs per pair of beams. When buying pallet racking, beware of used stuff on CL. I got mine brand new and because of the quantity got a discount which ended up being cheaper than used off CL! All of the pallet racking for this project cost me $1425. Beams were set to match up to the top lock on the lift and ramps bridge to the loft. It worked great! I got my racking from Materialflow.com and they have warehouses across the US.
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Kaizen
Well-known member
nice way to get 4 cars in a small space. bet you were crapping a little the first time you rolled a vehicle on it though huh? thanks for the details.
Richard Cranium
Well-known member
That is the nice part about buying new, You can get all the parts that you need to do the job like you want to.
Sharpest
Well-known member
sierradmax
Well-known member
You're going to spend roughly $200 to $300 per section of used pallet racking. A section typically consists of 2 uprights and 4 cross-rails. Most uprights are 12' tall. If you have a shorter garage, you'll have difficulty finding anything under 10'. I have 10' sections but don't have the same load capacity as 12'.
Depending on what you plan to store, a couple of wood sammy's, threaded rod, strut, 3/8" nuts & washers, etc. ; then you have suspended storage.
joe_padavano
Well-known member
Around here, used "keyhole-style" pallet racking goes for a LOT less than that, if you scan Craigslist and look for companies that are going out of business. I've found uprights in 8ft, 10ft, and 12ft lengths. Depth varies also.
driftpin
Well-known member
It sounds like the OP has a typical one car garage, w/o much excess height. He probably won't have room for rolling an unused car 12' in the air from 4-post to pallet rack storage.
As was mentioned, all-thread vertically, with horizontal unistrut members, and some plywood as the platform surface should suffice. May I suggest some steel L-angles, like Simpson products, already drilled? Bolt them to rafters, double nut w/fender washers the all-thread, and the same on the bottom end. Bolt the wood to the unistrut. Depending on the size you want, you could use more unistrut at right angles to the bottom ones, to provide middle of the load support, or just use more unistrut on more vertical all-thread, w/the wood bolted-down. You could also use wood 2 x 4's between the unistrut, then the deck surface of plywood. With a bit of time for layout, drawing up a materials list, getting the stuff, and doing the install, it could be a full day. I think I would do the installation another day, that way you would be fresh when you tackle it.
As was mentioned, all-thread vertically, with horizontal unistrut members, and some plywood as the platform surface should suffice. May I suggest some steel L-angles, like Simpson products, already drilled? Bolt them to rafters, double nut w/fender washers the all-thread, and the same on the bottom end. Bolt the wood to the unistrut. Depending on the size you want, you could use more unistrut at right angles to the bottom ones, to provide middle of the load support, or just use more unistrut on more vertical all-thread, w/the wood bolted-down. You could also use wood 2 x 4's between the unistrut, then the deck surface of plywood. With a bit of time for layout, drawing up a materials list, getting the stuff, and doing the install, it could be a full day. I think I would do the installation another day, that way you would be fresh when you tackle it.
I'm a fan of pallet racking. This was in my garage when it was just messy storage. I have also used racking to build other items like a wheel/tire rack and a work bench. It's inexpensive and plentiful. You should be able to find deals in STL easily.
The above stuff was trimmed to fit in my garage since the ceiling is lowere than a typical commercial environment.
Thanks for the replies. I am in a short, narrow two car (20x20). Two sets of 8 foot wide rack at 8 feet tall would greatly improve my situation. I have concrete block walls, so I would rather not have to drill much into them, other than some sort of anchor at the top. I also have some structure issues that steer me away from the all thread/unistrut idea. The previous owner took a significant chunk out of the roof framing when adding a garage door opener that needs to be repaired.
Having two big cars (batteries are in the trunk, so no worries about having to move them to jump them), and two kids in car seats that require being able to fully open the door to get them in without hitting anything, I am at a loss side to side. I also have a 46 inch cut mower that I have to fit between the cars until I can get the HOA to allow for an out building.
I think that 24-36 inch wide racking would be about perfect in front of the cars/ over the hood of the car. I envision a hinged work bench above my hood so I can get things done. I do worry about the expense/ the absolute overkill that racking involves. I might explore a wooden alternative.
I do believe that it is time to start researching and finding a good deal on some rack. Anyone have a local hook up?
Having two big cars (batteries are in the trunk, so no worries about having to move them to jump them), and two kids in car seats that require being able to fully open the door to get them in without hitting anything, I am at a loss side to side. I also have a 46 inch cut mower that I have to fit between the cars until I can get the HOA to allow for an out building.
I think that 24-36 inch wide racking would be about perfect in front of the cars/ over the hood of the car. I envision a hinged work bench above my hood so I can get things done. I do worry about the expense/ the absolute overkill that racking involves. I might explore a wooden alternative.
I do believe that it is time to start researching and finding a good deal on some rack. Anyone have a local hook up?
C_F
ALLIANCE MEMBER
A few years ago, I needed more work space in the other half of my garage & my 4-wheeler was in the way. I didn't want to store it outside, so I built this table out of scrap wood (that's why no 2 pieces look the same 
) & pallet rack uprights. I ended up putting an extra metal beam down the center for support, after I took this pic...so this is when it was about 95% finished.
I lifted the 4-wheeler up there with my cherry picker. The end against the wall was anchored to the wall studs, that thing was SOLID! It stayed there for about two years.
) & pallet rack uprights. I ended up putting an extra metal beam down the center for support, after I took this pic...so this is when it was about 95% finished.
I lifted the 4-wheeler up there with my cherry picker. The end against the wall was anchored to the wall studs, that thing was SOLID! It stayed there for about two years.
I dont have a pic but I have a pallet rack from Menards at the front of my garage that I set the first beam high enough to clear the hood on my f150. It works great.
Menards has pallet racking in 4', 6', and 8' tall with 4' and 8' wide cross beams. It's not as heavy duty as the real pallet racking but it works greats.
Menards has pallet racking in 4', 6', and 8' tall with 4' and 8' wide cross beams. It's not as heavy duty as the real pallet racking but it works greats.
motofool33
Well-known member
I love my Pallet Racking Bought it used blasted and painted them. will never do that again. will buy new next time.
