Assembling your single rod carrier

Our kit includes the reel box and the nose cone. You simply supply a piece of 2" pipe and an appropriate adhesive. You should have some paper towels handy for cleanup, and if you're using epoxy you should have some isopropyl alcohol to clean up excess. It's also helpful, though not required, to have some sandpaper and masking tape handy.

The Pipe:

The system is designed around 2" Schedule 80 conduit, but you can use any tube that has the same outer diameter (2.375 inches). This includes Schedule 40 PVC, or even a metal tube that has the correct OD. The thing to be aware of is that the supplied nose cone assumes the wall thickness of Schedule 80. If you use a different pipe, you will need to adapt accordingly, either by using a different cap, or by wrapping some tape around the lip of the cone to make it fit.

The Adhesive:

Your reel box is printed in ASA, which is very close in composition to ABS. This means that you can use standard, multi-plastic solvent glues available in the plumbing department of all home stores.

This is not a highly stressed joint, so you can probably get away with just using a little acetone to soften both sides before mating, but I would recommend using a proper adhesive.

You can also use 5-minute epoxy, which will work fine for plastic-to-plastic joints, and is required if you choose to use a metal tube or had to pad your nose cone to make it fit.

Schedule 80 conduit is generally sold with a flared end to allow you to connect multiple lengths together without a coupler. You'll need to cut this off, which you can do with a saw / pipe cutter / etc. When you cut it, try to make the end as smooth and square as possible.

When cutting the pipe, you may shorten the pipe to whatever length you choose. The best way to do this is to dry fit the reel box to the end of the tube, and then hold the longest rod you plan to use up next to the assembly to see where the rod ends. Add about 4-6" to this and mark/cut the pipe there.

Note that many of our users choose to set their system up to hold their rods pulled into two sections and "folded" to insert into the tube. This allows a more compact footprint on your vehicle, and lets truck owners put the system in the bed of the truck. Even at Sch 80, a long unsupported length of PVC can flex/bounce when driving, so if you have a small vehicle or a short rack this might be the best choice.

Start with the reel box. It's generally best to put this at the cut end of the pipe since it hides any lack of squareness in the cut.

Dry fit the reel box and mark the tube where the reel box ends. If you have masking tape, it's a good idea to put a wrap completely around the tube here so that any errant glue doesn't stick to the visible part of the tube.

If you have sandpaper, smooth the inside lip of the pipe a bit to remove any sharp bits. It's also a good idea to gently rough the exterior of the inserted part of the pipe a bit for better gluing.

Carefully apply a light coat of adhesive in a full circle around the tube, close to the end of the tube. Unlike plumbing, you don't need a pressure-tight seal here, and you don't want to have lots of extra glue making things ugly. If you put the glue mostly toward the end of the tube, it will get spread out as you push the reel box into place.

Once the glue is applied, quickly push the reel box home, and clean up any residue with paper towels and alcohol. Let the adhesive cure.

Finally, apply some adhesive to the lip of the nose cone and slide it into place at the other end of the tube. Again, if you've had to build up the lip of the nose cone, you'll need to use epoxy here, and it's wise to make sure there's at least some face-to face adhesive contact between the end of the tube and the radial surface on the cap. Remove any squeeze out with paper towels and alcohol.

That's it! You're done. It probably took you longer to read this than it does to actually do the work.

Once the glue is dry, you just need to mount the system to your vehicle and, if you have a locking model, program your lock.

Many, many of our users choose to come up with their own mounting solution. This is a kit. We celebrate that!!! The easiest starting point for a mount is a pair of these clamps from McMaster-Carr.

If you want something already sorted out, we sell mounting kits that use those same clamps, together with laser-cut stainless plates to clamp to your rack bars.