Built an interior cook rack for the Rec Tec 590

Messages
14
Location
N. Huntingdon, PA
Grill(s) owned
  1. Stampede
So I did some searching around in stores and on the internet and I couldn’t find a solution for an upper shelf that I liked. So I decided to build my own, it’s not the most elegant design but it will get the job done.

I bought 4 - 5” stainless steel carriage bolts, 8 SS flat washers, 12 SS nuts, and a SS grill grate. The nice thing about using these items is that the grate is now height adjustable. I’m sure somebody out there can improve on this design but I wanted to share it with the community as it was a relatively cheap solution for me. The whole thing cost me around $60 and I ended up with a pretty solid cook rack that I can easily fit 3 racks of ribs on.

After receiving the grill grate I checked for fit, I found that the grate was about 2” wider than I needed. Using a dremel tool with a metal cutting wheel I cut off 2” of material To assemble I ran the carriage bolt through the top of the grill grate, placed the flat washer against the bottom of the grill grate and secured with a nut. For the legs to sit on the existing grill grates I threaded nut, washer, and nut. By adjusting the lower nuts you will be able to adjust the height of the rack. Below is a list of items I used excluding the washers (I already had those). I haven’t cooked with it yet but I plan to this week. I will let you know how it works.

SS Nuts
Carriage Bolt
Grill Grate

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Nicely creative solution. There is at least one other member here who also used a similar nut/bolt configuration to the same purpose, though his might have been a 680/700.

I'm curious why you had to cut 2" off the shelf that's listed as 26 5/8" when the existing grate is 27 1/2, and the lid opening width is a shade under 26"?
 
Thanks, I just did a cook with it yesterday and it worked out well. I noticed that the temps were a little higher (10-15 degrees) on the top rack but that’s not a big deal for me. All in all I’m pleased with the functionality and look.
Too answer your question, I cut the 2 inches off because the grate was not easy to insert and remove from the cooking chamber. After removing that I can now slide the rack in and out without having to manipulate and contort the rack. This isn’t something that I intend to leave on the grill for every cook, I also want to be able to insert and remove during a cook when needed.
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Thanks, I just did a cook with it yesterday and it worked out well. I noticed that the temps were a little higher (10-15 degrees) on the top rack but that’s not a big deal for me. All in all I’m pleased with the functionality and look.
Too answer your question, I cut the 2 inches off because the grate was not easy to insert and remove from the cooking chamber. After removing that I can now slide the rack in and out without having to manipulate and contort the rack. This isn’t something that I intend to leave on the grill for every cook, I also want to be able to insert and remove during a cook when needed. View attachment 2172
You the man?
 
Thanks, I just did a cook with it yesterday and it worked out well. I noticed that the temps were a little higher (10-15 degrees) on the top rack but that’s not a big deal for me. All in all I’m pleased with the functionality and look.
Too answer your question, I cut the 2 inches off because the grate was not easy to insert and remove from the cooking chamber. After removing that I can now slide the rack in and out without having to manipulate and contort the rack. This isn’t something that I intend to leave on the grill for every cook, I also want to be able to insert and remove during a cook when needed. View attachment 2172
Hi Where did u get the top grate from ?
Thanks Dan
 
That does look great @Pvt. Smokeater , and I'm going to rig something up similarly. I do have a silly question: I noticed that you have no food touching your washers, nuts, and bolts--were you able to find a stainless steel set of washers/nuts/bolts that would be food safe and if so, what grade did you go with? (304, 316, 430, etc.)? I'm curious how they handle the test of time. I'll post back on this thread once I figure something out and get some part numbers down for what works for my RT-590. Cheers all and thanks again for all the GOOD advice! Y'all are awesome.
 
I did a similar setup with one of my smoker box grates. I rarely use all three at the same time anyways. I'm actually thinking about making a second one and leaving only one shelf in the smoker box. I'd imagine you can position the bolts so that the gratees will still slide in and out of the smoke box with the bolts in them.
Also, I think I'm going to flip my bolts like OP did. They look better with the head of the bolt up instead of down. .
 

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Nice work. That's a much better solution than any of the commercial second racks I've seen.
 

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