bed rack tonneau cover combo

[BrianF22]

There's a couple good combos out there. One of the simplest setups is the RealTruck BAKFlip MX4 TS Hard Folding Tonneau Cover w/ T-Slot Rails and the RealTruck Elevate Rack. The cover has integrated T-slot rails that the Elevate rack slides right into!

I recently got a 2022 Ranger, and am trying to outfit it. Before I bought it, I was looking at the Elevate rack, but now for some reason the RealTruck website says it does not fit the 2022 Ranger. I can't understand why that would be the case, since it mounts to the T-rails, but maybe there is something else? It looks like at least a few people are doing that, based on other posts in the this thread. Is it just that there is some modification that needs to be done?

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[BrianF22]

I installed the gator efx tri fold cover when I first got the truck. When I started to get the itch for a bed rack it was very difficult to find one that would be compatible with my tonneau, and I really did not want to commit the money to buying a new one when mine worked perfectly fine. I ended up getting the ADARAC Aluminum Series. Pretty easy to install and I can take the rack on and off in like 4 minutes. The rail that is drilled onto the bed rail stays on. Feels extremely secure

As a second option I was looking at the Adarac platform, since my truck come with a tri-fold tonneau without T-slots. I don't necessarily like the tri-fold, and it needs to be replaced eventually, but t-slot tonneaus cost a bit extra, so I kept looking. I initially didn't like the straight vertical silver version, but that contour black you have looks nice and clean.

My issue with the Adarac is that all of the install videos show them mounting to the stake holes, and my 2022 Ranger does not appear to have the rectangular holes. There is no outline of any holes at all in the plastic on top of the bed rails, though there are a series of holes in the metal underneath that can be accessed from below. So how did you mount the Adarac rails? do you just make your own mount holes in the Adarac rails wherever the bed rails have existing holes? Or did they actually supply parts that lined up with the existing hole pattern?

 

[davidtg7123]

As a second option I was looking at the Adarac platform, since my truck come with a tri-fold tonneau without T-slots. I don't necessarily like the tri-fold, and it needs to be replaced eventually, but t-slot tonneaus cost a bit extra, so I kept looking. I initially didn't like the straight vertical silver version, but that contour black you have looks nice and clean.

My issue with the Adarac is that all of the install videos show them mounting to the stake holes, and my 2022 Ranger does not appear to have the rectangular holes. There is no outline of any holes at all in the plastic on top of the bed rails, though there are a series of holes in the metal underneath that can be accessed from below. So how did you mount the Adarac rails? do you just make your own mount holes in the Adarac rails wherever the bed rails have existing holes? Or did they actually supply parts that lined up with the existing hole pattern?

It was drilling three holes, they provide a little template for getting it lined up correctly. It didn’t take long and I found the process pretty straightforward

 

[Realtruck]

I recently got a 2022 Ranger, and am trying to outfit it. Before I bought it, I was looking at the Elevate rack, but now for some reason the RealTruck website says it does not fit the 2022 Ranger. I can't understand why that would be the case, since it mounts to the T-rails, but maybe there is something else? It looks like at least a few people are doing that, based on other posts in the this thread. Is it just that there is some modification that needs to be done?

Hey there, we do offer them for the 2022. PM me and I can help you get set up with one.

 

[LaBalbe]

@LaBalbe dropped by a few weeks ago and we installed the Real Truck Elevate on his truck, which has a folding tonneau. I’m not sure of the brand - hoping LaBalbe will chime in.

The install was very straightforward - no modifications to either item to make them work well together. The interface between the tonneau rails and the rack rails is clean and not bulky. We were able to lower the rack from its high factory setting so it was just above roof height and still allowed for the tonneau to be flipped open.

It looks sharp on hus black Ranger.

Thanks, Duke. I've been meaning to post about this, but time has gotten away from me. I have to get around to getting a picture of the tonneau cover mount system nestled into the T-rail mount system for the Elevate, to show how they nestle into each other nicely.

My tonneau cover is the Ford-branded one that I got from the dealership when I bought the truck. I'm not 100% sure, but as near as I can figure out, it's essentially the BAKflip with Ford branding instead. It won't clear the crossbars on the lowest setting (I suspect the same would be true for all tri-fold covers), but the middle and highest setting are no problem. As Duke noted, it's on the middle setting in the pic above.

The only real mod that it requires is getting some extra weather-stripping and filling in the gaps at the front and rear of the tonneau cover, since it no longer sits flush with the head of the bed of the truck or the tailgate. The sides don't matter, since it still sits flush with it's mount system, which is itself nestled nicely into the T-rail mount.

We also found that the bed clamps that came with the Elevate were a little longer than the ones that came with the cover, and did not have carriage bolts like what comes with the tonneau clamps. In the end, we made use of both types of clamps.

On each side, we used two of the three Elevate clamps on the outside ends of the rail, and the three clamps that came with the tonneau cover in the three middle positions, so now I have five clamps holding both the racks and cover down on each side; ten in total. A little overkill, perhaps, but hey, why not use them?

Using the shorter clamps in the middle also gives me the clearance I need for some of the stuff that's strapped to my BRI MOLLE panels on either side of the bed, of which the longer clamps would likely have gotten in the way.

I've also gotten some additional T Track Mount Tie Down Anchors that I'm planning to attach to the underside of the crossbars to give me additional tie down points that I can use in tandem with the provided cleats. I'll get pictures of the whole set up one of these days and post them.

As promised, the close-up pictures. The nestling of the two mount systems isn't quite as visible due to the extra weather-stripping I added, but you get the idea.

You can see here how we used both sets of clamps.

Added weather-stripping at the front of the bed...

...and at the tailgate (that gap used to not be there; it was flush with the tailgate)

Here it is with the added tie-down points

@Realtruck, you might want to revisit the drainage of the crossbar cradles in the uprights. I noticed that water is pooling there a bit. Hopefully it won't pool so much that if/when it freezes it'll cause damage to the cradle.

I recently got a 2022 Ranger, and am trying to outfit it. Before I bought it, I was looking at the Elevate rack, but now for some reason the RealTruck website says it does not fit the 2022 Ranger. I can't understand why that would be the case, since it mounts to the T-rails, but maybe there is something else? It looks like at least a few people are doing that, based on other posts in the this thread. Is it just that there is some modification that needs to be done?

@BrianF22 Here are the write-ups about my installation of the Elevate Racks on my 2020. Aside from having to add a bit more weather-stripping to fill in the gaps, no other modification was necessary.

 

[LaBalbe]

Transporting five pairs of skis and two scooters:

 

[Realtruck]

Transporting five pairs of skis and two scooters:

Love seeing this setup in action! Are you also using the RealTruck Elevate Rack Load Stops to tie down those ratchet straps, or do you have a different method?

 

[LaBalbe]

Love seeing this setup in action! Are you also using the RealTruck Elevate Rack Load Stops to tie down those ratchet straps, or do you have a different method?

No, I got a set of these to hang off of the underside. You can see them if you zoom in. I also have a picture of them in my previous post.

Speaking of that post, did you see my feedback about water pooling in the cradle in that same post?

 

[Realtruck]

No, I got a set of these to hang off of the underside. You can see them if you zoom in. I also have a picture of them in my previous post.

Speaking of that post, did you see my feedback about water pooling in the cradle in that same post?

Ah, very nice!

Sorry I missed that water issue in your previous post, but I see what you're saying. I do think this is something that's worth mentioning to the team. If you have time, DM me with your info and we'll get that looked at.

 

[Josh Stretch]

I got a used RCI mid rack to fit with my Bak Revolver X4TS and it works great.
1. fill troth with fairing compound and drill locating holes for t track.
2. drill 3/4 holes in bed rail caps with hole saw and install rivnuts in bed rails
3. bed aluminum spacers with thickened epoxy
4. bed the t track with fairing compound, sand, and paint
5. mount t track
6. mount the RCI bed rack universal tonneau cover mount that I cut to make it angle instead of z
7. mount the bed rack and pray the tonneau cover fits when rolled
8. it fits!

 

[$4Ranger]

I got a used RCI mid rack to fit with my Bak Revolver X4TS and it works great.
1. fill troth with fairing compound and drill locating holes for t track.
2. drill 3/4 holes in bed rail caps with hole saw and install rivnuts in bed rails
3. bed aluminum spacers with thickened epoxy
4. bed the t track with fairing compound, sand, and paint
5. mount t track
6. mount the RCI bed rack universal tonneau cover mount that I cut to make it angle instead of z
7. mount the bed rack and pray the tonneau cover fits when rolled
8. it fits!

@Josh Stretch that looks great! I want to do a similar thing with some rails to mount Elevate racks to go with my BAK Flip MX4. Still trying to figure out the right rails. You gave a lot of us some good steps in making this happen.

 

[LaBalbe]

@Josh Stretch that looks great! I want to do a similar thing with some rails to mount Elevate racks to go with my BAK Flip MX4. Still trying to figure out the right rails. You gave a lot of us some good steps in making this happen.

Hi Eric,

You shouldn't have to drill anything. I've got the Elevate racks with the Ford-branded tri-fold, which I'm pretty sure is basically a BAK Flip. Here are the write-ups on the installation, which didn't need any drilling, just some extra weather stripping:

@LaBalbe dropped by a few weeks ago and we installed the Real Truck Elevate on his truck, which has a folding tonneau. I’m not sure of the brand - hoping LaBalbe will chime in.

The install was very straightforward - no modifications to either item to make them work well together. The interface between the tonneau rails and the rack rails is clean and not bulky. We were able to lower the rack from its high factory setting so it was just above roof height and still allowed for the tonneau to be flipped open.

It looks sharp on hus black Ranger.

Thanks, Duke. I've been meaning to post about this, but time has gotten away from me. I have to get around to getting a picture of the tonneau cover mount system nestled into the T-rail mount system for the Elevate, to show how they nestle into each other nicely.

My tonneau cover is the Ford-branded one that I got from the dealership when I bought the truck. I'm not 100% sure, but as near as I can figure out, it's essentially the BAKflip with Ford branding instead. It won't clear the crossbars on the lowest setting (I suspect the same would be true for all tri-fold covers), but the middle and highest setting are no problem. As Duke noted, it's on the middle setting in the pic above.

The only real mod that it requires is getting some extra weather-stripping and filling in the gaps at the front and rear of the tonneau cover, since it no longer sits flush with the head of the bed of the truck or the tailgate. The sides don't matter, since it still sits flush with it's mount system, which is itself nestled nicely into the T-rail mount.

We also found that the bed clamps that came with the Elevate were a little longer than the ones that came with the cover, and did not have carriage bolts like what comes with the tonneau clamps. In the end, we made use of both types of clamps.

On each side, we used two of the three Elevate clamps on the outside ends of the rail, and the three clamps that came with the tonneau cover in the three middle positions, so now I have five clamps holding both the racks and cover down on each side; ten in total. A little overkill, perhaps, but hey, why not use them?

Using the shorter clamps in the middle also gives me the clearance I need for some of the stuff that's strapped to my BRI MOLLE panels on either side of the bed, of which the longer clamps would likely have gotten in the way.

I've also gotten some additional T Track Mount Tie Down Anchors that I'm planning to attach to the underside of the crossbars to give me additional tie down points that I can use in tandem with the provided cleats. I'll get pictures of the whole set up one of these days and post them.

As promised, the close-up pictures. The nestling of the two mount systems isn't quite as visible due to the extra weather-stripping I added, but you get the idea.

You can see here how we used both sets of clamps.

Added weather-stripping at the front of the bed...

...and at the tailgate (that gap used to not be there; it was flush with the tailgate)

Here it is with the added tie-down points

@Realtruck, you might want to revisit the drainage of the crossbar cradles in the uprights. I noticed that water is pooling there a bit. Hopefully it won't pool so much that if/when it freezes it'll cause damage to the cradle.

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