Lets see those how made bed racks

[Smprfiguy]

*Home made*

Trying to figure out what to do for some bed storage as well as mounting an awning. I dont camp, but I do day trip to a lot of remote areas and to a lot to races so having some high vantage points is nice.

this was my harbor freight no weld rack build on the Colorado i just traded off for the ranger. All in with a can of bed liner it was about $350. Apparently i dont have any pics with it loaded up but you get the idea

just unsure i want to go the same route and looking for some inspiration

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[Danager]

I have noticed more and more used racks popping up on Kijiji and FB Marketplace. I’m sure a lot of people realizing they didn’t want some of the hassle of the overland look.
I think if I can hold out long enough, by Spring I can find a used one to modify for about the same price as a DIY, and with less time invested.

 

[Isuzu elf would be better]

My how made rack.

 

[Isuzu elf would be better]

*Home made*

Trying to figure out what to do for some bed storage as well as mounting an awning. I dont camp, but I do day trip to a lot of remote areas and to a lot to races so having some high vantage points is nice.

this was my harbor freight no weld rack build on the Colorado i just traded off for the ranger. All in with a can of bed liner it was about $350. Apparently i dont have any pics with it loaded up but you get the idea

just unsure i want to go the same route and looking for some inspiration

Neat idea to use ramps like that.

 

[Smprfiguy]

Neat idea to use ramps like that.

Thanks to cheap not to be creative. . Found a use for them on the ranger too

 

[myothercarizahearse]

Thanks to cheap not to be creative. . Found a use for them on the ranger too

How did you mount that?

 

[OFC Ranger]

Not sure if this counts, its a 50/50 mixture of existing market components and components of my own creation. My bed rack and panels are manufactured by RCI, however the entire frame and all associated doo-dads were custom constructed from raw materials. The biggest hurdle was finding the right height to clear the apex of the curved roof. That was solved via very heavy duty, very thick rubber spacers. The spacers were intended to for heavy weight speaker boxes or other similar type furniture. The spacers double as shock absorbers you could say. Shifting weight or bouncing is no match for them as they are 2" wide and 1" thick.

Complete no weld design using aluminum, steel unistrut/superstrut channeling, and some various 80/20 brackets. The platform grating is made by Dura-Slat, its intended use was for livestock. Holds human weight no problem with properly spaced cross bars. I've yet to detect any failure in the entire rack/platform over thousands of miles.

 

[Smprfiguy]

Thanks to cheap not to be creative. . Found a use for them on the ranger too

2 of those black atv winch plates in the factory tie down holes with a piece of unistrut running under the bed rail. And a few uni strut 4 hole brackets. All factory threaded locations and the ammo can wont open with the tail gate shut no lock needed for the straps and tiedowns

need one more L for the bottom panel which is the left over after cutting the ramp to fit

 

[Smprfiguy]

Not sure if this counts, its a 50/50 mixture of existing market components and components of my own creation. My bed rack and panels are manufactured by RCI, however the entire frame and all associated doo-dads were custom constructed from raw materials. The biggest hurdle was finding the right height to clear the apex of the curved roof. That was solved via very heavy duty, very thick rubber spacers. The spacers were intended to for heavy weight speaker boxes or other similar type furniture. The spacers double as shock absorbers you could say. Shifting weight or bouncing is no match for them as they are 2" wide and 1" thick.

Complete no weld design using aluminum, steel unistrut/superstrut channeling, and some various 80/20 brackets. The platform grating is made by Dura-Slat, its intended use was for livestock. Holds human weight no problem with properly spaced cross bars. I've yet to detect any failure in the entire rack/platform over thousands of miles.

Very nice. Love the over the cab extention. I was looking at that kennel flooring for the base for a diy rtr but i got a bed tent for free and cant see me using it or a rtr very often

how is the flex in the 80/20. Never used it but it seams to be the best diy material for lots of stuff

 

[OFC Ranger]

Very nice. Love the over the cab extention. I was looking at that kennel flooring for the base for a diy rtr but i got a bed tent for free and cant see me using it or a rtr very often

how is the flex in the 80/20. Never used it but it seams to be the best diy material for lots of stuff

Well the overall goal is to minimize flex. Metal and flex don't work so hot together. Shift and compression is what I would rather deal with and easier to manage. Everything is pretty solid locked together leaving a majority of movement as side to side or up and down on some level the human eye cannot see. The 80/20 brackets basically sandwich aluminum square tubing where used so they ain't moving at all. What flex I do have should only be occurring on the forward most portion, which is in turn off set by small rubber feet resting in the gutter channels of the truck roof. Howevever, I don't even detect any failures in the paint (on the frame of my rack) in this area, so whatever flex is occurring must be pretty minimal. The support feet are adjustable in height, so they are set to apply just enough upward pressure to eliminate any bounce.

I'm about to start V3 on my rack and this design go around will completely free float the portion over the cab without any support, but also be way stronger than the aluminum sub framing I built.

 

[HeatXfer]

Not sure if this counts, its a 50/50 mixture of existing market components and components of my own creation. My bed rack and panels are manufactured by RCI, however the entire frame and all associated doo-dads were custom constructed from raw materials. The biggest hurdle was finding the right height to clear the apex of the curved roof. That was solved via very heavy duty, very thick rubber spacers. The spacers were intended to for heavy weight speaker boxes or other similar type furniture. The spacers double as shock absorbers you could say. Shifting weight or bouncing is no match for them as they are 2" wide and 1" thick.

Complete no weld design using aluminum, steel unistrut/superstrut channeling, and some various 80/20 brackets. The platform grating is made by Dura-Slat, its intended use was for livestock. Holds human weight no problem with properly spaced cross bars. I've yet to detect any failure in the entire rack/platform over thousands of miles.

I'm just now seeing this - looks sturdy as hell! How much does it weigh?

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