KBVoodoo Long Bed Side Rail Caps with Softopper Hard Mount

Just putting this up there for anyone that is interested. I got my LB caps yesterday and they are beautiful. The fit and finish is excellent and the power coat is tough as nails. I tested it bashing it against a steel door frame. OOPS! Thanks again, it was worth the wait!

I didn't take a picture with only the caps installed as I was a bit short on time. I wanted these caps so I could hard mount my softopper to them instead of using the hokey clamps that never worked right in the first place. Below is a series of images which should be pretty self explanatory.

After putting the caps on the bed, I marked the location of the rails. It turns out that the softopper rails can be aligned with the inside edge of the rail caps. Perfect! I located the front end of the softopper rail 1/2" back from the inside edge of the front of the bed. You can see my mark in the first picture.

A side note... In picture #9 you can see I replaced the self tapping screws that hold the cross bar brackets in place with stainless SHCS. I am never a fan of sheet metal screws unless it's a one time thing. I happened to have the SHCS so I drilled out the holes and installed rivet-nuts in place. At some point I may do the same to the center pivot.


Masking tape and hokey clamps to hold things in place:


That clamp is older than I am....


Hole drilled for a 1/8" stainless rivet:




Premature riveting:


The point where I realized I riveted the entire rail down without taking off the masking tape... DOH!


First test fit after riveting everything together:


The stock tie down rails just fit under the center pivot of the softopper rail. It seems to help support everything a bit better too.




The finished product:
There is a gap on the left side from the window not being centered. I still want to make some sort of L-bracket to better seal off this area. It is difficult to get the window to sit correctly so that there won't be water coming in. A piece of plastic that slips into the rail and sweeps around with some weatherstripping under it should do the trick. I just need to take the time to make something up.


This is the back before I adjusted the cross bar brackets. They now are at their inward most position and the triangle flaps wrap around and sit nicely on the corner of the bed.






My cap already sat just below the cab, but now it sits about 1/2"-1" below which is really nice.








I still need to adjust the front window of the softopper as I didn't get it quite centered when I put it in. The rear worked out perfectly and I was able to get the rails wide enough so that the flaps sit the way they are supposed to. Using the softopper clamps, I couldn't get the rails out far enough.

One thing also not shown in the pictures is that I put a very thin bead of silicone caulk under the softopper rail to keep it watertight. I removed the weatherstripping that came on them and riveted them right down. One note if you decide to do this. Don't be an idiot like me and get CLEAR silicone, not white.

 

Nice job!

This is why I want Voodoo's rails. I just can't afford the shipping and exchange rate right now. But one day..I'll be doing the same as you.

 

lapoltba, You beat me to it mounting the softopper rails down on the Voodoo caps.

 

Get to it then!

It works like a charm. I put the front end of the softopper rails 1/2" back from the inside edge of the front bed rail. I would probably go 3/4" if I did it again.

 

Need to get back home first. Had 3 funerals last week.

 

Damn, i'm sorry to hear that. My condolences.

 

Glad you like them, and thanks for the write up!!

Nice install too, BTW

 

Thanks! I couldn't have done it without your caps. It worked out exactly as I expected it to. Now I just need to figure out a way to put racks on with the softopper rails there. .

Interested in another project? I've got a few ideas bouncing around in my head that could work.

 

Nice, I like this idea

 

Thanks! It's Ben a few weeks now and no complaints at all. I have noticed that the corners don't leak much anymore either. Not having the clamps in the bed is really nice too!

 

I love it!!

 

Uhh, there were pictures. Apparently they are broken now...

 

I see them

 

I see an icon and [ img ]. I can click on the [ img ] and it brings me to the picture on minus.com where i have them stored.

 

I guess I'm more specialer than you

 

Old thread but bummer all these photos are broken, am thinking of doing something exactly like this