02' Truck Bed Rack

Looking for an affordable truck bed rack. Any ideas if this below would fit an 02' ext cab taco? Concerned about the width of the bed rails with the width of the mounting base plates (plates might be too large) Thanks

Erickson 07705 Aluminum Truck Rack (66.4" x 12.6" x 34" assembled, 800lb rated)

$380 Erickson 07705 Aluminum Truck Rack (66.4" x 12.6" x 34" Assembled, 800lb Rated)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015CJI7NU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_u.TRzb779ZKXY

 

What are you planning to carry on the rack? And what do you consider affordable/unaffordable?

 

Kayaks and lumber occasionally. Not heavy duty loads daily. What do you think? Thxs

 

I was mostly wondering what height - sounds like you want full height so that stuff is above the cab. For low-height stuff, like an RTT or gear, I've made some racks that are reasonably priced (comparatively). Good luck!

 

Thanks for this thread! I've been looking for something for Home Depot runs and taking ladders across town to clean the in-laws' gutters. When I saw this post last night I checked out the link. It looks perfect for what I need for my '04 Ext Cab, so I ordered one. This doesn't require drilling any holes in the bed and is easily installed when you need it and easily removed when you don't. It should be here Monday, so if it's not raining, and the wife doesn't need me to do something else, and I'm not feeling lazy, and the evil squirrel isn't staring at me from the tree over the driveway, I'll get it set up and go grab the two bundles of 12' clapboard I need. Then I'll come back here and report on how easy, sturdy, practical, and aesthetically pleasing it is.

 

It came this morning. Weather was beautiful, the wife and the evil squirrel were both elsewhere, so I put it together and clamped it to the bed.

It took me about an hour to assemble and mount. This included getting my tools from the basement, memorizing the instructions, checking each part against the list, laying everything out neatly, chatting with some neighbors walking their new dog, compulsively measuring the placement, etc. A normal person could have it out of the box and on the truck in under 45 minutes.

I have an '04 Ext Cab. It should fit any truck with unobstructed access to the underside of the bed rails. The top part of the base plate is an angle around 3" wide sitting on top the rail and 1" wide on part that sits against the inside edge of the rail. The part that clamps underneath is a J-shaped bolt with a plate that is approximately 2" x 5/8". There are two of these bolts for each leg. I have an under-the-rail bed liner and I had to push it flush against the bed wall to squeeze in one of the bolts on each rear leg. No big deal.

Once it's assembled, you can take it off in about 5 minutes. A little over 5 minutes to put it back on. It's all aluminum, so each section weighs less than 20 lbs. So easy to handle and I can just toss it under the deck when I don't need it.

Once it was on I pushed, pulled, twisted, and whatever else I could think of to make sure it was secure. It didn't budge at all and it didn't feel like there was too much force on the bed rails. Would I put 800 lbs. on it like they claim you can? No way with the way the Taco bed is made, but I'd be comfortable with 400 - 500 lbs.

It's not gonna do full sheets of plywood or drywall, or 16' lengths of lumber, but this thing is perfect for my homeowner handyman-type projects. I think I'm going to be very happy with this.

A few points for anyone who decides to get one of these:

-- Step 2 in the instructions is to attach the cross members to the legs and tighten the bolts. Don't tighten the bolts, not even finger-tight - they need to be loose to line up the legs for the width of the bed. I tightened mine after I had the legs clamped to the bed rail. This also allows you to make sure the cross member is left/right centered.

-- The base plates on the legs have some nasty sharp edges and corners. Once I decided I was going to keep the rack, I took it off the truck and got out the file and sandpaper. I rounded the corners and smoothed the edges.

-- I didn't like the idea of the aluminum feet grinding on my paint. I had some 70 Durometer rubber sheet 1/16" thick. I used GOOP Automotive adhesive to put the rubber on both sides of the angle that sits on the bed rail and on the little feet of the bolts that clamp under the rail. The rubber is thin enough and hard enough that it doesn't add "sponginess" to the mounting, but it's enough to give me some peace of mind.

 

I really like this rack when compared the the Rola and Thule for a 2nd Gen.

I was looking at it wondering if I could devise a way to make it work with the rail system I have on my 2015.

 

Check Craigslist for a Yakima and Thule bed rack of some sort - not even specific for a Tacoma. Even check for an offbrand one. Check the sites to get an idea of what sizing to look for, but generally they adjust to fit any truck unless some crazy clips or something are needed. It may even be an older model that is not advertised for sale on the websites anymore, but they are all as good as the new model for the most part.