Went to Modtown on Some Mobtown Bed Bars

I originally had some KB Voodoo Hi-rise bed bars that I really liked the look of. However, they started rusting on me, in less than a year.







So, I bought a set of Mobtown bed bars. I figured, if they started rusting, it would only be the vertical uprights, as the cross bars are aluminum, which, I could easily repaint.



Wasn't quite happy with the style of the Mobtown bed bars that I bought. I thought replacing the silver cross bars with black anodized bars would help. I ordered a set of bars from 80/20 and swapped them out.





I still wasnt happy with them. Ultimately they were way too tall, and the cross bar was too skinny. So I chopped the vertical plates shorter, drilled new holes for the cross bars and repainted them.

 

Just realized how blurry the silver bar pic was...

@Mobtown Offroad

 

Those look much better chopped. Nice job

 

Nice! They look good

 

The silver bars is why I didnt go with the mobtown ones (and i didnt really love the jdea of having to use T-slit bolts for everything).

Did you look into getting the KB Voodoo rails refinished?

Ive only had teh KB rails on for a day, but love the way they look. Hoping they dont rust. The finish in mine looms different than ive seen on other KB rail pictures, so hoping they really did fix the powder coating issue.

 

I thought about repainting the KB Voodoo bars, but aside from them being rather large and unwieldy, I was also fed up with the brand. KB's attitude towards their customers and the rusting racks and bars left a bad taste in my mouth. Replacing them seemed like less of a hassle at the time. Little did I know I'd be modifying the Mobtown bars.

 

Understood. I definitely like what you’ve done with the mobtown rails. They look much better.

I gotta spray my ski rack (Fishing rod holder) black to match eventually.

 

I was thinking about wrapping mine with 3M film... seems easier than painting. Mine is a fishing rod holder in the summer, ski holder in the winter.

 

Thats a good idea. IM sure it would hold up much better than spray paint too.

 

@Bertw192 hows the mobtown bed bars holding up vs the kb voodoos? And where and how much was it to purchase the separate black cross bars? I’d hate to walk out to my truck and see the same stock cross bars too.

 

They're holding up great, but truth be told, not much of it is original to the Mobtown bars. The KB Voodoo bars were crap...

The black anodized aluminum horizontal bars came from 8020.net. They have a bunch of different shapes and you specify the length and end hole tapping specs. I think they set me back about $140 for the bars and $50 for the shipping... not cheap. But worth it in my mind.

 

Any chance you’d like to replicate your fine craftsmanship and sell to me? Hahaha

 

I think the wife would kill me if she saw yet another pair of bars on my truck.

 

Dang this is perfect. The silver bar and the height on the Mobtown is throwing me way off. And from all the research I've seen on TW regarding KBV... I think I'll steer clear of them. I'd like to retain the functionality of my Retraxone MX and have low cross bars. Preferably matte black and not so high. KBV looks stellar but I'm worried based on past reviews. Your solution looks so clean.

 

Happen to still have the specs off hand from your 8020 purchase?

 

Here is the invoice for the black horizontal bars (1.5"x1.5"). These are an exact replacement for the Mobtown bars, just black. I think the stock Mobtown tap size is 5/16"-18 (7060)



Here is the invoice for the wider black horizontal bars (1.5"x3.0") that I used after I cut the Mobtown vertical supports. Note that the length changed, as I no longer "saddled" them in the vertical supports. I also increased the tap size to 3/8"-16 (7024) due to the larger shear force.



Hope that helps!

 

My man. This is cool. Thx, I may take a stab at it whenever I get the time. I assume 3301 and 3300 are bolts for your T slot accessories?... or were these pieces needed for something crucial to your install?

 

Yeah, 3301 and 3300 are just the T-slot studs that 8020 sells. You can use a standard hex head bolt, but it just takes a little trickery to get them to work. You need to maintain tension on the bolt, so the head binds in the slot. These T-studs are an easier/lazier solution.



Good luck!

 

Think there's any decrease in carrying capacity to be noted with the non-saddled configuration Bert (like loading an averagely sized rooftop tent)? With the 2 larger diameter bolts in your setup, seems like it would still be sufficiently stout, yea?

 

I would think there is probably less capacity, as you're relying on the shear force of the hardware and not the compressive force of the vertical uprights, but I'd suspect that it's still plenty of capacity to hold an average RTT. I probably wouldn't mount the larger Rainier or Denali CVT RTT's, but that's just me being conservative.