KB Voodoo AluMax Rack Install with Diamondback Cover - Photo Heavy

First off, I love your build! I currently have a diamondback SE tonneau cover for my 2019 Tacoma TRD Pro and have been researching bed racks that are compatible with the cover. I am just getting started with building my rig. I have the KB Voodoo Rack and Cargo tray on my list to add to my rig because I love the versatility it provides with the tonneau cover. I have a couple of questions.

1) When moving the cleats and the locking handle on the DB cover, what size drill bit do you recommend and did you used the same size hardware? How far forward did you move the locking handle?
2) I am really interested in how you did the wiring for all your rock lights, power panel switch, and the 12 pin connector. I'm a fan of clean wiring mods and you seem to have everything squared away very nicely. Would you mind providing some details on how you wired everything or if there is a specific site that you used? I noticed that with the 12 connector pin cable it's coming out of the side of your bed with a rubber grommet installed. It looks pretty intricate. How would you rate the difficulty in all of the wiring you did?

I appreciate any assistance that you can offer

 

Thank you!

 

Started fabbing up my sliding tray for the dometic. I have to give credit for the design to @Papadave418, I stole it from him.

 

That looks good! Show us when you are done!

 

I don’t remember how much I moved them, but enough out of the way to clear the rack when placed. I just drilled out new holes with a bit a little larger than the original hardware I reused. Moving the lock was the hardest part which required a bigger hole. I used nuts and bolts to seal the old holes and washers sandwiched for the old lock hole. Moving the lock didn’t affect the performance of the locking rods and was easy to adjust them. I had to move my lock because I had the @KB Voodoo cargo tray which has a cross member support that would land right on the lock when using the long bed rack on a short bed tacoma.

The wiring took some time, I got a 12 pin pig tail plug off Amazon and used every last pin for the multifunction bar, scene lights, cargo lights, and power up to my tent to charge phones and the LED light. The panel in my truck bed wall is a waterwich plug and switch combo. I ran 10 gauge wire from the battery back to a buss bar to run the cubby air compressor, fridge, and switches for the rack. So my rack switches are in the back on that panel because I figured i wouldn’t really need to turn my rack lights on or off while driving in the cab, so now I reach in and switch them while camping. For that reason alone I saved $500+ on not needing a switchpro. Otherwise your camp workflow is weird because let’s say you hop out and you are in the back and you want to turn on lights, you have to go open your door and flip the switch then walk back. Sounds like a small issue but it becomes annoying to do it over and over, so I prefer my switches in the back. Then when I’m done camping I unplug just the 12 pin, unscrew 4 bolts, and hoist off my rack/cargo tray/tent all as one unit and have my truck back.

It’s been a killer solution for me, a couple minutes to install and uninstall the rack and I’ve got additional storage and power.

 

Your lighting setup makes total sense for ease of use. I currently have an sPod installed under my hood for my ditch lights and future light bars because I didn't want to have to run a bunch of wiring into the cab. I only had to run the cable for the touchscreen controller inside. I was also looking into installing a bluesea fuse box so I wouldn't have to run a bunch of wiring off my battery. The Powertray mount that I have installed has an open area for the fuse box. I could probably route the waterwich switch panel to it. So many options. What do you think?
You mentioned a buss bar that you routed the 10-gauge wire to from the battery. Where is that located at? Also what gauge 12-pin pigtail connector did you utilize to connect all your lights and other equipment?

 

So the buss bar is screwed into the rear by the cubby underneath the truck. I actually ran both a positive back and negative as my original ground spot started to rust a little and started popping fuses. I wired a 100A breaker with shut off switch to an aux fuse box like you mentioned, then back to the panel. I ran a line for the compressor, then another for the fridge to separate those power draws. Then the buss bar is for the miscellaneous power needs like the rack lights and pin switch tonneau lights I installed. If your power tray has that feature use it! I do like my 100A BlueSea switch as I can instantly kill power to the rear and work on it.
I used 18g for the rest of my rack wiring and such to the pigtail plug

 

That looks awesome! I put the fridge side out towards the rear as I access it most, which also means I only really need to pull the fridge halfway out. Works really well next to my Pull Kitchen. Are you going to add a base or keep it open frame?

 

I welded 2 pieces of 1/8” flat bar, under both sets of feet, but I think I will still skin it with some thin aluminum that I got. I’m thinking about swapping the doors, and moving it to the other side of the bed, to counteract the taco lean. Fridge, water jug and battery will be a lot of weight. Is the pull kitchen heavier that your slide when it’s loaded?

 

Yes it’s just under 200lbs. The slides are monsters on it

 

Hi Papadave418, I know it's been a couple years since you posted on your setup. I'm a new Tacoma owner, and have gone camping a few times with my truck, and I'm enjoying it. Each outing is something new that I learn. I'm hoping to go more remote, and have been researching different options and set ups, and I have to say that your set up looks great. Since you've put this together, how has your experience been? Has it worked out for you? Anything that you might change? Thank you for sharing your photos. It's definitely appreciated. Thanks!

 

I still love it! All that I’ve changed is I took off my bike mounts as the bikes hit branches too much so I don’t bring them out much. I moved the rock lights from underneath the bike mounts to the bottom of the side panels and they work great. I still take the rack on and off like a backpack all the time and love it. The 12 pin pigtail works great and love my KC Hilites multifunction light bar. I just did a huge Death Valley trip and then this past weekend I got back from a Mojave Road Trail clean up with Overland Bound. I’d recommend my mods of extending the length of the cargo tray for a long bed rack set up, and adding 56” full extension locking slides to get to the gear more easily. Both I detailed in these pages.


@KB Voodoo

 

Thank you for your reply, and again, great job. Those pictures look great. I'm glad that setup is going strong. I just came back from Anza Borrego this weekend, and yes, I had like 7 different boxes I had to unload, then setup kitchen, etc. Right now, it's taking me a little over hour to pack everything back up, and move to another location. I still enjoy it, but I do wish my setup, and break down is faster. If you were to recommend the first few things to add towards a similar setup as yours, what would you recommend do first? And to clarify, I'm more focused on the storage, and tent setup. I'm still not ready to venture into crazy trails, so I think I can wait on suspension upgrades, and possibly tires for now (I'm going to beat up the stock tires a little more before I change them out).

 

Well...a Pull Kitchen.....hahahaha

It takes me 5 minutes to set up my tent, 2 rugs (under the ladder and privacy tent), Quick Pitch privacy tent, full Pull Kitchen set up (15 seconds), 2 chairs and King Camp Table. Tear down is slower to get the table and chairs away, maybe 10 minutes to tear down. Normally I don’t get into my 2 bins unless I need my annex or hot water heater for my shower.

So I would start with the portions of your set up that make camping suck, cuz the more you reduce those the more enjoyment you’ll have and the more you’ll go. The iKamper was HUGE for me because I do not like sleeping in tents. It cost A LOT, but I have at least 50 nights in it in 2 years and the set up is really like 1 minute. I quickly realized that the kitchen portion was a significant time suck since I don’t like hydrating my food, I wanted to actually cook food. So then my diy kitchen progression began to solve that.

 

Hahaha, yes, I've been studying your setup on your v2 kitchen pullout, but I also do like v1 as well. Looking to maybe do something similar as your v1 option. I've never used 80/20 before so I'm a little overwhelmed of where to start, because like you, I want to cook my food. But still studying both of your kitchen builds. I guess since we're on that subject. I'm assuming that plywood base you used for your kitchen, did you bolt it directly to your bed? Are there specific points that are ok to drill through, or did you use the existing torx bolt as your anchor for the base?
Other than that, yes, I think storage, and tent set up are my big things right now. I once got back to camp real late at night, and there was a 30 degree temp drop, and windy. It sucked having to put up that tent, and immediately started thinking about the roof top tents with quick deployment. Don't get me wrong though, that Rightline Gear tent is awesome, and sturdy. It just takes time to setup. Thanks again for your responses Papadave. I might bug you some some more questions later on, as I dive deeper into the details, and studying your material. I guess one last thing, is there a specific Diamondback cover that would work better with your Voodoo rack, or are you happy with what you have? It didnt sound like you needed to do too much modification to it, to set it up the way you like it. Thanks!

 

The bed is composite and for the blue DIY kitchen I drilled through the last of the flat portion by the rear window. You can access it pretty easily underneath to make sure you don’t hit anything. The bed is really tough. I have the SE DB cover as it holds 500lbs, plenty for me. It has less cleats so idk if the heavy duty one would require more modifications to fit the voodoo rack or not. For a short bed truck, with a long bed voodoo rack with cargo tray, I had to move the lock. It wasn’t hard, but you are drilling a new hole for the lock, which felt scary at the time. But it all works perfectly and I paint the washers black to cover the old hole which I rarely notice or think about. I got $25 Amazon led lighting for truck beds and wired them to a pin switch and it works great. Really nice to see clearly under a cover

 

Thank you for that insight! If I remember right, I think you had also mentioned that you installed a sheet over or under the plywood to keep it from warping. Did you use sheet metal, and just screwed it onto the plywood? Any specific thickness on that metal? Or did you use aluminum strips as a support for the plywood to keep it from warping?
From my understanding, your truck is a short bed, but you are using a long bed voodoo rack which is why you had to modify your DB cover, right? Did you get the long bed rack because that's the only size that rack slide comes in?

 

I put an 1/8” plate on the plywood base at the distal end that the bolts slipped over to anchor the rear to the truck. Now we use an angle of 3” aluminum to anchor the rear and rivnuts through the bed. Much better solution. Picture below.

I like that the rack was bigger and would cover more of the bed so that is why I did a long rack on a short bed Tacoma. It also allows more room underneath for cargo like bins and chairs. That’s why I had to modify the cover.