Bed Rack to Mid-Rise Cap (Leer 180, etc) questions/feedback

Anyone gone from bed rack to cap? Been debating swapping my Rago Fab rack and basket to a Leer 180 and Prinsu cab rack and still trying to devise a solid plan for storing the gear I routinely travel with now on the new setup (without the truck becoming too tall to fit in my garage and/or places I encounter along the way.)

Long trip load out includes the hi-lift, shovel/axe, 4 gallon rotopax on the sides of the rack, clothing duffels, tent, chairs, traction boards and misc other things in the basket, and cooler/storage bins with camp kitchen and sleeping bags/etc in the bed. Back seat storage is pretty much taken up with camera gear and the like, so not much more I can store in there as it is.

Garage is 82", at the moment I'm measuring that I've got at most 30.5" of space between the bedrail and garage door, from what I've read the Leer 180 is about 23" tall, so that leaves me with about 7" of room above the cap - not really enough to put the Yakima MegaWarrior on top that I have now - and even a Prinsu cap-rack seems like it'd be tight before I put anything on top of it.

 

I've got a FR tray on a mid rise cap. I'll measure the height later.

 

Ground to top of tray is 77"
Bed rail to top of tray is 27"
I've got 265/70/r17 tires on stock sport suspension.
I used gutter plates to get the tray down pretty low, about 1" above the cap.

 

Much appreciated.

Think I've pretty much settled on the Leer 180. The difference in the forward roofline of the MX how it stays at the roofline for an inch or so before rising upwards would mean a larger gap between the roof rack and the cap. Sent updated emails out to the three local dealers for updated quotes.

 

No prob. Here is what it looks like on a snugtop, in case that helps.

 

I just switched about a month or so ago from a KB Voodoo rack over a tonneau cover to a topper. I don't miss it and love having the extra storage space in the bed.

 

Nice rack!!! I've been looking for something like that for my mid rise cap that mounts to the side. Where did you get it from? How do you like it?

 

Thanks, man. It's a frontrunner slimline tray. You order directly from them. I used their 'legs' and Rhino rack gutter plates. The gutter plates require drilling 3 holes for each one. I added Yakima HD (?) bars for carrying 2 canoes.
I like the rack, but some of the black powder coating has peeled off the top. I think this happened because I took it through indoor touchless car washes on cold winter days. I suspect the rapid temperatures changes and high pressure water caused the powder coating to blister up and then flake off. Frontrunner says they will replace the affected pieces, I just need to take some pictures. Kind of a pain to remove and replace parts, but good if they stand behind their product.

 

Hey man, love this setup! I'm looking at doing something really similar for my midrise cap when it gets here. Did you purchase the slimline specific to the tacoma and the legs fit into rhino rack gutter mounts/plates? Or did you get the canopy/trailer specific tray and input your own measurements for height width ect. and then purchase the legs separately? Also where could I score some of those brackets you've got mounted behind the canopy window? Does it carry a canoe well? Sorry for all the questions im fairly new to all of this.

 

Thanks, yeah their website is fairly confusing. I called and spoke with someone. Gave them the dimensions I wanted and ordered the legs separately. It was a minor PITA... convincing them that I knew what I wanted.
Also, a lot of measuring and some guestimating to figure out what length legs I wanted. But yeah, their legs fit in any rain gutter or rain gutter plate. I got Rhinos version because they have 3 holes per plate. And i really wanted to drill lots of holes in my new cap.
I think I got those folding step/handles from Sportsmans Warehouse (or Guide?) in Idaho Falls.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info man!

 

What is the load rating for that setup?

 

I'm not really sure. It's a snugtop hi-liner with sportsman's package (thicker roof and reinforced corners etc). They say it can handle 500 pounds, probably static load. I suppose I voided the warranty when I drilled 18 holes for the gutter plates. It seems pretty bomber, though.

 

This sounds like just what I am looking for. What make and model is the rack? Thanks a bunch!!

 

Lots of info in post #8 above. Let me know if you have questions.

 

Just wondering what's the dimension of your windoors? thinking replace my regular vented window but can get that information from anywhere.

 

I am also hoping to find out the dimensions to replace my sliding ones

anyone?

 

Oops... sorry for a short delay.
Mine is a snugtop hi-liner. The windoors are 15 x 59" outside of exterior trim. The windoors are parallelogram(?)

 

Wondering if anyone has a rack like this on a leer 180 that has that factory roof rails or similar on a long bed?

 

I'm thinking about doing something just like this for my 180 on a long-bed. hoping to keep the height as low as possible