Bed Rack Mounting

TL, DR: are 4

$100 Thule xk4b Xsporter Pro Adapter, Black

Thule xk4b mounts mounted in the back half of the bed enough to hold my rack, tent, and kayaks at speed?



I am trying to attach an aluminum All Pro bed rack that was built for a 2nd gen to my new 3rd gen. The mouning holes in the rack are about 1" higher than the bed rail in the 3rd gen. Plan was to extend the mounts, but found out that my buddy's new welder won't do aluminum. Plan B, ad you can see, is a set of Thule xk4b mounts for their rack systems. They fit great, and they're very solid, but will they hold on the freeway with the tent and 2 kayaks strapped to it?

Obviously there's 2 more on the other side of this picture, giving me 4 in total. The package from Thule includes 8 of these mounts. I would like to add a couple mounts in between the forward two bars, but I'm having trouble getting these mounts past the crossbar while in the bed rail track. I've tried removing the forward metal cap to give more clearance, but I still hit the crossbar when I try to wedge the mount into the bed rail. My only thought was to Dremel a notch in the bed rail wide enough to push the mount in, then slide forward/aft as needed.

Opinions?

 

Sounds like a need for a road test to find out.
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If you remove the end cap in the bed rail can you then slide the mount in from the end?

 

I guess I should have said that, the mounts have to be slid in from either end of the rail with the cap off, there's no way to twist or angle the mount into the rail like you can with the factory cleats.

 

Could you bolt a plate to rack and then bolt the bottom of the plate to the bed track?

 

That’s about all that holds a cap on a truck bed ain’t it? Maybe tie a rope from the upper cross bars down to the bed points if you could as an extra security?
this didn’t fall off (as far as I know) and it would have been doing 90mph

 

I was thinking about that too, there's not much room between the rack and the side of the bed. I'm not sure if I could get a nut back there.

Yeah I suppose it's about the same as a camper, I would just feel better if I could get a mount up a bit closer to the cab.

 

Use a carriage bolt in with the head towards the bedside.

 

I have the Thule Xsporter with the xk4 mounts and have little confidence in their load capabilities. They even clamp onto the rack with grooves for added stability but still move around with enough force.

I’d at least try to use all 8 clamps if using with a rack that the mounts are not designed for.

 

I would also recommend installing bed side stiffeners.

 

someone else mentioned having the XSporter Pro & adapters & whatnot.
I had that setup on my 2014 with the previous XSporter Pro model (vertical supports). I never had a RTT but hauled four paddle boards & multiple kayaks with gear loaded in the bed at interstate speed multiple times without any trouble le. . The older versions had a higher weight rating, not sure if that’s worth taking into account, but I never had a problem.

 

To follow up if/when some other poor soul has this same predicament and finds this in a search:

I've had the rack/tent on for about 2 weeks, mounted with only 4 XK4B mounts. It is very solid, couple of wheeling trips and a brief high speed run down a straightaway and it hasn't moved a bit. Still just as solid as when I originally tightened everything down. I can't say I've gone anywhere with the kayaks yet, but at this point I'm pretty confident they will hold just fine.

 

Grab a front bed rail off of a 2nd gen. Attach to your bed - the holes line up. And then attach your rack to that front bed rail as another layer of security.