bed cover and bike rack options ?

I see lot's of options for 2nd and 3rd Tacoma's but not much for the 1st gen.

I have a 2001 srunner and I would like something like this that I saw on a 2nd. Does anyone make something like this for the 1st gen ?

 

I did this on an old S10 I had. I just drilled holes in my bedrails and attached it with bolts. Was super easy just had to fab up the foot (Q towner base on Yakima) to work that way.

 

I had a couple of this style mounted to my old DCSB. Worked great and can mount about anywhere! However, this was over 10 years ago when bike axles were somewhat standardized... might not be as handy today with every front hub having a different width/diameter axle. You can buy what works for your bike, but then you're out of luck when a buddy wants to tag along with a different hub design!

$29 KUAT Dirtbag Bike Storage & Transportation Rack | Durable Steel Compact Direct Bolt-On Secure Bicycle Hauling Mount for Truck Beds Trailers Cargo Carriers | Black, 15mm x 110mm - Thru-Axle

https://www.amazon.com/Kuat-Racks-D...locphy=1028481&hvtargid=pla-579333275922&th=1

 

I went to www.campway.com physical store today.


They sell this one that has the tounneu cover that allows the rack I like but they don't make it for the first gen.








This is the only cover they sell for the first gen tacoma. They sell like 10 different bed covers but only this fiberglass model for the first gen.

 

After a long time hunting, about a dozen or so years ago I found a Mountain Top checkerplate aluminum tonneau for my Gen 1, produced circa 2004 when this Danish company had US production. Definitely a rare item now, but I love it.

I modified the mounting system so it would work on the C-channel bed rails on my Gen 2 truck, where it is now as my current Gen 1 is running an ARE canopy.

I've run Thule crossbars and bike mount trays for years on the tonneau on both trucks.

 

I love how that diamond cover comes with the bars along the side making it easy to install the cross bars and bike rack on top. I just checker their website they no longer carry that for the first gen. bummer. that's a nice setup.


https://mountaintopusa.com/#


I am sort of thinking of selling the srunner and just getting a 2nd gen or even the 5.7l tundura now :/ I really like the like size and look of the first gen more that's why I got it. This truck is starting to turn into a classic car. I already have 240z for that. ha-ha

 

Yeah, Mountain Top haven't made their checkerplate covers for the Gen 1 Tacoma for 15-18 years. They're technically "five-bar safety tread" pattern, often called checkerplate or chequerplate, not strictly diamond plate because the design is different.

The company's home-country (Denmark) website shows more information on their tonneaux, but there's nothing for a Tacoma anywhere. Most of their emphasis seems to be on rolling covers now, although they still make the "hard lid style" similar to my old one.
https://www.mountaintop.dk/
https://mountaintopusa.com/mountain-top-hard-lid-style/

Many of the Mountain Top covers came (and still do come) with a thin aluminum tube perimeter frame. I woulda liked to have found one of those, to be honest. But the one I found had the two side bars, which do indeed work well with my Thule crossbar and bike rack gear.

Those side bars are US-made, in fact, and one could easily buy them directly from the company to mount on any non-folding tonneau to create the same thing I have.
https://www.perrycraft.com/products/series/dynasport

 

Here's an example where someone mounted conventional Yakima roof tracks, towers, and crossbars to a fiberglass tilt-up tonneau on their Gen 1 truck. With a one-piece tonneau, this is a simple fitment.

Pix from my neighborhood a few years ago.

 

Does that tonneau cover already come installed with bars that I have marked in red or did he drill holes into his cover and install those?


That looks really good.

 

Could be either. The mounting tracks are available from many sources and easily fitted. Here's Yakima's web page showing one version:
https://yakima.com/products/54-tracks-w-60-capnut-hardware

 

Some people have mounted tracks directly to the bed rail of their trucks.

Here's an example on a Gen 2. (I'm not crazy about this one, at least from what can be seen. Those plastic bed rail caps on a Gen 2 are attached with plastic clips, and that wouldn't reassure me that an important load on the rack was secured well enough. On a Gen 1 this would be done by drilling the metal bed rail -- a much better attachment.)

 

nice, thank you.