Tacoma Ladder Racks, I Need One !

Alumimum, over cab? AL doesn't have much of a fatigue life...

 

Yeah man , tons of custom aluminum racks up here

 

possibly something like this?
and pardon the drafting, I still have a lot to learn

 

That's cool ^^

But why not just do a fixed front and rear hoop , that will provide more strength for the cab over portion

 

I see what you are saying, the op wants a ladder style rack that is easily removable. I just wanted to see what he thought about have the rear hoop be able to swing forward out of the way, vs removing the whole rack. I do plan on usings either cables or a removable section of tubing to brace the rear hoop in the open position

 

Like this



or this

 

Those are too easy

 

Easily removeable and strong , yes

 

Or you could go to a nested , removeable rear hoop like this

 

I do like that idea! Simple, yet satisfying

 

Now I guess its up to the op

 

6-10 times a year? I wouldnt spend 1-2 grand on a custom built rack unless i was using it alot more than that. I haul 16 footers all the time with my basic thule racks, they were aroud $600. If there is a big framing order then i just have the lumber yard drop it off. On friday i had a 24' aluminum plank on my racks. No problem to haul at all. I have easilly had 500 lbs on those racks also. You said no moving parts, keep in mind that most contractor racks have a swinging rear cross beam, which allows you to get big things in and out of the bed easier. Unless you have a bed cap, then its not necessary.

 

Evolve

 

You can just get a $400 headache rack and haul 20's up over the cab like my old headache rack

 

You can haul 20's and serious weight with just a headache rack and you negate the risk of the load coming down on the roof

Load it like this



With this

 

Saw it mentioned earlier, mine is a Rack It rack, sucker weighs about 200-250lbs, not light but very strong, I have had 20 footers up there, I have had 900lbs of lumber on there, serious rack for the contractors, it actually does not mount to the bed, it has posts in the front that come inboard and mount to the Torx frame rail bolts, in the rear it's mounted to the steel pillars at the corners of the bed on the inside. Surprisingly stiff and strong.


Roof of a shed I hauled, probably 500 pounds

 

No problem unless you are carrying something whippy like small diameter 20' pipe or rebar ( 20' )

 

I went with the tracrac g2, had the t-rac before that was on 4 vehicles I believe and sold it to a friend with a ranger when I bought the g2 for my 09, now its on the 13. Only issue is the the long ass bolts make it hard to take on/off but I changed them to shorter ones when I installed on the 13 although I probably will never take it off. Can't remember what it was rated at but I haul a 28' ladder on mine. Purchased both from industrialproducts, best price I could find at the time several years ago, they sell the generic trac at home depot these days but you would probably have to order tacoma kit.

 

I paid $299 for my universal Tracrack at Lowes and another $79 for the Tacoma clamps. Then I just cut it down to fit my truck. Had to spend $3.99 on a 3/8" tap to re-thread the holes once I cut it down.

Ive hauled 20' lengths of 4" x 6" aluminum no problem and 16' lumber plenty of times. For $379 you can't beat a 800# load rated Tracrack IMO.

Just modded mine some more today to fit my needs.

"L" track hooks in the bottom corners




and some "L" track on the sides





old pic hauling 13' yaks like a boss

 

Anyone have experience with the Thule Xsporter on a newer Tacoma (2013)? Only hauling boats on the weekends so want a rack that will have a lower profile when not in use, but the bed-liner/wheel wells are pretty intrusive. Thinking of cutting holes allowing the uprights to sleeve all the way down (pending it doesn't hit the tire), but cutting into anything on her makes me nauseous.