My home-brewed Bed Rack!

Update 10/10/16:

We have sold our first rack to our first customer @Hurt.Lunchbox !

We've also fabricated another one exactly like the one pictured. It'll be available for purchase at the beginning of November. Anyone interested in purchasing it? I'm willing to meet (within reason) to deliver it. Specifics can be discussed via PM!

Original post:

So, a couple of weeks back, I began fabricating my bed rack for my newly acquired RTT and wanted to post results of the finished product.

I've spent two nights in the RTT atop the rack, and I'm really happy with the results of both the rack, and the tent itself (Smittybilt Overlander). I've also had the rack installed in the truck now for a few weeks and it's finish is holding up very well - as I'd expected.

Wind resistance isn't felt behind the wheel with the RTT mounted, and only reflects a slight (1-2 mpg) decrease in mileage at highway speeds. I designed the rack to be low enough that the whole profile of the tent wasn't above the roofline of the cab - but high enough for an OEM sized spare to stand up in the bed underneath.

The rack installs/secures to the truck using 4 factory bed bolt points.

Future plans for the rack include side cradles for fuel and potable water canisters, mounts for LED lights to illuminate the bed as well as a campsite, a way to secure the spare to the rack inside the bed, mounts for tools & jacks -etc.

I'm heavily considering the idea of building these to order - and would love to get feedback and maybe gather some interest on these if we were to begin making them for our forum members. So, let me know what you think!

In action:



The rack itself:

 

awesome.

i don't even like the word awesome, but its appropriate.

well done.

 

What is your price point and location? I see NY plates, so assuming you are local

 

Looks good

 

Looks good, but looks like a lot of extra metal compared to most other models out there

 

nice rack, man

 

curious... why did you design the rack to sit on the bed floor, vs sitting higher on the bad rails?

 

We wanted to go directly to the bed floor so that the bed sides were't supporting the weight of the rack, RTT and occupants of the tent. We also want to attach tools, fuel & water canisters, etc. to the rack - adding to the weight we'd be asking the bed sides to support. We didn't feel like resting the rack on the bed sides was the right approach for our needs

 

@Tim P

ok, that makes sense.

 

Looks good, like the idea of keeping a lower profile for the tent.

 

We plan to build-to-order if we start offering them for sale - so we can build whichever profile a customer prefers. Keeping them lower definitely helps on the highway.

 

Phrasing.

 

nice, rack man

 

You apparently dont watch Archer.

 

Are we not doing "phrasing" anymore?

 

Looking to build the next rack in the coming weeks/1 month. Anyone local/semi-local need just a basic rack for an RTT - similar to the one shown here (potentially a model that rests on the bed-sides if preferred)? We can discuss details and price via PM.

(Sliders are in the works, by the way)

 

Where is local for you?

 

I'm located in Binghamton, NY. But I'd consider anything within a few hours from here to be "local".

 

Sweet! I'm moving to MD relatively soon and I'll be 4.5 hours away. I'll keep this in mind.

 

I'd be interested ... I have the KB Voodoo rack but not the one for the RTT...