KB Voodoo Bed Rack

So I got my Mid height Short bed rack today. Overall I am mostly pleased, however I will say there are a few quirks:

MY REVIEW:

Shipping- B- He shipped it very quickly and it got here super fast. Very happy with the shipping speed. Unboxing it I noticed two of the ends were a bit bent inward, but it wasn't too hard to bend back (maybe some small cardboard corner reinforcements would help?). Couple rub spots that the powder coating rubbed away, but it wasn't too bad. (Should probably consider using some thicker brown paper between them, because eventually they'll turn into rust spots, but Ill touch up with some paint.

Assembly- A+ Went together very easily. Didn't even need assembly instructions. 7/16" ratchet and small adjustable wrench. English allen wrench for the sides. Definitely liked the use of carriage bolts (however more on that later) Still about as easy to assemble as possible.

Metal components/design- A- I wasnt really sure what to expect with this. I guess I was thinking something along the lines of the C channel steel that you see in things like the harbor freight or northern tool trailers. The mounting brackets are definitely exactly that, nice thick and solid, definitely wouldn't bend. The main rails however are all definitely a good gauge or two thinner. Now I know its primarily because of weight, but I would have liked to see them just a liiiiiitle thicker like one gauge thicker. Dont get me wrong, once bolted together its still very stable, but with something like a person standing on one of the middle sections you can definitely see it flex a little bit. If you have a rooftop tent or something with a distributed load it will be fine. Id be a little wary of something that put a twisting load or a heavy point load (like a significantly heavy kayak on two single point side mounts) on rough road would definitely . It'd be nice if a 'heavy duty' version was offered for people planning on putting significantly heavy items on long off road trips. Id say its basically the thinnest gauge Id feel comfortable with in order to get the lightest weight but still being decently strong, which is what they were probably going for.
Only other quirks were minimal; the bottom brackets were a tad smaller than the side channels so they made the side channels bend in about 3mm. Could just be because of manufacturing differences, but its not too big of a deal. Coming powder coated was a huge factor of why I chose this rack, so the textured coating is definitely a huge plus. Also is very adjustable so thats another plus.

Hardware- D- This is my BIGGEST complaint. For 550$ I expect to get good quality hardware. The 1/4-20 carriage bolts are 307A bolts (Grade 1 bolts), one of the weakest bolt grades you can get. I stripped out 3 with little to no effort. After torquing them down to keep the rack snug, they are already under stress, add fatigue from bumpy roads with a load, and a sheer force from an open rooftop tent with several people in it, and you're asking for trouble with a couple grade 1 1/4-20 bolts. Would I trust this rack on bumpy roads with my RTT on it with these bolts? Absolutely not. Grade 2 would have been acceptable, but really, if your $2k RTT is sitting on it and you're bouncing through the mountain roads, do you want to risk it all on weak hardware? Not me. I ordered grade 5 bolts and nuts offline as soon as I was done putting it together. The rail bolts seemed decently sturdy, but I couldn't tell what grade bolt just from looking at it. May get some grade 8s for those just to be safe.

Cost- C- Lets face it, the mark up on this is clearly a LOT. You're paying for convenience and ease. Considering the amount and gauge of the metal, and the simplicity of the bends, if they're doing bulk batches, I can't see them being over 200 (probably more like 100 depending on the batches) to make. They are powder coated so I do imagine that raising the costs a bit, but still, definitely charging a lot more than they should… Especially considering the cheap hardware. But if you're looking for a quick easy pre-coated rack, the options aren't vast, so they're definitely taking advantage of that.

Overall- B+ It looks great, comes pre coated, goes together in minutes, is quite adjustable, and is lightweight but still adequately stable. The hardware needs to be upgraded immediately, and the cost needs to be dropped by 100$, and Id probably beef up the packaging a bit, but overall its a good rack with a good design and looks fantastic. Would I do it over again? Given my limited timeframe, probably, but I would definitely wait until it went on sale or they dropped the price if I had more to work with.

Side note- Id be willing to bet that with a little bit of design work, an adjustable height version could be made, which would be fantastic.

 

Pics

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this review, and we're glad you like your rack!!

I'll just address a couple of your concerns:

Hardware

The carriage bolts are actually grade 2, and more than strong enough for this application. Each structural connection point has at least four bolts, and some have six bolts. Thus far no one has had any problems with the hardware, and I've seen pic's of these rack way overloaded.

The most important bolts are the ones that attach the top bars that RTT's connect to, and there we use grade 5 bolts.

Cost

Our cost to produce these is higher than you could imagine. Our margin on these is the lowest of anything in our product line.

Enjoy your rack, and keep the pic's coming.

 

Anyone put rotopax on the mid height yet?

 

Be the first!!!

 

Haven't gotten any rotoplex yet, but I originally wanted the mid height as well. I ended up with the full height and am glad I did. So far I have run this rack through the sierras over the past 4 days and not one issue. Even with a 200 lb RTT. I would definitely endorse this rack for the 3rd gen Tacoma.

Some pics from starting up to Kennedy Meadows and Alabama Hills. I would upload more but im sitting in the only spot with service in the north Lake Tahoe campground area. Full run report will be coming soon

 

Few more, going to Laurel Lakes (yep I rounded the switchback of death) and another coming back from Monache Meadows. All fully loaded with the RTT.

 

You have no idea how cool it is for me to something that I made all the way out there in California, doing cool stuff that we could never do in New York.

 

Anyone have a close-up picture of how the ARB awning is mounted to the bed-rack?

 

Paging @LunaticConcepts

 

Not anymore.

 

Yea man, the rack performed great. Im leaving on the truck to interchange depending on what Im doing each run.

Oh btw, those T bolts did arrive, but the shipper didnt put my apartment number on it. I had to camp out at the distro centers until like 930pm that night. grrrr

Oh well, water under the bridge

 

Aww dang. Do you at least remember if you bought mounts or had to fabricate yourself?

 

I think I just drilled holes in the side and used the supplied hardware that came with the awning.

 

Anyone have rotopax on the mid height version, or, the ability to hold up a jerry can sideways and see if it would fit?

 

Still waiting for an answer on this one.

 

Has anyone figured a possible solution for tonneau cover use with the short rack?

 

... Or the tall rack?

 

Prices:

Short bed, Tall - $600

Short bed, Mid Height - $550

Long bed, Tall - $650

Long bed, Mid Height - $600


Order HERE

ALL PARTS ARE NOW LASER CUT.

 

Hey Chad has anyone had these long enough to see if the bedsides are flexing at all? Ive been looking into bed racks that mount to the bottom of the bed itself to take stress off the bedsides but for the price and quality of yours Im tempted to just suck it up. Just wanted to know if it will flex bedsides eventually?