@turbodb Fabbed Bed Racks

Many of you may be familiar with Box Rocket’s bed rack design, which is a great one. He’s gotten busy in life and is no longer making racks. I asked him a while back if he minded me making a similar rack for myself, and possibly then making a few more for others, and he was totally cool about that.

I made one for myself, and it turned out great. I had several requests from others to fab up one for them, so I’m going to give it a go. We’ll start with a few so I can work out pricing, shipping, and options and then we’ll go from there.



Currently these are racks for first gen Tacoma's and as you can see, they are a mid-height rack. They sit approximately 8” above the bed sides and 23" above the bottom of the bed, at a height that results in a RTT being flush (or just slightly below) the highest point of the roof line (center of cab), except for the ladder which sticks just slightly above.

All steel, the rack is strong enough to hold hundreds of pounds - an RTT plus other accessories (hi-lift, shovels, etc.) is no problem. Construction of the rack includes:

• platform of the rack is made of 1x1” .09 square tube, approximately 38x38"
  • upgrade to add L-track (+$225)
• the legs are 1x2” .125 rectangle tube
• the feet are 1½” .125 angle, 39" long
  • upgrade to 2x1½” angle, 39" long (+$20)
  • upgrade to 2x1½” angle, wrap around front of bed (+$100)
• stainless steel mounting hardware with 4 points of attachment.

Note: attaching the rack requires drilling four holes in the bed rail (two per side)

Weight is approximately 50 lbs.



Pricing:

DIY, Weld-Together Kit: $375 plus shipping (generally around $75) for the base rack

Fully Welded: $680 plus shipping (Greyhound, generally around $250) for bare metal.

You can upgrade your rack with a few options:

1. L-track - $250 - Upgrade platform to have L-track along both sides, for ease of securing loads to the rack. (adds ~10 lbs.)
   
   
2. Premium Feet - $40 - Upgrade to 2x1½” .125 angle, 39" long for extra support and more room to secure to the bed rails.
   
   
3. Wrap-around Feet - $150 - Upgrade to 2x1½” .125 angle, wrapped around the front of the bed to help prevent bed cracking under heavy use.
   
   
4. Prime and paint - $225 - includes surface prep, Rustoleum primer, and your choice of enamel or undercoating.
   Note: May need to be touched up after shipping.
   .
5. Hi-Lift mounting hardware (non-locking) - $30 - includes all the necessary hardware to mount your jack on the driver or passenger side.
   Note: requires drilling two holes in the rack, which I can do for you if you’d like.
   .
6. 12v switched electrical box - $90 - includes two Blue Sea Systems switched 12v outlets (cigarette style) in a weatherproof housing that you can attach to the rack to supply power to the bed. Comes pre-switched/wired, with ~6 inches of 14ga wire outside the box.
   Note: requires wiring to battery/power source, not included.
   .

You can of course add many of your own options, suck as Quick Fists, etc. to hold other accessories.

Bed Rack (some with Hi-Lift mount)

​

L-track

​

​

Premium Feet

​

Wrap-around Feet

​

12v power box

.​

 

Does your rack come with tie down rail system like Box's rack?

 

Not currently, though the rack itself is pretty easy to tie down to, obviously . My thinking here is that if you're going to use it for an RTT (which I suspect is most usage), then the tie-down system is pretty useless. So, at least to start, no tie-down system.

 

Very cool! I like the power box option too. I would also be interested in a tie down option. Shoot me a PM and I can help track down the product that Box Rocket used to use.

Edit: You should post this on TTORA / Custom Tacos too. It's good to see these back and I feel like you would get some traction there.

 

http://www.discountramps.com/tie_down_rails/p/TRAK8/

Found something similar!

 

Close. Those are aluminum, and we'll need some steel ones to weld them in.

Edit: could probably make those work, with a bit of backing steel. Would add a bunch of time to the build though. Probably a $200 addition, at least for the first one.

 

Hmm, I'll keep an eye out for some steel ones. I didn't realize that they were aluminum. Steel would be better in almost all ways

 

These look good!

 

Still aluminum

 

First rack delivered to @Teke ! He was super easy to work with - esp. since I was out on The Tour when he first contacted me, and I had a fun time putting to together for him.
Thanks for the business, and post some pics when it's painted and installed!

 

He nice bed racks man! Is there any way you could send me the link to those 12v power box's?

 

Just the box, or do you mean with the components? The box itself is this, but I do the work to turn each one into a 12v switched power source. Happy to make you one without the rack, if you'd like.

 

Sooooo forgive my ignorance but how exactly does this rack bolt down to the bed box? Can anyone snap a close-up showing this?

Actually, looks like we're right at a year since any activity on this thread so has anyone purchased this rack that can show additional photos, and is there any feedback on quality? It looks pretty solid, and I'm about to start the planning process for the setup I'm going to need for my little rig...

Thanks in advance!

 

@what road and @Teke have purchased them and I've wheeled quite a bit with @turbodb and can attest to the strength of the racks he makes. They bolt through the side of the inner rail of the box.

 

Yup, I can post pictures in a bit getting ready for work. But I'll post one in 30 minutes or so for you.

 

Been awhile since I have been on so I didn't see the notifications from the post but I have had mine for a little over a year now and love it. Held up well and it has helped with the bed flexing. You drill 4 holes into the lip that hangs down into the bed from the bedside. These are some older pics when I first installed it. It has since been powder coated and had his Hi-lift mount added and some quik fists.

 

Thanks for the feedback, gang....now just trying to decipher between this and the Avid with integrated basket. I already have a Surco that I would be throwing on top of this, but the Avid, albeit smaller, may be sized just right for my needs.

Oh decisions, decisions!!

 

What are you planning to put in the basket?

 

Really just camping essentials. Problem is with camping for a weekend, it's a kayak (or 2), mountain bikes, 1 or 2 RTIC coolers, and tons of "gear" (fishing or hunting). Just picked up this Tacoma earlier this year, so quickly learning of storage limitations without having an added deck. I'll eventually throw on a roof rack as well to help out when needed. I'd considered a camper so as to add my Surco atop, but I use the bed often to just THROW stuff in there and don't want to be dealing with constant removal of a camper.

 

I don't see where a basket would help you out really. I put my kayaks underneath my rack when I tote them around. Mountain bike would be tough unless you mounted it to the top of the rack. I've strapped my Rtics to the top of the rack before when the kayaks were underneath. Sucks you aren't close to any of us with the rack so you could see one in person and see if it'd work for your needs. Works well for mine and it unbolts pretty quickly if I really needed to put something taller in the bed but I have a trailer so I rarely do that.