Custom Headache Rack Build

I got my first Tacoma this summer and found TW pretty quickly. I have learned much on here and really appreciate all the insights. In that spirit, I thought I’d share this project in case someone can get something out of it.

I am mounting it with t-slot nuts, 3 on each side. I cut a section out of the bed rails to use the factory tie-downs. I put d-rings on the front in case those factory ones in the side of the bed don’t hold up. I welded brackets to mount some flood lights in the top section.








I do have a question for the board. Pretty much every headache rack I’ve ever seen has a cross brace across the top of the bed. But, a lot of friends trucks with racks end up wth splits in the sheet metal on the beds. These are 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. Do you think it would be bad to leave it off? I wonder if not having one would allow the bed to flex a little more and prevent damage. On the other hand, it will put more stress on the welds at the base of the rack. On the picture below you can see where i removed the factory cross bar and would add an angle iron cross piece potentially. Thoughts?



I am going to pant it black when I have time, along with AtTheHelm’s bedside reinforcements (which are really great quality, by the way).

 

Nice work. As a garage fabricator, I always appreciate seeing stuff on trucks that people built themselves.

I recommend using roll on bed liner as your paint. Most auto parts stores sell it in quart size cans. Lay it on thick and you won't have to touch it up for at least a year.

 

Appreciate it, Mxpatriot. Does that roll on bedliner hold up to abuse pretty well?

 

Better than anything else I have found that you can apply at home.

 

I had one other question for the board. I am wiring some work floods on the rack. Have any of you wired back to the bed? Can you get into the back of the cab and run the wires inside or do you have to run along the frame and come up in the bay?

 

Here is the final project painted.





I cut a section of the bed rails up to still use a factory tie-down and added a d- ring to cinch things resting on the rack:



Here are the rear flood lights mounted on the rack:


It’s 2” square tubing and 3/16ths angle. I used the galvanized t-nuts to mount.

 

@jxm94

Sorry it took me so long to respond. Here are a few things to think about on your project.

Gussets are critical! There are many ways to do them. I did it with plate:




If you plan on wiring lights, make accommodations for them in your design. I don’t like zip ties to be showing so I tacked some chain links on the back to run the wires and cut some spots to drop the wires:



If you do full length bed rails, you will have to accommodate where the bed pinches in at the end on the vertical part. I just cut half the angle iron out to make it fit. I also cut a slight taper on the horizontal part on top to fit with narrowing bed cap:





Because of the way you have to mount these on the side of the bed caps, I decided not to put any tie downs on top. This is the rails on my old truck:



This is my favorite way to build them. I copied the side of a trailer. Ratchet straps feed through them and nothing slides like on the traditional raised square tube rails. I decided not to do this on the Tacoma because you can’t really bolt into the bed caps and I don’t like the way it would pull against the uni-strut rails.

Last thing, don’t forget to line up your bed light, if that matters to you. Hope this helps and good luck on your build!

 

Looks nice! The rail caps running down the length of the bed will save it from falling objects that may shift in the bed. I had a similar set up on my old tundra with a rack. My taco sports an aluminum rack with bed rail caps.

 

Thanks, gator. How has the aluminum held up on your caps?

 

Almost 2 years and no problems. It is 1/4 thick like the square tube. I just wish the bed didn't have that funky end by the tailgate so I could run it the full length.

 

Nice design and your welds look fantastic

 

Thanks, MKEN! Appreciate that. I looked at every headache rack I came across for ideas. I have built several bed rails but this was the first full headache rack. I love my little Miller MIG. It is great for stuff like this.

 

Awesome work! I've been contemplating doing something very similar and tying it into the frame for some roll over protection as well.

What part of Texas? It looks like where I grew up in Western CO/Eastern Utah

 

Thanks a lot Wulf! It was a fun project. The Tacoma bed has some unique challenges from a normal pickup for sure.

Far West Texas, in a little town called Alpine. Halfway between Pecos and nowhere. You grew up in some beautiful country up there. Someday I will spend more time up there.

 

Nice work! I’m surprised there aren’t more products like this on the market. I just got back from a vacation in Ecuador where half the vehicles on the roads are double cab pickups with 5’ beds. And 90% of those have a setup like yours, though usually round tubing. Stainless steel was popular near the coast. Lighter and less obtrusive than a full ladder rack, yet still allows long lumber/pipe etc to be carried in a short bed.

 

Thanks, dman! These beds are so small, I’m surprised there aren’t more, too. Out of curiosity, do they have many full size trucks in Ecuador?

 

you can also use paint for frames from Eastwood. I got a gallon years ago for a 69 firebird I restored and you can hit it with a hammer and it won't chip after it is cured.

 

Yeah, Ecuador was interesting for a truck guy. Even in the narrow crowded streets of the old cities, lots of trucks. Mostly double-cab short bed diesels ... Chevy-badge Isuzu DMax seemed the most popular, followed by Toyota Hilux, Mazda, and Chinese Great Wall Wingle (looks like a Hilux knockoff), and a few Nissan Frontier/Navarra. But also many older models of each brand, going back to early ‘60’s Datsuns, and Ford’s Courier-era Mazda’s, ‘78-83 Toyota’s, Land Cruisers of every type, etc. and a surprising number of late model F150’s, a handful of Rams, a few SuperDuties, and quite a few older Fords, Chevies, full size Broncos and Jeeps.

 

Interesting. Thanks for the report.

 

I can’t believe that of the zillion truck pictures I took there, not one actually had one of those racks. Here’s a picture I grabbed off the web. Many of the trucks that were more work than play had vertical stubs on the upper portion of the rack to restrain lumber or pipe, and tie down hooks welded on too. BTW this is a Chinese Photon truck, looks very similar to the very popular Great Wall Wingle (yes, rhymes with jingle), of which I got lots of pics.