Zuba987’s DIY Bed rack

Just built a bed rack for my ‘06 access cab. I am hopping to get an RTT at some point and I wanted a rack. It’s made with 2x2 square tube 3/16” wall..... (yes I know 3/16 is way over kill, but I didn’t realized that until after I started building it haha) It’s 3’ long and a 10” rise. I couldn’t find a company that makes a rack that had everything I wanted, and the size I wanted too. I made the length 3’ long so if i ever get a short bed Tacoma, I can put the rack on a short bed. After the winter I’m going to build a set of sliders and when I do, I’ll sand blast the rack with the sliders and cover them in rustolium bed liner, until then it’s jusy painted flat black. I Hope this encourages others to build they’re own stuff, I find it very rewarding

 

That's pretty awesome

 

Where did you buy your steel? I'm finding that most local places near me are $10 /ft for 4x2" tube. Seams expensive

 

I paid $4.96 for the 2x2. Ended up being $103.17 for all the tube. I get my steal at a Local machine shop called White horse Machine, when I bought the steel for this project it seemed a little pricey. To put it into perspective, the price of the steal for my high clearance bumper (pre steel Teriffs) was nearly the same price for the steel to make the bed rack after the terrifs.

 

Looks real good, the added thickness of your steel will not flex as much and will not be as prone to pushing out against you bed side walls as bad.

 

Lookin' good! I'm thinking about doing the same for my short box

 

Good to know, I don’t have bed stiffers yet so we’ll see how it does. Definitely will if I add a lot more weight to it.

 

I would go ahead and make some bed stiffeners now and get them installed. Because there is really little support going on at the rear of the bed. I made my own bed stiffeners just to line up the gaps on each side of my tailgate and give me extra tie downs. My truck is stock without any RTT.

 

I’m going to add it to the list of future mods. What gauge steel did your use?

 

I wanted to use 3/16. But all I could find at the shop when I got ready was 1/4 inch so it was overkill. But the metal was free so I went with it.

 

Don't usually say this to a guy, but nice rack ...

I have a question or two ... and not intending to be critical ... why not make the rack supports more vertical to prevent adding stiffeners? Is it mostly looks? At 10-inch height, are you able to see traffic below the rack if you have stuff on top? I'm shopping for a rack, not for RTT, to carry my spare tires up there and keep the bed mostly clear for my dogs and make more room for travel gear when off-roading. I like the RCI and Voodoo Taco Max rack but can't justify forking out $700+; and shipping to that ... may end up setting for the Tuff Stuff sold through Amazon for $450.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I lost some visibility with the 10 inch rise, but it’s not bad. I lost another 1.5” of visibility too with the light bar. I wanted it lower to the bed to keep the top of the tent level with the cab to reduce wind resistance. And as for the angle, I’m really not a fan of the really vertical racks that’s some companies make. I like the look of the lower profile and it’s easier to access tools imo if there is an angle. I’m sure there will be some changes I’ll make on it after I use it for a while so we’ll see.

 

DIY fab for the win, nice work!

 

Thanks! It’s all a learning experience plus about half the price of buying it somewhere else

 

hey man, would you mind sharing the angle measurements? I'm looking for something similar and your work is extra clean, congratulations! ***