Truck Bed Rack and Rain

I’m curious to know what those of y’all with a bed rack do about putting your stuff in the back and how you deal with rain.

Im not a huge fan of hard tops but that might be the route I need to go to be able to pack up the family and all of our stuff.

Are there any solutions that meet in the middle, like a bed rack but also provides cover? Not necessarily tonneau and bed rack, but I’d be open to that too.

 

Waterproof cases

 

Throw a tarp over your bed rack

 

Softtopper with a bed rack designed so the bed rack goes over the softtopper. SOS makes one and so do a few other fabricators

 

It may help if we knew what type of items and how much. Another idea other than already suggested is to use one of the large bags meant for the use on the roof of cars especially if it is for just occasional use but use in bed. This is just for example www.roofbag.com. There are lots of brands to choose from and Amazon shows lots of options as well.

 

I use weatherproof boxes for all of the camping supplies and I have a couple Front Runner dry bags to put our luggage in.

 

Dry boxes or bags sound like a good choice and honestly I’m a bit sad to say I never even really thought about it.

In terms of items, clothes tents sleeping bags etc. we went camping this past weekend and didn’t take my truck because it was raining and I didn’t have a way of keeping everything dry.

My biggest dilemma is we have a baby on the way and a Great Dane. I can’t think of a way to bring them all short of a hard topper really.

I appreciate all the advice so far from everyone!

 

I designed this

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ynamic-bed-cage-tonnaue-cover-version.582736/

Here's a recent pic with RTT installed.

To make your life easier my wife will adopt the great Dane. We've had 2 in the past.

 

@surfandturf Hah! I’d let you adopt the baby before I give up my big guy.

Very cool design! That was definitely along the lines of what I was thinking.

 

Sadly that will change the second you hold that little shit lol. I know mine did, I say my dog and daughter are 1 and 1a I just don’t tel which one is which.

 

I would not rule out considering a small trailer. Maybe of the pop up style. With a little one (that will learn to deal with roughing it) but for all the extra work that comes with a little one taking steps to minimize the extra work dealing with rain storms, winds and cold you and mom might appreciate it.

 

This is my set-up - KB VooDoo hi-rise crossbars with factory tonneau cover & RTT
It’s not fully waterproof, but the factory cover never was.

Of course with a great dane, you’re probably gonna need the shell. They’re pretty short on these tacos though btw

 

@AKGSD im thinking of getting those racks in preparation for a RTT in the future, probably the Smittybilt as well. Does the rack make the tonneau cover even more “less waterproof”? I have a trifold soft tonneau cover by Rough Country that’s pretty waterproof, just a few drops I notice time to time... wondering if this rack is gonna change that and allow more water in.

 

Sure does on the factory tonneau - but that thing leaks like a sieve anyway

 

@AKGSD well bummer! I’m really hoping it wouldn’t make my tonneau cover leak much.. seems close to waterproof as of now.. again, just a couple drops here and there I’ve noticed. Do you like the racks however? Easy install, easy off?

 

Yeah it’s easy enough. Simple bolt-on. If you were doing a more permanent installation you could silicone it to fill the gap created in the seal of the tonneau. I really havent noticed any additional water coming through mine from the spots tbh - but it adds discernible gap

i’m betting my tonneau’s seal will never go back to it’s original shape either

also, the tonneau does not like to close over it - mines permanently closed though, so a non-issue for me

it is a bit of a loose rack, not sure how well it will hold up to vigorous off-roading longterm. So far ok, excluding an incident on mojave road — but that was the tent’s fault — factory supplied nyloc nuts didn’t hold in place, loosened, and allowed the tent to slam around, bending the rack (whoops, washboard, forever)

for me this rack was the only option, because i wanted to keep the factory tonneau and still have a RTT

 

So I’m back again, about to pull the trigger on the Kb Voodoo Hi Rise Crossbars.. update? Do you still like yours? I’ve heard some complaints of the powder coat peeling off w/ time, @AKGSD

also, I see you’re only running two crossbars, and per the specs on their site that will hold 200 lbs static, the tent is just shy of 120 lbs. I feel like I’m forced to spend more and get 3 crossbars since my wife and I will be sleeping in the rooftop tent.

Maybe @KB Voodoo has some input?? Can I get away w/ 2 crossbars, 120lb tent, my wife and I in it. Maybe 400 lbs total with everything

 

I redact my last post Re: the static weight.. I’m an idiot and read the numbers on Kb site backwards.. @KB Voodoo responded quickly and corrrected me.

 

I’ve only had mine a few months. Seems to wiggle a fair amount off-roading, seems the steel’s a bit thin on the crossbars, and the truck’s bedrails themselves are kinda loosey-goosey. Still, has held up fine. Am getting some rust from the crossbars scratching off the paint on the mounts, kinda inevitable though

i did have a little bit of paint damage from shipping and had to rethread a couple holes on arrival ($10 at a machine shop) but other than that, they’ve been fine

 

Do you have the short bed? And if so, is that smittybilt tent hanging over the edges at all? I’m assuming that’s the normal size one, not their XL version?