List of Bed Towers/Racks Compatible w/ Tonneau Covers

Hello there!

New Tacoma owner here. I purchased a 2020 Tacoma TRD Off-Road in Cement color w/ a 6spd manual.

I'd like to use bed towers/rack for a RTT or accessories like SUPs. It would be nice to have a rack that is extendable. However, I've noticed there is a lack of compatibility in the market. I've listed a few combinations available below that CAN work.

Yakima OverHaul HD & Retrax XR Series OR Pace-Edwards retractable Cover

I like the Overhaul HD rack system the best. I really would like to be able to use this with a soft cover that can roll up (the velcro kind). I was shocked to see the price of the Retrax covers and they also take up a lot of room in the top of the bed.

Yakima / Retrax

Elevate Rack System & TruXedo Cover

EDIT: 3/20/20 - You can buy the Elevate Rack but it has to be used with a different rail system - the Elevate TS isn't compatible with the Tacoma yet. You'd have to buy a Retrax or Pace Edwards Tonneau with the T-Slots for this to work.


Old info: Probably the cheapest solution. The towers don't look very stout in comparison to the Yakima. This solves the issue of a retractable cover taking up room in the bed of the truck. The rack is compatible with a few of the TruXedo covers among others.

Elevate Rack / TruXedo Low Pro

Max Modular & Numerous Covers

There are a handful of racks that our community has created that are compatible with covers. Max Modular does make an extendable rack that will work with numerous covers. I'm not a huge fan of the looks of the rack, personally - but it would work! If extendable isn't a necessary feature, there are fixed height ones.

MAX Modular Utility Rack / List of Compatible Covers



Am I missing anything? These are the options I was able to find searching around. I'm not sure if you can get the Thule bed towers to work with anything. I also realize there are really low-profile racks on the market that sit just above the covers. Those I didn't include in here as I am aiming to be able to adjust the rack much higher.

I talked to a Yakima representative and he told me they would get back to me to let me know if they are working on more options for compatibility for a cover. I'll be sure to reply if/when I hear back from them.

Hope this helps other people in their search and if anyone has something to add, please please please do so!

Thanks​

 

I've been researching the same information, so I'm in for updates.

That said, I bet there a lot of possible combinations with a Peragon cover but I haven't seen anything online. Also it would almost definitely require some custom fabrication as the cover attaches to the bed rails.

 

There must be away to make a Velcro roll-up cover that would work with the Yakima Rack. There's gotta be a market for it. I know I'd buy one even though it wouldn't exactly be water tight.

 

thanks for starting this thread. I have a cap on my 2014 dcsb, but i kinda want to sell it and get a hard rolling tonneau and rack. The retrax and yakima job is perfect, but way more expensive than what i can justify right now.

The elevate rack looks interesting, but it didn't say it was available for the 2nd gens.

Hopefully there are some other options out there.

 

I am about ready to just do the Yakima Overhaul HD and Retrax cover option, but I am really really unhappy with the amount of space the cover takes up in its housing.

If I could use a rack compatible with a Tonneau that is EASILY removable I would probably consider it the best option for me at this point.

Does anyone know of any tall racks that work with a Tonneau cover that can be easily removed? I've been eying the Modular Base Rack from Victory 4x4. They all look like they have hardware up top that could be removed easily and I could leave the posts installed, but I can't be sure from looking at the photos. An example of why I would do this - I need the bed of the truck available for 2 dirtbikes.

Also I realize that Elevate Rack system would be fine with this, but i just don't like the design of the rack. Just looks too sketch and unrefined to me.

 

Just got off the phone with Truxedo. The TS Rails aren't compatible with the Tacoma yet. BUT they are likely working on it. The CS person told me that looking at the OverHaul HD System and the TS Rails would LIKELY work together - they just don't make it for the Tacoma yet! So fingers crossed.

For reference the rails alone cost about $135. So you'd pair that with a Truxedo soft cover and the Yakima OverHaul HD. Definitely the best solution IMO!

 

I'm using the KB Voodoo aluminum hi-rise crossbars with my tonneau and loving the set up so far. Very secure and I like the way they look.

 

Can you remove the crossbar pretty easily? I probably only need them for the rooftop tent. So if I could just detach the crossbar part (not the pillars) when i'm not using them, I'm totally sold on that idea.

 

Very easily removed. That’s one of the reasons I like them.

 

I've been looking at this as well. I want to have the same brand roof rack and bed rack so I want to get the Victory4x4 rack since I ordered their roof rack. If you look at the installation video on victory4x4's website, it looks as if you just have to unbolt each leg and you should be fine. Because this is also a selling point for me. I dont want it on if I'm not necessarily needing it.

Can people that have both bed racks and hard tonneau covers post pics?

 

I recently installed the kbvoodoo max modular rack in conjunction with the BAKFlip Revolver X4. Loving it so far!

 

It's actually fast to remove the whole rack as long as you don't have tonneau cover brackets sitting on top of it. If you do have a cover you can pull the upper crossbars sure, but it's 8 bolts per rail and takes a second. We do have customers that install the rack only when they go on trips. Let me know if I can answer anything else.

 

I have the retrax pro xr (group buy or I wouldn't buy) and uptop truss alpha ex coming this weekend. I'll take pics and give you my initial review. Its full height so....

 

What cover do you have?

 

I'll just add these videos to this thread as well to explain what's up with our racks. The rack from our sister company JcrOffroad for the Gladiator is the same design as the Taco and all of this applies.

https://youtu.be/so5ocpZcGcM
https://youtu.be/GTcEa7uje0c

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees this issue. I just want a rock solid tonneau + kayak/canoe rack system that doesn't involve the Retrax-style covers that take away bed space. Is that so hard to ask? Hopefully Truxedo can figure out the rails soon.

 

To add to my discussion from yesterday, I saw a really cool modded Diamondback HD on the Ford Raptor forum, where they took the Tracrac SR Rails and chopped them down to fit on the sides of the front and back hatches of the cover. The tracrac bars then mount to those tracks so you can slide forwards/backwards, and open the hatches up to reach your bed (with nothing on the rack). I was wondering if something like this might be possible on the Tacoma, with the compact-sized tracrac SR that fits GMC Canyons, etc. One bonus of the diamondback is that it actually adds a tiny bit of space to the bed, versus taking space away. It's also super-bomber.

Here's a link to that page:
https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/diamondback-hd-and-tracrac.60955/

I've been trying to find the dimensions of the smaller Tracrac SR so I can determine if this would work for Tacomas, but haven't had any luck.

 

That sounds interesting, my dad has a Diamondback on his Tacoma, and I have a Retrax XR, so I can see pros and cons to each way up close.

One thing that comes to mind with the Diamondback + Tracks idea, as those pictures show, is that you wouldn't really be able to open it with a kayak or two loaded up. Maybe with bungee straps like the stratchets that Front Runner makes, but I'd think that would stress the boats. Maybe not for plastic whitewater boats, but I'm just speaking from personal experience tightening straps too much on a fiberglass touring kayak, and permanently creasing the hull. That sucked....

The roll up velcro options would seem to have the advantage on accessibility while loaded. Otherwise, I like the idea of putting T-Track or L-Track on a Diamondback, I'm going to have to bug my dad to consider that on his.

 

I agree, losing the ability to access the bed with a load on the bars is a big deal. My ideal set up would be what is offered on most full-sized trucks - A backflip MX4 or similar roll up cover and the tracrac SR or Yakima overhaul HD rack. Bonus points for being able to slide the bars to fit the load length, and for being able to adjust the height of the rack. Retrax Pro's are nice but that's a lot of money to come out with less bed space in an already small bed in the end.

 

So I ended up just buying a Front Runner rooftop rack. I gave up on a solution for the bed for now. But i'll definitely be watching this thread until a good solution comes along!