Custom Tonneau Cover Bed Rack - Low profile L-Track

I bet you could rig this clamp to work with the backrack?

I ordered the parts, going to install on my truck

 

what i used is a longer version of that exact same thing. there is a 4" (which is what you posted) and a 10" version (that i used)

you could use 2 sets of 4" tabs on either end to stabilize it

 

Yeah I ordered a pair of both 4 and 10". A little tricky to find on the site but they're there. What adapter is that that works with the BackRack?

 

so you have the link by chance? i wasn't able to find them myself when i took a look.
I'll drop it on the first post for others to see it as well.

Edit; found them here;
https://superclamp.net/product/locking-stud/
https://superclamp.net/buy-online/?currency=CAD (scroll down until you find locking stud, select your size and add it to cart. this seems to be the only way)

 

Perfect, I emailed the fellow and he said call me and had to guide me to it.
I guess it's the standard adapter for the BackRack?
I'm up in North Bay so I'll probably orders from Partsengine.ca
I'm going to curt down the 100" L-track rails Grainger sells.
Thanks for the info, this thread ended a lot of head scratching!

Cheers, Janne

 

there isn't any "standard" adapters for the Backrack, this entire project is basically hacked together with hopes and dreams (which turned out to work really well). I drilled holes to accommodate the tapped holes in the 10" version and bolted them down and you will most likely need to as well.

But hey glad to hear i managed to clear this up! Figured if i went through hell trying to figure something out, i might as well make a post about for the one or two guys 10 years down the line that decide to do the exact same thing

 

Work in progress as all parts arrived. I'm using a thin piece of polycarbonate to transfer the fender opening. Just have to get a strategy for getting the nuts on the mounting bolts. There is a row of notches that are parallel which helps align the L-tracks.

 

do you just pull up the plastic on the bed rails?

Also please let me know what you figure out for getting the nuts inside the fender

 

Oh nice!


yeah there are some notches that are parallel with the clips of the plastic top. that's why i went with the Nivnut & fender washer combo and had over-sized holes through the bed.

one thing is saw someone do (and for the life of me i can't find it) is cutting out a 1/16" steel plate in the shape of the top and welded it to the bed. Granted we both have brand-new trucks, and welding directly to the bed is not something i'm willing to do just yet.

Yeah, you simply tug upwards on one end of the plastic and slowly lift it up from end to end, might need to give it a tug here and there.

In regards of the nuts inside the fender, i pulled down in inner fender liners inside the wheel wells to access the underside. As i have long arms, i reached the underside of the top plate, so your experience may vary.

 

Shveet, how many bolts per side did you use? I bought a 12 pack from Superclamp so I'm using 6 per side. I got the 100" track from Grainger and have cut it to 73" on the mitresaw.

 

as i have a 5ft bed, I have 14 bolts per side.
12 bolts for the main 48" length or track plus another 2 bolts for a 6" extension i made to fit. (the 6" extension i needed to be able to mount the back rack to it.)

the 14 total bolts per side might be overkill, but i figured that i might as well as i wasn't sure how it would hold up.

 

I bought the 48" L track. I'm thinking I might cut it in half and leave a gap int he middle so that I can have the track on the ends of the bed. Still mentally debating.

 

thousand ways to skin a cat.

Diamond back and FrontRunner have something of that sort for the flip up hard cover. as long as you're confident you don't the middle space (so far in my experience, i've used the inner section only a few times)

 

I have my tracks positioned but need longer bolts as the holes ended up on the edge of the inner fender flange. Made a jig to space the tracks parallel. I should of moved the tracks inwards perhaps. Tonneau is on. Buddy is going to modify the Back Rack adapters by cutting them flush at the bend and lap joining the offcut . It will extend out the outer side 1 1/4 " to bolt up to the track.

 

those are looking great.
They seem a tab bit out but what's the dimensions from center to center? I'm curious since i'm a hair over 5 feet.

 

My jig was cut to 60.625 +.442" , so 61.067.

 

Mounted a tire to them for an offroad trip i had over the weekend - so far it's the heaviest load (35" tire, something like 80lbs, the RTT is only 60lbs) on the bars other than the back rack and it held on perfectly well from bucking around like a mad-man.

 

I saw your Cabelas folding RTT in some of the pics as well as your latest comment regarding the tire on the back, do you think this is secure enough for a normal RTT however? Have been looking for a solution to pair with my Bakflip and this is looking amazing!

 

@Unlimited Slip How's your setup look? any progress?

sorry for the late reply, but i believe it will be enough, might recommend using a higher class (class 5 or 8) bolt) that mounts the cross bar to the l-track connector.

closest comparison i can think of would be the 35" tire i had up on the back rack (in the post above) which weighs about 85lbs on its own (lots of rubber there and when bucking around offroading - i didn't budge at all). Most ACTUAL Roof Top Tents weighs would be around 120lbs or so where as my Hobo RTT weighs about 60lbs to give you an idea. With that said, i did have a queen size mattress loaded onto the back, i felt there was no issues with the bars after a quick drive down the highway.

Depending on what material you use for the cross bars (mine are 1/16" 1-1/2"x 1-1/2" square stainless steel with a solid white oak infill), i'm fairly certain that you can comfortablely mount a proper RTT on it and still take it off the trails. (one bar supported my 250lb ass in the middle as a point load with a bit of flex into it so i say 200lbs middle point load is the max weight of the bars on their own. Without going into my structural background and talking about shear force and bending diagrams;


a TLDR: if you Uniformly Distribute the Load across the bar, it will hold more weight without failure.

Oh also as a head's up, be sure to check the bolts that actually connect the RTT and cross bars together to be nice and tight. i had a set of square U-bolts that the nuts rattled loose 2-3 weeks ago (the cross bar was fine) while out on a trail. not sure if that was from vibrations from bouncing around or i had forgotten to tighten them before i left.