Squeaky Bed Rack and RTT - Any ideas?

Hey TW! Looking for some advice. I have an RCI bed rack and a Tepui RTT mounted on top. When driving, even over the slightest bump, the rack/tent make a squeaking noise that I cant seem to track down. The noise is super annoying and only seems to worsen with time/mileage. I’ve narrowed it down to the rack/tent being the culprit because I remove both during the winter months and the truck is silent when it’s not mounted.

I’ve gone through and tightened all the bolts that hold the rack together, bolts to mount the rack to the truck, as well as the bolts that mount the tent to the rack and the squeaking continues.

Im hoping anyone here has had a similar experience or has any advice on where I may look to solve the issues, or if anyone has advice/ideas to do? I can’t take it anymore!

TIA!

 

Try it without the tent - rack only and see what happens.

 

Double check your leaf springs. With the added weight they may want to squeak more than when there is no load on them.

 

Beds twist and turn. Especially a plastic one. When I would go wheeling I had to use tie downs to hold my rack in place because it would twist and dislodge anything that could move position.

So, I think in part its the nature of the beast. Add ons bring on squeaks, creaks, rattles, wind noise and bad MPG. Pimpin aint easy.

If you can find it and settle it down good for you. Ive come to expect a downside to every addon.

Also for that reason I got to where I was taking off the RTT when I knew I wasnt going to use it for a few months.

 

I prefer the welded steel bed bars for that reason. All the small bolts will loosen up and eventually strip the threads out of the aluminum.

Did you use loctite when you reassembled it?