A Bed Crossmember Light Bar for < $25

I've seen people buying and selling bed crossmembers on this forum a lot, and I've been really wanting to put together my own because I knew it would be cheap and easy to put one together with stuff from Home Depot.

You need

4 - 3/8" Spring Nuts $4.09 (5 pack)
4 - 3/8" Bolts $1.60
4 - 3/8" Fender Washers $0.83
4 - 3/8" Lock Washers $0.61

2 - Unistrut L Brackets (you'll find these in the electrical section at Home Depot or Lowes) $2.68



1 - 5/8" x 10' Unistrut (cut to length, I recommend having it cut if you don't have access to a bandsaw) $15.00





I usually cut or break off the springs of the spring-nuts just because about 60% of the time they just get in the way. The only reason I use them is because they don't spin in the channel like a nut and washer would.




Of course, the price doesn't include whatever lights you would want to put on it. Also note that the unistrut will rust so I shot it with some black Rustoleum before I installed it.





Pretty simple and cheap and doesn't look hodge-podge. Also, with the unistrut the combination of lights or whatever else you want to mount to it is limited only to the width of your bed really.

One quick note is that seeing as you only have 1 attachment point to the bed rails I don't think it would be a great idea to use the bar to tension a tie-down strap or anything like that, because it would probably twist with force like that.

Easy.

Seeing as I got the scrap piece of unistrut I used from work, including the electrical and the lamp itself I have spent less than $75.

 

I'll post more pics when I mount my highlift to it- maybe it'll get more interest then?

 

Subd, looks good

 

Subd -

 

So I finished this ages ago and completely forgot I opened a thread up for it and never posted any pictures.



used pipe hangers for the shovel mount and bought wing nuts to fit on the bolts they come with.





used spring nuts again, just smaller ones, for bolting the hilift brackets and the shovel clamps.