Need Help with a rack system

Ok so I'm looking for a ladder rack system that can hold as much weight as possible on a wide as rack as possible. Any suggestions? I should probably add that I will mostly be carrying 4-6 white water kayaks

TIA

 

Are you willing to add to a purchased rack (either with your own skills or paying someone else)? Or are you looking to just buy something ready-made and call it done? Are you fitting it over a canopy (or would like to in the future)? Do you still need to be able to put tall stuff in the bed (loading a motorcycle or refrigerator, for example)? All of those questions need to be answered before you can find a good rack. You might be better off having something custom made that suits your needs perfectly rather than trying to modify a rack to suit.

I used to whitewater kayak and understand that there aren't many racks out there that are 'perfect' for carrying that many boats. 6 creek boats can get heavy! Your rack will need to be stout with a lot of bracing to keep it from racking side to side.

 

Welcome to TW, how much weight are we talking about?

 

Well I'm looking at something that looks like the thule model but I'm not sure how sturdy it was for the $$. TracRac was another option I was looking at. I guess i just want a bare bed with the ability to stack kayaks above cab level on a bar. I'm coming from a 4Runner with 86 in bars and so i would like something to be at least be 72 inches across. As far as weight concerned probably 600lbs would be a minimum.

 

I had the Thule bed rack on my ranger. I was surprised at how nice it was. Quite sturdy.

For 6 kayaks, I would estimate you'd need around a 350lb working weight for the rack. Maybe a little more...

It might be worth having one built that bolts to the bed bolts on the floor rather than resting on the bed rails.

 

600 lbs is a lot. There is someone on here or expedition portal that made a rack that bolts to the bed bolts. It would be worth finding.

 

That's alot of weight, far too much for anything that attaches to the bed rails. I have a Rackit lumber rack for work, it bolts to the bed bolts, not the rails, I have put 700lbs on that rack plus the rack itself for a total of around 950lbs, so this can be done. So the question is to find a system that can handle that much weight without damage to the truck.

You also probably will want to add airbags or something to the rear leafs if you plan on doing this often as this will surely cause your stock springs to flatten over time.