Access tonneau and bed rail mounts

I have an Access tonneau cover that I love but also want to mount my yak on the back of my bed when the tonneau cover is closed. I'm thinking of having some custom mounts made similar to the "love2surf" mounts but so they can work with the access cover. Just wondering if anyone else would be interested. I can probably get a better deal the more I get made.

 

i took the ones that came with the truck, and cut 180 degrees off the round part that protrudes up into the tonneau cover. instead of the big bulky thumb wheel, use a stainless wing nut.

 

I don't think you understand what the mounts do or what I want to do. Cutting does nothing, I want to be able to keep my bed covered with the tonneau cover but mount my yak on top using the bed rail mounts.

 

now i follow.
yes i misunderstood.
you want to carry the kayak over the bed. you could install tracks down the bed rails, install a roof rack, and be able to use your tonneau cover independent of what your carrying above the bed.
I can haul my gear with the tonneau cover open or closed

 

Are you saying that you want to mount your Yakima racks onto the top of the tonneau cover?

 

How do those tracks that you have work/install?

The brackets that I want to make will install on the cleat of the bed rail and will bend around so you can still use the tonneau cover. Similar to the love-2-surf ones

 

this system is a little different than that. I have a access tonneau cover like yours, it sits inside the rails.

all i did was use thule "top tracks" ran them down the plastic bed rail caps, and fastened them with stainless hardware. the tracker feet just plug into the top track. foot pack + the cross bar and your done. the advantage is u can slide the cross bars forward and aft along the entire length of the bed (in seconds)... i carry short boards, long boards, snowboards ect... and still keep the tonneau cover shut. when your done, you can just pop the cross bars off with the press of a button and stow them.

 

I like that idea, couple more questions.

1. Can you post a link to the Thule site with the rails that you used.
2. Can you post a close up pic of how you mounted the rails. Top down photo and one from inside the bed so I can see how you secured it. How many bolts did you use on each side?

 

new thule parts are a rip off. use their website or retail web sites to get the part numbers then scour criags list and ebay for used parts to save a lot of money. i can get the part numbers if you decide to do this.

the top tracks have holes down their length, i just secured the top track to the rail with marine grade stainless screws right into the plastic bed rail cap. down the entire length.

i'll try and get an additional shot tomorrow. its very basic but very versatile.

you can also add things into the tracks like tie down cleats that are moveable you can see one in my photo above.

 

So they are only secured into the plastic rail cover on the bed, that doesn't sound very secure but what do I know. Yeah eBay is my friend when it does to this stuff.

 

yep thats all. if i ever want to change or replace i just need to replace the plastic top rail, i did not want to go into the metal of the truck.

I do at least one trip a year 24 hours on the highway to/from OBX, carrying all three of my boards, ranging from 5 to 12 feet, as well as 300 mile drive to VT 3x a month during the ski season, on this rack and have not had a problem, its solid. i also use it at least 3x a week locally.

the cap to the rear tracker is laying on the tonneau, the fwd one is still covered. other side looks the same.

are there cheaper ways to skin this cat? sure. but i dont think they are as flexible to configurations for gear, tonneau, or as strong.

with the kayak, id venture to say the rear most rail will be furthest back almost over the tailgate, and the other one as far fwd as you could get it to get it secure with the bow. my longest board is 13', its carried properly with this set up as i can shift the distance between the load bars, your kayak is considerably longer, so you may need to measure how far back it will stick out. there is no better feeling than easily loading wet sandy gear at chest height over the bed with the cover closed, while everyone else is fighting with overhead SUV roof racks and trailers

 

Very cool, I like the idea. What size screws did you use if you remember. Also my yak is only 13 feet long so it should stick out to much, even though I do have a shortbed.

 

sub

 

Which Access Tonneau do you have? I am looking for a similar way to cover the bed but move my Thule system from the roof to over the bed.

How did you not secure the rack to the metal of the bed rails? I'm not second guessing, i would just be constantly looking in the mirror to make sure they were there. Can you thru-bolt the Thule tracks to the rails?

 

The Vanish. I like it so far.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/product-reviews/226622-review-access-vanish-tonneau.html

U could through bolt I suppose but putting stainless screws in each hole in the top track down the rail cap has been more than sufficient. There's prob at least 8-12 per side.

I went into the sheet metal on my last pickup truck and I vowed to not do it again, I'm spilling a lot of saltwater all over loading and unloading my boards and gear. I just wanted to go into the rail plastic this time.

 

I did the same with thule top tracks over the roll up tonneau. Only I was not comfortable with just the 10 screws per side into the plastic bed rail cover. I drilled 5 of them straight through the sheet metal and bolted with a nut and washer. The sheet metal under the bed rail cap is loaded with holes from the mfgr (not sure why) but you won't have metal anchor point at every predrilled hole in the top tracks. So I just felt around inside (you can access under the bed rail if you remove the cubby's) and found a few good solid points to use bolts. The rest are just screwed into the plastic. So far, very solid but I only put snow skis and snowboards up there. Nothing too heavy or that sticks out very far. I think the aluminum top track rails would give out before it pulled off the bed rail.

btw - with a 13' board or kayak and a 5' bed, you're sticking out 8' past the tailgate. That seems like a lot of leverage on those thule bars. Not exactly even close to being balanced. I would never trust it. I would rather load it onto the roof or in the bed with tailgate down. Maybe put a basket on your thule bars over the tonneau for your gear if the kayak/boards take up most of the bed space (or put them on an over the bed rack system that is up over the cab as well.

One last note: You can not roll up the tonneau with the bars installed, there is not enough clearance under the bars. Granted they are easy to remove if empty, roll up tonneau, then put bars back on but not so easy if them are loaded with gear. If you had a roll up hard tonneau (the kind that rolls up into a box at the front of the bed) then you could open and close with the bars installed.)

 

Here's some pictures of mine.

Over tonneau bed rack: Thule TK1 feet, 65" square bars, and top tracks mounted to factory bed rail covers with roll up Lite rider tonneau. 12/15/09.

 

Thanks guys. This is something I will be working on before the snowfall (hoping) so i maybe coming back with some more questions. Keith thanks for the info on drilling through, I will check for the other holes. Both your trucks look great btw.

 

i have a long bed on my truck, leverage isnt a big deal esp with the bar slid back. 13' carbon board is light as a feather, a kayak may be a different deal. if you get the low profile cover you may be able to roll the tonneau with the bars in place, mine can.

looks great Keith!

 

Ah, both good points. Did not realize it was carbon fiber and mine is not the low profile so you probably have more clearance. I got the higher profile so I could still use my bed cleats. Somewhere in TW there are pictures of bed rails without the caps so you can see what I'm talking about (the holes under the rail caps).