Bed rails attachments.

What is the length, measured from under the head?

 

My bed rack fits the full bed so it's not slideable, hence I haven't had a chance to test if they will. They should though, as they have a little bit of depth play to clear the bed rail screw heads. They are just rectangular.

 

1 1/2 inches

 

what thickness of t slot nuts from grizzly should i order? I dont mind grinding things down and re painting.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/T-Slot-Nuts-pk-of-4-11-16-Slot-1-2-13/G9516

or

http://www.grizzly.com/products/T-Slot-Nuts-pk-of-4-9-16-Slot-1-2-13/G9514

thanks

 

Get the G9514. Whatever you think you need, double it because you'll find uses for them and shipping costs more than the hardware. I ordered both sizes this month and the G9516 just doesn't fit. You'd have to grind down 2, maybe 3 faces and it would be a huge PITA. The G9514's feel a bit undersized when you're first installing them, but they lock in rock solid when you tighten them down. After that they feel much stronger/tighter than the factory cleats.

 

i used the unistrut spring nut and had to cut it down a little bit to make it work on the rail

 

This is what I used and they don't stay put. I just placed my order from Grizzly the other day and hope they stay where I bolt them better.

 

They definitely will, especially if you put a washer or something over your rail so the t-slot nut is pulled straight out and not laterally up/down.

The only downside is they have a black oxide coating so they'll probably rust pretty bad over a couple years if you don't hit them with some kind of rust inhibitor. Or just replace them when that happens, they're only $1/each.

I use this eye bolt, fender washer, and rubber washer combo with it and they fit like it came that way from the factory. I trimmed the eye bolt down about an inch or so because I'm OCD but it works fine as-is too.

 

Trust me when I say that I installed my ammo cans like this after someone advised this method worked so well. It seemed to work well even though they seem too small but about a year later now I've noticed that several of my unistrut spring mounts aren't even engaged in the rail any longer. They ARE too small. You're welcome to save a few bucks if you like but I would advise against suggesting others use a method that has been proven to not be reliable. If I had this to do all over again I wish I had just spring the few bucks more to get the Grizzly ones that fit the rail perfectly. Now, in hindsight, it's going to cost me the cost of the six unistrut bolts in addition to the Grizzly solution plus I have to do it twice. No trimming. No band-aid part fixes. Simply bolt them in and they stay as expected and as designed.

 

Sorry, I left out the part where I'm using the Grizzly ones with that hardware. I got some unistrut nuts but didn't like them.

 

Oh, ok. That does change the score because it sounded like you were saying the Unistrut solution was solid and I had an entirely opposite experience with them.

 

sub'd;
cool thread, thx

 

I do actually think the unistrut solution is solid...but only inside the actual bar of Unistrut that I put on my front rail, which is in turn held on with 4 grizzly t-nuts. It's meant to be permanent, provides a solid anchor for the toolbox, and spaces it far enough away from the cab that the lid won't hit the window when I open it. I added a 3/4" wood bumper to the back of the box to help spread the stress out and it also gets me a 3" gap between the bed and back of the toolbox - just enough room to squirrel away a rotopax fuel can whenever I get around to buying one.

But I digress. I wouldn't want to use a unistrut nut inside a tacoma bed rail.

 

In that capacity I wouldn't object to it's use either but that's what it was designed for. Lots of people were telling others to use them in the Tacoma rail (which is how I came to use them) because they're a cheap way to accomplish the goal and I'm just trying to warn others that they're not as good as advertised to hopefully save them some dough. Maybe for some applications it's not a big deal but I can't think of any right now.

 

So basically grizzly G9514's are the best bet?

 

That seems to be the general consensus. Mine just showed up today so I should have time to get them installed in the next few days to report back first-hand knowledge.

 

Good to know haha. I've been debating between that and just cutting aluminum bar stock and drilling holes in it and using a bolt on the inside and nut on the outside.

Or just buying unistrut.

 

I tried aluminum square stock but the stuff I got was too large and didn't fit in there. I took a shortcut with my unistrut by bolting it to my bed rails. If you want to do it right I'd recommend just replacing the rails with it. I ran into a little problem when mounting my unistrut to the bed rails with 1/2" t-nuts - there isn't enough clearance to get anything in there to tighten them down properly. I ended up cutting a 3/4" standard size socket in half. That was able to fit inside the unistrut and still grip the bolt enough to crank it down.

The grizzly t-nut is definitely the best fit that I've found, it fits like it came with it from the factory. The next best thing I found was a normal 1/2" carriage bolt but I'd only recommend them for a permanent installation. They fit so tight that it's difficult to slide them around inside the rails and they jam if you don't hold them just right.

 

I have made plenty of these, even a few custom length ones with multiple holes, spaced to what ever you need. Drilled and tapped to whatever size bolt you want.
The nice thing is that because its aluminum, it wont rust or damage your rail.

 

that is cool!