Burnett's Bed Rack Build

I had been looking at bed rack designs for awhile and finally got around to building one. I couldn't find anyone to bend round tubing so I went with square tube, I'm glad I did now, I like the way it turned out better than the round tube racks.
I designed this rack to be multi purpose. It will be used to haul a canoe, kayaks, bikes and other gear and also as sleeping quarters for camping and hunting. The rack is mostly complete, but I will be adding some removable bars for the canoe/kayaks, building Jerry can mounts and sewing a marine fabric cover.
Now for some pics....
Started by welding a frame out of 1.25" x 1.25" angle
Getting an idea on the angles to match the slope of the cab...
Starting to take shape...
Welding in the cross bars
Back on the truck to check for straightness
Next I fabbed some swing away doors for a place to mount my Jerry cans and welded in some rings in the corners of the rack for tie downs and to hang hammocks for my kids.
Door
My son "helping me"...and the doors swung out
Jerry cans
Lights for the back between the Jerry cans. I mounted these for camping lights and they swing up to use as bed lights. I can also swing them all the way up and out the top to use in a forward position.
Should also come in handy for tail gaiters and people bright lighting from behind
A few coats of krylon semi gloss...
Picture below is my tool holders I repurposed from a bike rack I had in the garage, the light mount is also part of that bike rack. I bought some 1" caps from the hardware store to plug the raw ends of the square tubing.
Final product...
Dome/bed light wired up
No worries about not being able to see when I'm backing up, these are also great for utility camping/hunting lights. They are hinged so I can swing then up for bed lights and out the top for forward lights if needed.
Overall, I'm really satisfied with the way it turned out. It should work out good for my needs. I'll update as I make progress on the Jerry can mounts, canoe holder, and the soft top. I'm thinking about a hinged plywood deck for the top that will fold out for a tent platform. (DIY RTT)
Feel free to post build questions and comments...
Thanks for looking!

 

sub'd

Looks great! And that's a damn nice shop you got there!

 

Thanks man, got just about everything needed for some serious modding. My wife doesn't share your sentiment for the shop lol I spend more time there than with her! She's pretty cool about it though hah

 

May need to venture up that way to install a roof rack in the next coming months. Just gotta drill 10 holes haha

 

I think we figure out out

 

Lol tractor typing.. ^

 

Measure twice! Drill once haha

 

That's a sweet setup. Does the tailgate open/close with the doors in the closed position?

 

Thanks man,
Ya it does, I gotta have a place to set my brew!

 

The doors are about a 1/2" above the tail gate so I can still drop it. I'm gonna get some more pics up soon. Got the domr light wired in, and the back lights wired to switch in the door beside the power windows.

 

Any thoughts to skinning it with sheet metal for a more weather proof storage option?

 

I have thought about that, I like the idea of being able to roll up or unzip the sides and just have the top on our just remove the cover all together. For this, I like the marine fabric cover. Could also zip in an awning on the side. Still haven't attempted the fabric cover though, gonna be quite a job.

 

I'm scraping the whole idea of covering the bedrack, it's soon to be topped with a CVT RTT!

Check out my build thread for updates!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/burnetts-98-extra-cab-build-bs.419929/