Rhino Rack has arrived at Rack Attack DITCH MOUNT!!!!!!

Good deal, thanks for the reply. I walked in not too long ago to peruse and they were very helpful!

Hoping to get the plan in motion by the end of the year, cheers!

 

Awesome!! Thanks for the information.

 

Looks awesome!

 

What Yakima towers and inserts do I need for this track? I already have a bunch of Yakima bars and gear I would like to use.

 

Hey just found this product. I’m curious being from Louisiana we get a lot of rain, how does the ditch brackets do with water. Where does it go, will it sit in the ditch? Do y’all offer a cover for when not being used to kind of help with sitting water in it.

 

Track width is pretty universal. My Thule Podium feet fit this ditch track.

The tracks come with butyl pads for the holes in the roof but mine being an AC I dropped the headliner to see where the best places to drill were and used sealant on both inside and out when I bolted it up. The tracks do let more water into the channels than the rubber trim but even the trim isn't water tight. The front/rear windshield seals are what make the channel waterproof. If you're worried about it run some masking tape along each side of the gap between the track and channel and smooth in a bead of caulk and remove the tape. I like the track cover idea but although I've seen lots of slot cover trim I haven't identified what fits best.

 

Thanks for the reply. I got an appointment on the 1st with Rack Outfitters, gonna get them to install this track system. For my needs it works better being able to use cross bars and taking them off, plus the option of the platform if I want it. I might get them to let me keep the rubber trim they take off and try and modify it to fit for when the tracks aren’t being used just as alittle piece of mind.

 

Have them save the portions they cut out in case you lose a section in a car wash. It's more valuable in that regard since you can fill the slot with strips of 3/16" rubber. To fit in the track slots you would need to butcher the trim. The forward pieces are simple to make if you have the trim pieces but impossible without them, the rear sections remain attached to the rear window trim and are less vulnerable. Ask if they can supply you with spare end clips or how to get them when lost. Get yourself a bit that allws you to use a screwgun to remove the towers. Be gentle and it will speed install/removal greatly. I leave the base plates in place to avoid meesing up the aluminum tracks and maintain spacing. By all means pull the bars when not actually using them. There's definitely a 1-2 mpg difference and likely more if you leave other attachments up there. For me that was much of the point of getting the tracks in the first place(adjustability and matching the shell system being the rest).

 

What you think about this. This is for t-slots trim it’s 7/16” wide on the top and the clip in part at max width part is 5/16” wide. It comes in a 6” stick. I think this could work huh?

 

The Rhino ditch track has a slot opening 9/16" and interior slot dimensions of 3/16" x 7/8". There's a second rib below the slot ~ 9/32" from the top surface to the bottom of the rib so I'd have to say it looks to be too small. If you find another trim 1" ( 25 mm) wide with ribs that are 1/2"(12mm) mm wide and the grab points are 5/8"(15mm) or more wide and at least 5/16"(~8mm) below the top cover then a solid maybe. Your other post made me think of the rubber strips which might be easier to find or even make. I definitely want something in there since my install of these doesn't leak at the car wash or in the rain but the topper tracks that came with the truck do.

 

Just piping up here to mention how awesome these ditch tracks are. Love flexibility of mounting, and the integrated look. I had them installed at rack attack here in portland.

I added these so I could have a yakima round bar, or two, over the cab that were level with the round bars on the canopy. To make them level, since the top of the cab has an arched curvature, I used yakima landing pad 1s with some solid blocks of black plastic (cut down on a table saw) with longer bolts to reach the plate in the track.

 

What nuts or bolts work in these channels?
I've had my channels in place for 6 months now yet haven't gotten to installing any racks, so I have sort of drifted away from what was mentioned to me verbally at one point.

 

Standard t-slot nuts that fit Thule, Yakima, tracks etc. . The slot where the nut fits is 3/16" tall by 13/16" + wide so 1/8" thick x 3/4" wide and either 1/4 x 20 standard bolts or 6 mmx 1mm metric. My Thule bars with their drop in slot nuts work just fine on both the topper tracks and these Rhino ditch tracks. I just leave the base mounts in place and mount the towers and bars as needed.

 

Thanks Bagleboy.

I've been so lollygagging on getting this kayak rack built over my Softopper that I've completely gone stupid in getting the parts to assemble over the cab.
One of these days.

 

Recently installed the Rhino Rack track system myself. Love it. Highly recommended.

RZX Driller Riveter for Cordless Drill Electric Adaptor Insert ToolWith 3pcs Convertible Head+40pcs pop Rivet

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077MXG2YP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used the drill rivet gun linked above- made it simple and quick.

 

A week or so back I scored a killer deal on a set of "used/like new" tracks courtesy of Amazon. I've trimmed them down to work on my access cab and I'll be installing them once the weather cooperates again.

 

Did they come with all the hardware including the bitumen seal patches? I'd seriously recommend dropping the headliner before drilling because the tracks were made for the DC which has a different arrangement for the air bag curtains. And you will also need access since the AC channels don't have the nuts preinstalled either. For best access after the headliner was out of the way I went ahead and unscrewed the bolts holding up the curtains including loosening the two that hold the charge cylinders located on the rear pillars(not necessary to unplug anything, just slip the brackets loose from the roof and the curtains can be moved a few inches safely out of the way. The two sides are mirror images so if you do them one at a time you'll have the other to check yourself putting it back together.

I spent a careful couple hours removing all the pieces needed to drop the headliner and setting them aside. At the time I didn't know about the airbag curtains being so close so I hemmed and hawed a bit before deciding to move them as well. Damn glad I did but it meant waiting for the next day to install the tracks. Don't rush this, there are too many ways things can go south in a hurry if you do. The tracks themselves won't fit the curve of the AC channels so you'll need to start at one end and drill/loosely install the first two bolts, then remove the first and drill/install the third, the remive the second and drill install the 4th, etc. In the month prior to my install I spent some time increasing the curve of the tracks to better match the roof. I doubt that Rack Attack does this but it certainly helped me though I did it before cutting them to length Then you can go back and place the seals and caulk and install all your bolts. You don't need to gob it up but it does need to be sealed and you really don't want to do it over. It might be helpful to have two holes/bolts at the end where you finish to allow tpyou to use an awl to pry the track over and line up one of the bolts. Once one is mostly together you should be able to get the other one in and tighten them all. I left the headliner off and took it through a car wash to test the seals. I put the airbag back up first thought and drove like an old lady because the headliner controls deployment of the curtains, that's what those plastic patches are for. They hold the headliner in place and force the curtains to deploy down the glass instead of giving you a flat head with a headliner printed scalp.

It's a mod, it works really well but it wasn't designed for the AC so it's up to you to do ALL of the quality control you or anyone here can thing of to bring it off safely and successfully as well as figure out how to manage with the ways this install differs from a DC. I'm an anal control freak with OCD issues so it was a perfect match and I'm happy with the results but I've seen enough to realize that others either avoid things like this like the plague, don't treat it seriously enough, do but don't have the skill with measuring and drilling to do it accurately, or have both the desire, attention to detail, and skills to generate a satisfactory result. Screw it up and quit half way and you'll be ever so pissed.

If you have any questions, please ask and feel free to do so during the process but I'd need to know ahead of time to do any thread checking.

 

@bagleboy thanks for the solid insight! Did your kit come with bolts instead of rivets? I planned on dropping the headliner, but unbolting the airbags is a good idea too. I selected where to trim the tracks based on where I would want to eventually place my mounts (avoiding the drop-in holes) and cut them down to 37in. This also lined up with the straightest section of the roof, though I'm sure some additional bending will be needed to fine tune things.

I'll keep you posted as I go, thanks again!

 

It came with both bolts and rivets but obviously no nuts so I bought enough 3/16 x 24 SS button head cap screws and stop nuts(nyloc inserts) and SS washers to do the job. The kit used 6mm x 1 security cap screws and I couldn't find metric stop nuts so I switched to a standard size. I'll measure the length mine turned out to be. The second time through a car wash the drivers side end cap came off along with the remaining ditch molding but since I'd saved the excess molding was able to make new ones that instead of being 1/8" short of the track were long enough to engage the t-slot by about 3/8". The metal strip in the molding is in the lower narrower section rather than in the top cap portion. So save the extra molding. I pulled up the molding and made a preliminary cut at the back leaving some extra and cut the front sections to fit after the track was installed. Have a look under the molding before you cut it because theres an attachment for the molding which would interfere with the track at the back as well as up by the windshield. You need to cut the molding in front of those and leave 1/8" between the molding and where you start your tracks.

 

@alxhrs, I know this is old, but do you remember which Yakima Landing Pads you used? 1 or 4?