DIY Homemade Overland Bed Rack

Hey all, hope I'm putting this thread in the right spot. Figured the folks on here would be the group most likely to appreciate something like this. I've been considering doing an overland build for a while. I like the way they look and I'm attracted to the idea of a rooftop tent. Not a fan of the price of all the bed racks that you find on line though. They look good, but my funding wouldn't allow it at the moment (if I'm going to be buying a RTT any time soon anyway). So, I took a couple different ideas I found on youtube and sort of combined them to make them work for what I wanted. I only have maybe a couple hundred dollars in this project and it took just a weekend to complete. It was relatively easy and honestly, a lot of fun putting together.

Essentially, just a mid-height bed rack made from unistrut, strut brackets, strut nuts, and basic hardware. It feels very sturdy and only weights about 75lbs if I had to guess. Can give a full write up on the process if anyone's interested, though I won't have step-by step pictures. Anyway, here's what I ended up with.

End of day one, had the primary frame built and secured to factory bed rails.


Day 2, had accessory panels/rails installed on the sides and finished reinforcing the corners with modified brackets. Ready to be taken off and painted.


Final product after paint. I used rust-oleum truck bed coating for a textured finish.


I figure by doing things this way, I'll save some money up front, and if it gets scratched, torn up, or damaged on the trail, who cares. A trip to Lowe's and a coat of cheap paint and its back to looking like the day I built it. Let me know what y'all think.

 

I'd be interested in some up close pictures. I was toying with this idea. Maybe where it mounts to the bed. I'm not 100% clear on how to accomplish that. Looks very cool!

 

I'll try to remember to snag some pictures tomorrow and post them up here. Essentially what I did was take 90° strut brackets and bend them out to 149.5°, then secured them to the factory rails using 3/8" spring nuts with the wings cut off. This video is where I got the idea for the spring nuts, I think he shows the process pretty good. The nuts are a little finnicky to move up and down the rail but they'll move with some persuasion. The springs get caught up on the screws that hold the rail in place. Once they're torqued, they're secured.
https://youtu.be/ttp5GfcGlzQ

 

Looks good. I love the DIY stuff

 

Forgot to take pics in they daylight, but I think this will show the mount to the bed rails clear enough.

 

That's slick. Thanks!

 

Did you weld the top and diagonal pieces?

There looks to be a gap, so I'm assuming not?

 

Correct, no welding required. The 3 main beams are all single-piece sections of strut. I figured out the correct angle and cut that from the sides of the strut. From there, simply was able to bend the strut down to mount on the bed rail brackets. Then reinforced those top angles with brackets that I bent to match the angle. I really wish I would've taken progress pictures, somewhat difficult to describe in text.

 

Why don’t people center these racks in the bed rather than pushing them all the way forward to the cab?

 

Not sure. I'm waiting until I get my RTT before I settle on a final location for it. This was kind of just where it ended up. My idea is once I get my tent, it will create a somewhat sheltered area to store camping supplies between the rack/tent/cab. Won't be completely weatherproof of course but it will provide some level of shelter for totes of gear that I'll have on board. More so than having everything centered in the bed.

 

Some do, some don't. Depends on a lot of things.

That's the beauty of making it custom, you make exactly the way you want, for your own reasons.

 

No I gotcha, that makes sense.

I think this would be a perfect time to tell the wife you "need" a welder though...

You could make that immensely stronger with a couple welds on those seams.

 

Honestly I don't think it would be necessary. I've been told that welding galvanized can be a little tricky also. The corners are surprisingly strong with those brackets, I'd feel fully confident putting 250lbs on the rack as a dynamic load. Double that for a static load.

 

Rack looks good, this crossed my mind when I first considered having a rack. Ended up with a camper shell instead.

 

Galvy, yeah, but I think you just grind it off. It's just a coating...

Just depends on the tools at hand. I happen to have a welder, so my first thought it always, "when in doubt, weld it" lol

 

Why did you make it below the height of the cab? Just curious. I could use something like this for kayaks, bit I'd obviously want it to be taller. Looks great.

 

Wanted to keep the RTT at or only slightly above cab height when the tent is stowed. I didn't want to have the full body of the tent above the cab acting like a wind sail lol. I also just like the way mid-height racks look.

This concept would actually be 10x easier to do as a full height rack. You wouldn't have to mess with angles if you didn't want to, just build the rack straight up and use 90 degree brackets.

 

Will you be posting step by step guide? I'd love to make this, but I am prone to making design errors when left to my own devices.

 

Unfortunately I can't. I wish I would've thought to do so beforehand because I would have taken pictures of each step of the process. PM me sometime and what I can do is take measurements of the rails at every point, to give you lengths of the top and bottom of the strut on every side. This will ensure the correct angle. (Top length of rail minus bottom length equals total amount taken out. It'll make sense if I snap a picture of a drawing). Keep in mind that these measurements will only be good for a rack of the same height.

Figuring out the angles of the strut is the hardest part. Next most difficult is the angles of your brackets. For that portion, it was a little bit of guess and check for me.

 

I made my own so I could carry a canoe. Have made two more since for local Tacoma owners. Mounts to factory rails and sits on top. About $100 for materials and $200 for powder coating...