Drilling into the top of the bed’s sidewall

Hi all, it’s my first post so I hope I get the formatting right.

I bought an RCI bed rack as well as their tonneau adapters (Wouldn’t recommend their company but that’s a whole other thread). I’m having an issue because I need to drill into the top of the bed’s sides, but I am unable to figure out how to access the bottom of where I’m drilling into. I can’t figure out how to access an area to secure the nut.

You can see in the photo where I need to drill and attach the bolts, it’s an adaptor kit so that I am able to use a tonneau cover as well as a bed rack.

I’ve looked and looked for install guides and information about how to access the bottom of where I’m drilling into, but whether it doesn’t exist or I don’t know the right words to use is as unknown to me as where tf the access is to the bolts lol.

If anyone can point me toward a thread that goes over this or has experience themselves I would be super appreciative.

Thanks and I’m stoked to be a part of this community

bed rack: https://rooftopoverland.com/product...1&_sid=82016cdee&_ss=r&variant=40842970595487

adaptors: https://rooftopoverland.com/product...au-cover-adapters?_pos=8&_sid=f52264539&_ss=r

 

Thanks for this, but I’m looking to see how I can access the underside of the body side panel even after taking off the side panel protection. I need to bolt something to the side panel assembly, which means above and below the side panel itself. Sorry if that was unclear and thanks for the response!

 

Crawl under truck, you'll see the space. Just need an assistant and very long nut extension...

 

I’ve crawled and looked, it’s blocked by part of the bed. Also took off rear taillight and there wasn’t space there either. I can upload photos tomorrow if that would be helpful.

also considered taking off the wheel well liners but it looks like a bit of a project and there were a few bolts that I didn’t have the proper tools for.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heF4vyocAoE

 

I can’t take off the side panel because I need to screw the adaptors into the side panel

Is there no way to access the top of that side panel without detaching the entire panel?

 

Use a rivet nut

 

that hardware arrangement looks off, maybe an optical illusion
https://rooftopoverland.com/products/rci-off-road-bed-rack-tonneau-cover-adapters

i thought adapters allowed you to slim jim connect to the inner bed rails but you have to drill into the tops?

 

I totally understand why you think that and I thought that too until I started trouble shooting this. The adaptor brackets are different and more reinforced in the product images because they are for the more rugged and load bearing “HD” version of the bed rack. That one comes with three arms on each side of the bed whereas mine only comes with two on each side of the bed. I thought that I set up the hardware incorrectly when looking at the product pics, but the only difference if you look closely is that the product pics have reinforced sidewall (presumably for more weight) whereas mine doesn’t have that. Otherwise, the installation is the same in my picture and the website picture.

Additionally if you look at the product pics there aren’t any screws going into the bed wall, which is because there are some tonneau covers that mount so tightly that you don’t “need” to secure it more. Unfortunately the BK2 cover shown is around $1,100 which is out of my budget options, so I got a roll up cover that cost about $250. It doesn’t secure as tightly, and in the (very meager) instructions for the adaptor kit it suggests bolting at least 2/4 Z adaptors for safety regardless of the cover type. I’ll upload a pic where it says to do that.

Unfortunately the tonneau cover that I have does not clamp down hard enough that I would trust it without a few bolts to keep it down, and it suggests doing so in the instructions anyway. It says either the side of the Z adaptor(inside edge of the bed sidewall panel) or the top of the Z adaptor (top portion of the sidewall panel). At the height of the side screw not only is my sidewall plastic, but the screw that I would need to connect would interfere with my ability to connect the tonneau cover. This leaves me with the option to mount on the top, but I have had no success finding a way to sneak a bolt up to latch it down through the top of the side panel through the holes I will need to drill or measure to align with the preexisting holes under the OEM plastic panel cover.

Sorry for the novel, trying to be through so that we can narrow down the issue!

 

I’ve never used rivet nuts before but from what I understand that would be pretty permanent, yes? If I do it with a rivet nut and want to remove it for any reason, then what?

The appeal to a nut and bolt vs rivet is that I can take on and off if needed. Is that possible with a rivet too? Sorry for my ignorance, not incredibly familiar with the practicality of riveting.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tuucNRRhTU

 

You’ve drilled a bunch of hole in your bed, it doesn’t get any more permanent than that…. All you are doing is filling the holes with a thread. Simply leave it their (like the hole) if you remove the adapters.

Also remember their are loads of holes under that plastic bed cap, so if you do drill from the top, remove that plastic rail cap to make sure you find a good spot. I’d be more inclined to see if I could use the side hole for mounting vs the top. Of even better, take them to a fabricator and get them to extend them down to the OEM rail mounts, then you don’t need to drill / modify the truck in any way.

 

I think your confusion is in the different types of rivets. You’re thinking more along the lines of a standard blind rivet like a cherry max that would permanently mount your rack after the draw stud is broken off. However, while they use the same principle of locking in place by deforming under the sheetmetal skin as the bolt is drawn through it, a rivnut is just adding a permanent threaded nut. You are correct in that the hole would be permanent. But you have to drill one for the carriage bolt anyways so why not step it up a size and put the riv nut in. Allows you to unbolt and bolt your rack as needed without trying to fish a nut up in the bed sides. If you want to take that the rivnut out later you can drill them out and knock the flange off with a chisel.

 

I may be wrong but when you drill through the top rail, wouldn't you be drilling into the inside of the bed?

 

i really think you just need to get different adapter plates. those plates are already extending beyond your tonneau cover to get the side-screw in, there's zero benefit to not extending the bracketry down to the oem mounting rails. the primary load is still going to be maintained by the bed rail. the mounting rail attachment is really just there to keep everything in place and from shifting around.

 

I don't have any advice to offer, but thought I'd share the pain if that helps?

I purchased the same rack along with the same Tacoma specific adaptors (the Z Brackets). I too found the instructions and the design of the Z brackets themselves very underwhelming. Why of why didn't they simply make the Z bracket extend down to the rail? This would work perfectly for most tonneau covers that don't require the rail relocate, but I think the issues is the BAK revolvers require the rail relocate, which I'm guessing these adaptors are designed for(?).

Did you also receive the Toyota rail mounting hardware with your rack? This is the kit used to mount the rack to the rail when not using the tonneau adaptor? I did have some moderate success with this approach (see pic below), but in the end opted to remove this as the adaptors never really sad on the top of the bedrails when mounted this way and my rack wobbled around!

These some content in this thread here that may be useful:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-using-integrated-track.770526/#post-27557752

In the end, I've actually just ditched the idea of trying to get this rack to work with a Tonneau, after reading the thread above I didn't want to invest a further boatload of money into a BAK revolver tonneau and find I still really needed to drill into the bed rails.

I'm feeling pretty disappointed in this setup now. I think it's a great rack, just not when run with a tonneau and adaptors. For me this is a huge issue though, I live up in Canada and very soon I'll have a bed full of snow

 

@RoofTopOverland

This guy posted a picture in the reviews, but you can't tell if he drilled the bed, or sandwiched them with the tonneau cover rails:



These brackets look like they might bolt directly to the rail, and these do too.

Here's a good link for plusnut vz rivnut:




If it were me, I'd probably go for the Plusnut, and you should still be able to remove the rack, but they're not the easiest to install. @MESO will tell you.

Below is how I'd install them from an armchair quarterback's point of view. Keep in mind that you can add additional holes and Plusnuts to the bracket for extra strength. I went ahead and removed the caps, and cleaned up the rails to give you a better look.

• Remove the bed rail caps using a trim tool by lifting up the edge and pressing the tool against each clip to release it. I started from front to back.
• Clean up the bed rails.
• Mark the location of the new holes while avoiding the clip holes at the top of the bed rail.
• Confirm the location of the new Plusnut holes with the bed rail cap and line-up the RCI tonneau adapters.
• Drill the holes in the bed rail caps.
  
• Drill a hole in the top of the bed rail. You may need to drill the composite bed rail too depending on the location.
• Install the Plusnuts.
• Install a thin foam rubber seal around the Plusnut to protect the bed side at the base of the tonneau adapter.
• Install bed rail cap over the new hole.
• Install RCI tonneau adapters using stainless hardware into the Plusnets.
• Install tonneau cover.
• Install Bed Rack onto tonneau adapters.
• Enjoy a refreshing beverage. GL!

 

that's a whole lot of spots to not drill!

 

Plus, the rack is a fixed length. I'd build the rack to determine the leg mounting point locations.