Real life experience with UpTOP Truss bed rack

Like the title says. Im looking to hear from those with real world experience on the Truss rack systems from UpTOP overland. What kind of overlanding do you do (high mileage back roads or slower crawling) and roughly how many miles a year? What type of RTT do you have? Any issues so far / how has the rack held up?

Ive had my current Tepui RTT and KB Voodoo rack (one of the original versions) for almost three years now. Logged close to 50 nights and at least 5000 miles of washboarded dirt roads during that time. Its been a good system for the most part, but Im looking to get into the wedge tent game sometime next year and want to upgrade my bed rack to something more stout while Im at it.

All of my travels with the current setup have exposed some weaknesses in the original KB voodoo design. Specifically where the legs and even top trusses start to buckle under the load. Easy enough to reinforce with some flat stock and and afternoon with the angle grinder, but its been eye opening the forces a bed rack experiences when carrying a big RTT on rough roads.

Voodoo racks have been re-designed since then to eliminate the issue I was having, but I saw a brand new UpTOP rack in person this weekend and liked the looks. Plus all aluminum is a big selling point for me living in the salt belt. Obviously aluminum is not as strong as steel though.

 

No one? Even on a Friday

 

Whatup dude. Have one on my 3rd gen. Love it so far. Mid height Retrax option. Thing is sturdy, considering it's put together with like 50 bolts lol. I keep thinking that the method of mounting to the retrax would be it's weak point but it hasn't shifted at all. Never even budged. I have a tent and some maxtrax on it at all times. Still have great visibility out the rear view and minimal drag.

 

Good to hear and nice setup man. Keeping the RTT low is the key to getting half decent MPGs haha

 

Thanks man! I’ve had the rack on for a couple months now. Paint on the uptop is solid and doesn’t scratch easy which is also a plus. I’m impressed with the quality and I’ll most likely get the uptop bravo rack for the cab down the line. Haven’t needed to get that just yet though.

 

This is exactly what I was looking for, in a review. I am researching now and want a bed rack for a RTT but also want to keep my Retrax Pro.

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I’m looking at the mid height retrax truss rack and was worried about visibility through the back window. @Spencer_Taco21 would you mind posting a picture of the view looking back? Maybe a picture looking back and from the rear view mirror if you don’t mind? Itd be a huge help!

 

Probably should update this thread now that Ive had my setup a while. Overall Ive been happy with the Truss rack. Aluminum is great from the corrosion resistance standpoint. We'll see how it holds up after a few northern winters but I dont foresee any big issues.

I do wish the cross bars were more stout. I have an OVS Mamba III RTT mounted on top. I can see some flex in the bars when someone is in the tent. I can imagine the amount of flex it experiences off-road. I think that is causing some stress at the point where the bars are bolted to the uprights. You can see in the 1st pic the powder coat is starting to bubble up in that area. I have heard from another member UpTop is now offering the Truss with 2x2" cross bars instead of the 2x1" like mine.

Probably the biggest "con" I ran into during the install was the MaxTrax mounts. The pins need to be spaced off from the UpTop mount, otherwise the nubs of the boards hit the side panel or 'Armor Plate' bolts as they're called. A few big nuts worked to temporarily solve the issue. Ive since turned some nice aluminum spacers that I cant seem to fine a pic of. But yeah, kind of annoying thats even an issue. I am not sure if UpTop has resolved that issue.

 

Did you get one finally?

 

Yes. Read the post above yours

 

I am sorry, did not notice that it was you. Was going to ask how has experience been so far with the rack. Aluminum seems to be a bit more flexible but is it strong for a heavy RTT?

 

As I mentioned it does flex a lot. I think the newer 2x2" cross bars would be much more stout. But mine hasnt shown any signs of failure yet, just flex.

 

I am not a structural engineer but looks like the 2x1 would cause stress on the structure and overtime would affect the load bearing of the legs. Met someone who has an old UpTop. One of the legs broke due to stress. He has the new legs and wants to sell it. I am now having second thoughts as the first set broke. I would get the 2x2 and then put any real loads. Unfortunately UpTop has not released any info on the use of 2x1 vs 2x2 load bars.

Since you have been using the 1x2 bars for a long time, do post your latest photos if possible.

Edit: Removed photo as the rack owner did not want this posted. He had shared the photos only to explain what was wrong. I am sorry about it.

 

Ouch... I'm willing to bet that isn't the first failure of that type with the truss bed racks. Probably why they went to 2x2 load bars now and the 2x1's flexing. It's making me have second thoughts as well, there's currently a old style for sale in the 3rd gen classifieds section but I'm not so sure anymore. I was also disappointed at the lack of information in regards to the 2x2 load bar update on uptops website, their pictures aren't even updated to show it, only in the instructions were the drawings updated. I guess it makes sense why they wanted to be quiet about it but still a bummer.

Do you know how much weight they had on the rack when it failed? And which leg was it that broke and did both sides of the leg break or just the one?

 

I called the owner of the rack for more details and he was not happy that I posted the photo. He had shared the photo with me to explain what was the problem with the old system and how UpTop had fixed the issue with the new setup that he now has for sale. He told me that UpTop is a very upright company and very supportive. They know about the issue and the new design includes 2x2 bars.

PS: I could not get all the details you wanted. Sorry about that. However I am willing to test the UpTop myself as they do have a great review elsewhere.

 

I guess time will tell how my original 2x1s hold up. Did not get as many off-road miles in this year as I would have liked, but still very close to 1000 miles of dirt. Obviously not counting any of the countless miles on our mirror-smooth New England "paved" roads either

I did not see the picture you posed before removing it, but I cant imagine a leg would actually break. As sated above I run an OVS Mamba RTT which is in the 'standard' 170-180lb weight range of wedge style RTTs. Like I said I think 2x2s would help reduce flex, but I would not pass up on an original version just because of that.

 

Mine broke in the middle of a three week road trip while in Utah. Limping back home with some ratchet straps and hose clamps.