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Custom Built Aluminum Bed Rack

TJ Mitchell Films

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There are so many different bed rack options out there on the market today. I decided to build my own out of aluminum! What do you guys think?

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steffen707

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i just posted the video in the "tops" thread. I love it. #stackofdimesweld, lol Looking STURDY!

i've been kicking around buying a rack, or buying a TIG welder. I know, TIG will cost way more up front, but then i can build all sorts of stuff.....

Love the side bed box guard tube idea. Keep up the fabrication!
 

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Just heard you say maybe making a decked type custom thing at 10 min or so on your video.

THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO DO! i'm thinking 7" total height so it lines up with the half height tailgate. I found a sweet 6" tall water tank I wanted to mount in the back of the bed so the drawers would only be like 36" deep, but then it could carry 24 gallons i believe for overlanding. I was also going to try and fill the areas behind the wheel wells with a compressor on one side and the plumbing for the H2O on the other.

also having some kind of top that slides out like the "bedslide" would be nice.
 
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TJ Mitchell Films

TJ Mitchell Films

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i just posted the video in the "tops" thread. I love it. #stackofdimesweld, lol Looking STURDY!

i've been kicking around buying a rack, or buying a TIG welder. I know, TIG will cost way more up front, but then i can build all sorts of stuff.....

Love the side bed box guard tube idea. Keep up the fabrication!
Gets a TIG welder! It takes a lot of practice but being able to build your own stuff is awesome. Thanks for the kind words.

Just heard you say maybe making a decked type custom thing at 10 min or so on your video.

THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO DO! i'm thinking 7" total height so it lines up with the half height tailgate. I found a sweet 6" tall water tank I wanted to mount in the back of the bed so the drawers would only be like 36" deep, but then it could carry 24 gallons i believe for overlanding. I was also going to try and fill the areas behind the wheel wells with a compressor on one side and the plumbing for the H2O on the other.

also having some kind of top that slides out like the "bedslide" would be nice.
Yeah that sounds like a great idea. I hadn’t thought about trying to incorporate a water storage system into it that’s pretty cool I might have to do that.
 

steffen707

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Yeah that sounds like a great idea. I hadn’t thought about trying to incorporate a water storage system into it that’s pretty cool I might have to do that.
Another thought i had was to instead put some kind of auxilliary fuel tank in the bed in the back that way its protected and then fashion some kind of water tank where the normal spare goes. That way if it gets hit, you may be thirsty but less likely to blow up......

I don't want a traditional in bed auxilliary tank because that takes up too much vertical space in an already small bed, but if one could be like 24" deep, 40" wide and 6" tall, that would be perfect. not sure how sump and all that shit work, or baffles. much research needed on my part, but thought i'd share the ideas to get the creative juices flowing......that's kind of a gross saying BTW.
 

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Just heard you say maybe making a decked type custom thing at 10 min or so on your video.

THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO DO! i'm thinking 7" total height so it lines up with the half height tailgate. I found a sweet 6" tall water tank I wanted to mount in the back of the bed so the drawers would only be like 36" deep, but then it could carry 24 gallons i believe for overlanding. I was also going to try and fill the areas behind the wheel wells with a compressor on one side and the plumbing for the H2O on the other.

also having some kind of top that slides out like the "bedslide" would be nice.

I am in the process of determining if this Front Runner Drawer system could be made to fit the Gladiator. The 79 Series LC’s bed is several inches wider unfortunately. The beauty of this system is that not only does it have a drawer that is almost 48” deep it allows you to put a 16 gallon water tank in the front of the bed AND allows you to place your 40-45L fridge ONTHE FLOOR near the rear so that it’s incredibly easy to access..

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.c...ta-land-cruiser-79-dc-touring-drawer-kit.html

If the OP could come up with something like that I’d be all over it!
 
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TJ Mitchell Films

TJ Mitchell Films

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I am in the process of determining if this Front Runner Drawer system could be made to fit the Gladiator. The 79 Series LC’s bed is several inches wider unfortunately. The beauty of this system is that not only does it have a drawer that is almost 48” deep it allows you to put a 16 gallon water tank in the front of the bed AND allows you to place your 40-45L fridge ONTHE FLOOR near the rear so that it’s incredibly easy to access..

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.c...ta-land-cruiser-79-dc-touring-drawer-kit.html

If the OP could come up with something like that I’d be all over it!
Ah I see... Interesting! I’m going over some design ideas right now.
 

steffen707

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I am in the process of determining if this Front Runner Drawer system could be made to fit the Gladiator. The 79 Series LC’s bed is several inches wider unfortunately. The beauty of this system is that not only does it have a drawer that is almost 48” deep it allows you to put a 16 gallon water tank in the front of the bed AND allows you to place your 40-45L fridge ONTHE FLOOR near the rear so that it’s incredibly easy to access..

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.c...ta-land-cruiser-79-dc-touring-drawer-kit.html

If the OP could come up with something like that I’d be all over it!
i'm thinking the fridge will have to go on top of the deck with one of those extend out and drop down fridge slides

This dometic is 19.5" wide, add another 1.5" for a fridge slide (just guessing) that's 21". The width of the tailgate is only 49" wide, so that leaves you with only 28" wide space. Although if you had super long full extension 60" drawer slides, a 28x60 drawer would be sweet, lol.

https://shop.dometic.com/store/dome...v2y8VaNuqtHtddBAy4y6Y92boH9dB75YaAtPbEALw_wcB
 

smlobx

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is 16 gallons a lot for overlanding? I have no idea.
I guess that would depend on how many people there are and other factors.

we have used this system for a week out in the desert and been fine as long as you don’t need to take a shower! If you want to take a navy shower every couple of days you will probably need double that for 2 people. Baby wipes work wonders!
 

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smlobx

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i'm thinking the fridge will have to go on top of the deck with one of those extend out and drop down fridge slides

This dometic is 19.5" wide, add another 1.5" for a fridge slide (just guessing) that's 21". The width of the tailgate is only 49" wide, so that leaves you with only 28" wide space. Although if you had super long full extension 60" drawer slides, a 28x60 drawer would be sweet, lol.

https://shop.dometic.com/store/dome...v2y8VaNuqtHtddBAy4y6Y92boH9dB75YaAtPbEALw_wcB

I’ve posted video’s from the company I rented from but I’ll include this one using the Toyota Hilux which is similar to the Tacoma. In it you can see the fridge on the left rear of the bed and how the drawer is set off to the right side...

 

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Beach Buggy

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Great looking rack, functional and nice geometry. I'm curious if you tracked the cost of materials and the number of hours it took you to fabricate just the aluminum rack. I'm trying to get a handle on what it would cost to have a similar rack custom fabricated vs. buying something off the shelf.
 
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TJ Mitchell Films

TJ Mitchell Films

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Great looking rack, functional and nice geometry. I'm curious if you tracked the cost of materials and the number of hours it took you to fabricate just the aluminum rack. I'm trying to get a handle on what it would cost to have a similar rack custom fabricated vs. buying something off the shelf.
Thanks! I can’t remember exactly since it’s been so long since I built this and material prices have fluctuated since then but I think just for aluminum portion it was only like $150 in material and about 5 hours of labor total. I ended up adding more to it later
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