I don't understand the advantages of a Bed Rack

[mojocho]

Honest question (not deliberately trying to be an @ss despite my wife's beliefs).

I don't understand what the advantages of a rack.

Space limiting: I traded my JKU for the bed as I missed my old truck but wasn't going to NOT have a jeep. For the same reason I wouldn't want a bed cap or a hard one piece tonneau cover (i.e. diamondback), I don't want to worry about being limited in height. I understand you could take off some racks, but if I am just driving around town and I see a large baby elephant wandering around, how am I going to load her up with a rack in the way

Not secure: Although I wouldn't want a full Bed Cap, I can at least see the advantage of keeping things out of the elements and being able to secure your stuff. If I'm driving around with the elephant loaded up and take her to the zoo and they reward me with a chest full of gold doubloons, forget about stopping at McD's for a bathroom break.

RRT: Can't I put a RTT on a bed cap or Roof racks?

I've seen locally a nice Willys pimped out with clayton 3.5" lift and half rack with a RTT. He always has his RTT mounted on. I'd think the weight and drag would be horrible. But regardless it looked sharp and picturesque. Just got me thinking about racks...then couldn't figure out why I'd need one.

Educate me...GO!

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[j.o.y.ride]

Not everybody uses their trucks the same way.

 

[mojocho]

Not everybody uses their trucks the same way.

No I get that. Totally respect and preach that myself. Just want to see what I am missing as bed racks are a new thing to me. Who knows, maybe it's something I didn't know I needed..

 

[j.o.y.ride]

You can get racks that work with rolling locking bed covers.

 

[Rockabillyroy]

I get what you mean. I want to be able to move a fridge or pick up some saplings, but my diamondback makes it a hassle. At least for the fridge. My old truck, I used to just throw stuff in the back. Loved it.

This truck is a family truck. Flip cover to secure belongings and cross bars to haul bikes.

I think what I really need is two trucks. Gonna see if my wife will trade in her mini van for the ford lightning. That way we have on hand back up power in case of earthquake emergency power outages.

 

[rharr]

racks are the new farkel plain and simple. Next will be accent color bed racks...

 

[kevman65]

A rack gives you hard point attachments to secure items used while off-roading, camping, overlanding.

It does create more storage area than just throwing a bunch of crap in the bed and hope it doesn't bounce out.

A rack gives you something else to spend your hard earned money on, trick it out with more lights and cuss when it's in the way.

 

[Mac]

RTT are the latest fashion accessory for your truck, I see them all the time on trucks now in the city, just a recent thing have never seen one until recently. Agree on the racks they seem they would severely limit the usefulness of the bed.

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

I'll answer your question with another.

Are you okay with ladder racks on a full size truck?

I know it would be heresy to put a baby ubody with ladder rack on buuuuuuuuut that's exactly what eveyone is building for overlanding which is cool while carrying around my carpentry tools on one side and mechanical on the other isn't.

As for those half height monstrosities, its a place to put crap, the offroad equivalent of a horizontal surface. Now your traction boards can go there instead of on the rack above and since the gladiator doesnt have a swing out gate, can't go there either.

And I get what you mean, its like only having half of a truck bed to start with, now you are limiting its height, mind as well just buy a ridgeline.

 

[NachoRuby]

I can't say it's a new trend here, because trucks have been having bedracks for as long as I can remember, but I won't put one on my jeep, simply because it's in the way of taking the top off. I feel the same way about bed caps. But if I had a truck that wasn't a jeep, I'd be open to it. Among other things, they look like a great way to carry my bicycles.

 

[Dqban]

I specifically wanted a truck so that i could have a secure mounting point for my mountain bikes that was not way on top a roof. My bikes are relatively expensive and I dont love the idea of some texting idiot running into them while mounted on a hitch rack.

Yakima racks come off in seconds.

 

[Mac]

I specifically wanted a truck so that i could have a secure mounting point for my mountain bikes that was not way on top a roof. My bikes are relatively expensive and I dont love the idea of some texting idiot running into them while mounted on a hitch rack.

Yakima racks come off in seconds.

Why not just put the bikes in the bed? I have a couple high end bikes as well and it works pretty well for me. They are out of the wind and below the roof line as well.

 

[staying_tuned]

In our case we camp and roam about with our young ones far more often than we have a need for the actual bed to haul lumber or an appliance. Our rack has load bars on top in the event I need sheet rock or plywood.

It does seem silly to buy something with a bed only to immediately limit its use as a bed (in a traditional sense) but in many cases, the bed is more of an open canvas. Anything without a bed doesn’t offer that sort of open canvas.

 

[jorbasaurus]

I don’t understand the full time RTT mounts - just seems like truck jewelry, I take mine off as soon as we get home. As for the rack I can detach mine and stow the bars in the cab if I happen upon a baby elephant in need of rescuing ?. Super simple attachment, and very useful for a number of random things.

 

[Moe_Fugga]

It truly is as simple as “It’s all in how you use your truck.” Hell, I don’t need a Jeep. I’m not going rock crawling, bouncing around trails, or playing in the mud. I bought mine because I was in the market for something I could tow light trailers with and have a bed to haul shit around in. The benefit that drew me to the Jeep was that it’s an open air FUN vehicle for the family. I got all I wanted and lots of off-road goodness I didn’t necessarily need. That being said, if our family needs change and we want to go camping, off-road exploring, and cool shit like that I will have no problem doing it in this truck.

Perfect all around truck!!

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