Bed crossbars on the cheap/homemade

[Dartboy]

My wife snagged a hitch mount ski carrier. The design is not great, IMHO as the skis are held sideways across the back of the truck where they will catch a lot of road grime. I'd like to mount it over the bed, with the skis held lengthwise. I have a Rollbak tonneau cover with t-slots for attaching whatever I come up with. I don't need to have clearance to roll up the bedcover with it on, but it should be 3-4" high to clear the bindings.

While the vendor/sponsors here make nice stuff, I'm a cheap bastard and don't think it's worth spending big bucks for something I'll only use a few times a year. Does anyone have a line on cheap crossbars I can mount to, or suggested designs to make my own?

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[PuddleJumper]

You can but extrusions cut aluminum online with precut lengths and hardware to bolt it down. Its fair compared to paying a premium for stuff with names attached to em. Now if your really trying to pinch you can get zinc plated unistrut from HD with some hardware and make a rack out of that. Ain't the prettiest thing but it works

 

[Dartboy]

I've found a few threads where people were building tent racks which have some good ideas. I was thinking uni-strut too, it's the uprights/attachment points I'd need to figure out.

I found these on Amazon, which look like they might work. Price isn't too much more than home built would be once I add it all up.
https://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Appr...?keywords=t+slot+rack&qid=1707346919&sr=8-102

*Edit* Found a similar set for just under $100 and dug up a couple gift cards that covered the whole amount so I pulled the trigger. Looks like I have a weekend project.

 

[Dartboy]

Project complete!
Ordered this set of crossbars off Amazon, pretty nice especially considering the $100 price. The T-bolts that are supposed to be used to attach the ladder rack braces are just slightly too wide to fit the slots on the tonneau cover, a quick hit to the bench grinder solved that issue
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPMJC3VX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[Dartboy]

Gratuitous photo

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