Bed Rack Mount That Works With Rollup Tonneau Cover

[kayakmike]

There are lots of different approaches for racks for the bed. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to mount a rack that would still work with the factory rollup tonneau cover. Ideally I’d like to lock stuff under the tonneau cover, and still have storage on the rack system for kayaks, bikes, or maybe a tent setup. Also would still like to be able to install the BuiltRight bedside racks (Ref 6). Now that I’m getting closer to (finally) having my JT in hand, I’ve started sketching it up. I’d appreciate feedback before I start prototyping this.

Design goals:

• Rack system that works without removing trail rail tracks and rollup tonneau cover
  • I have the Mopar cross bars that mount directly to the trail rails, but these have limited carrying capacity and definitely interfere with the tonneau cover (Ref 2)
  • Many rack setups clamp to the bed frame, and require removing the trail rail tracks
  • Some people have adapted Yakima & Thule racks using Toyota/Nissan rail brackets to the trail rail system (Ref 4)
  • Any rack that clamps inside of the bed (Mopar rails, Yakima/Thule racks, etc.) would interfere with the tonneau cover
• Ideally work without drilling into bed frame (i.e. clamp on or use trail rail mounting approach vs. drill/bolt on) for adjustability and removability
• Design using Yakima OverHaul HD or Outpost HD style rack in mind
  • Because I like the look of these and with the angled upright bars creates more mounting/clearance challenges than pure vertical uprights
  • Design could be tweaked/modified to work with Thule Xporter, TracRac TracONE and other rack systems

So I’m trying to leverage the mounting idea used for a lumber rack over a camper shell on a pickup (https://www.campway.com/products/rack-3000-series-camper-shell-rack). For these the rack has tabs that extend beyond the side of the bed and sandwiched between the bed rail and camper shell, and the camper shell is clamped to the bed rail using J hooks.

I’ve got two concepts:

1. Angle extrusion concept: I kind of like this one the best. Cut down extruded angle iron/aluminum (3 in vertical inside the bed x 6+ in horizontal to accommodate the rack system outside of the tonneau cover). Cut to the length needed for the rack base. Machine a couple of slots along the face that mates to the trail rail to give some vertical adjustability. Use spring loaded nut plates inside the trail rail (Ref 1). Bring the angle metal flush with the top of the bed cap then secure in the trail rail (can shim out as needed to clear bed cap). Once the brackets are mounted, then install the rack onto the overhang of the angle metal. May need shims or thicker spacer to accommodate the lip on the rack base that normally catches the inside of the bed. Match drill as needed to match the rack mounting features.
   
2. Hook concept: My original approach. Just put a flat plate on top of the bed. Custom machine a bracket that slides in the trail rail system then bolt through from the top of the plate. Downside is you’d need some thickness to the plate to recess the fasteners as well as the custom machined brackets. Everything else would be similar to the angle extrusion concept.
   

Both of these would allow fairly easy movement of the rack forward and aft. The front cross bar would have to be mounted a few inches back from the front of the bed so that it doesn’t interfere with the rolled up tonneau cover. The aft cross bar would have to be mounted forward of the tonneau cover latch (~1 ft forward of the tailgate).

Downside of these approaches is they would stick out from the sides of the bed, but think that would have to happen if you want to use the roll up tonneau cover. Yakima has adapter brackets for their racks for an accordion type tonneau cover, but that would require purchasing that tonneau cover (which I wouldn’t do).

Reference links:

1. DYI Trail Rail Tie Downs: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/trail-rail-question.18087/
2. Mopar Bed Rails: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/mopar-bed-rails-now-available.17833/
3. Kayak Mounting: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/bed-rack-storage-for-kayaks.14148/
4. Xporter Pro/OverHaul HD Install Photos: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/thule-xsporter-pro.18303
5. Tonneau Cover Locking/Latching Issues: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/modification-to-allow-the-soft-roll–up-tonneau-cover-to-actually-lock.19118
6. BuiltRight Bedside Racks: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...t-industries-bedside-racks-any-interest.18152

Rack concepts I've referred to with @ralphjjr, @steffen707, @Kjm18 and others I've probably forgotten about...

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[Tortooga Custom Works]

oh snap. good write up. give me a few to digest.
@Bobs85Reny is another good resource. Him and I are actually working on some stuff below the cover... but at some point we are going to work on the same: something above the cover.

 

[Bobs85Reny]

Personally I am not thrilled at your approach. I understand why but I would not want my supports hanging outside the bedrail. I would rather modify the cover to go in than the supports to go out. your cover is not structural and is not supporting a heavy load. I know this may require a bit of work on the cover but it will be safer and stronger in the long run. just my 2 cents. If it is just for a kayak you should be ok but forget putting any load on it.

 

[Tortooga Custom Works]

I've gone down this same path as you and I'm frustrated that all the current options for tonneau covers go to the outside edge of the bedrails.

What I've personally decided is to focus on the inside of the bed for now (as I mentioned before), in hopes that in a few months we'll see different covers emerge and then figure out a rack...

That said, if you want to retain use of the mopar roll-up tonneau cover, I don't see any other option but what you are describing. Modifying that cover would take some serious work. You'd have to cut metal, and cut fabric. Reattach the fabric... Then there's the issue with the latches on the sides of the bed, those would have to get moved in... not impossible, but much more work than fabricating a couple of brackets.

I would opt for option 1 from your list. I'm not sure you want something hooked onto the rail, it's probably better that it be attached with a spring nut.
The whole thing may not look amazing, but you'll have a working rack...

I'm not 100% sure about the physics in this case - but I imagine you want some of the weight to actually rest on the bed rail. To get some additional support. There should be no gap between the bed rail and your angled metal. But, I'm not sure how that would affect the plastic...

Note - I just took some measurements, the gaps on the sides of the tonnea cover start at about 6" from the cab, to roughly 12" from the rear of the cover. That will make the rack look funnier because it won't be in the same spot front and rear - but, whatever, it will work in my opinion.

By the way, the yakima adapter brackets you mentioned, I think is this one: https://www.yakima.com/tonneau-kit-1
That bracket only works with the Retrax XR Series tonneau. Retrax has said they will NOT be making a cover for the Gladiator.

From June 24, 2019:

OMG, so sad. This might ruin all retractable tops.

This is from Jeremy S. at Retrax
"
Unfortunately we are not going to make a cover for the Jeep Gladiator. The gas tank has an angled guard that protrudes on the inside of the bed which does not allow our canister to sit down in the bed. Also there is no place to clamp our rail to. For these reasons we are choosing not to build a cover for this truck.

"

EDIT: They could change their mind, like A.R.E. who said early on they would not do anything, and now we are hearing late 2019 - early 2020.

 

[steffen707]

EDIT: They could change their mind, like A.R.E. who said early on they would not do anything, and now we are hearing late 2019 - early 2020.

A.R.E. is now making toppers for the JT now? nice!

 

[Tortooga Custom Works]

A.R.E. is now making toppers for the JT now? nice!

not now - in late 2019 or early 2020... which based on the timelines we've seen probably means 2021

 

[MontanaJoe]

The bracket design above may have been developed by KB Voodoo and Max modular for the bracket that attaches to the trail rail system and then goes under the tonneau cover. I would love a system to have the tonneau cover and the ability to open and close the cover, along with having a rack. Sorry I don’t know how to post links, I will continue to read with interest some solutions

 

[kayakmike]

Thanks for the feedback.

Personally I am not thrilled at your approach. I understand why but I would not want my supports hanging outside the bedrail. I would rather modify the cover to go in than the supports to go out. your cover is not structural and is not supporting a heavy load. I know this may require a bit of work on the cover but it will be safer and stronger in the long run. just my 2 cents. If it is just for a kayak you should be ok but forget putting any load on it.

Agree it's not the most aesthetically pleasing approach, but doesn't look that bad on the pickup trucks running around with lumber racks over camper shells. I disagree with your assessment that it won't handle the load. I've run hand calcs on the preliminary measurements I have (will run FEA when I have more final measurements and a more mature design) and a properly sized plate cantilevered from the bed sides can handle the load, even under dynamic conditions. I'd be more concerned with the load path between the trail rails and the bed frame (3M tape and a handful of small fasteners), but that's a problem with anything attaching to the trail rails.

I've gone down this same path as you and I'm frustrated that all the current options for tonneau covers go to the outside edge of the bedrails.

What I've personally decided is to focus on the inside of the bed for now (as I mentioned before), in hopes that in a few months we'll see different covers emerge and then figure out a rack...

That said, if you want to retain use of the mopar roll-up tonneau cover, I don't see any other option but what you are describing. Modifying that cover would take some serious work. You'd have to cut metal, and cut fabric. Reattach the fabric... Then there's the issue with the latches on the sides of the bed, those would have to get moved in... not impossible, but much more work than fabricating a couple of brackets.

I would opt for option 1 from your list. I'm not sure you want something hooked onto the rail, it's probably better that it be attached with a spring nut.
The whole thing may not look amazing, but you'll have a working rack...

I'm not 100% sure about the physics in this case - but I imagine you want some of the weight to actually rest on the bed rail. To get some additional support. There should be no gap between the bed rail and your angled metal. But, I'm not sure how that would affect the plastic...

Note - I just took some measurements, the gaps on the sides of the tonnea cover start at about 6" from the cab, to roughly 12" from the rear of the cover. That will make the rack look funnier because it won't be in the same spot front and rear - but, whatever, it will work in my opinion.

By the way, the yakima adapter brackets you mentioned, I think is this one: https://www.yakima.com/tonneau-kit-1
That bracket only works with the Retrax XR Series tonneau. Retrax has said they will NOT be making a cover for the Gladiator.

From June 24, 2019:



EDIT: They could change their mind, like A.R.E. who said early on they would not do anything, and now we are hearing late 2019 - early 2020.

The load path would carry the load from the rack to the plate/angle which would rest on the bed rail for static situations. In a dynamic situation (bouncing around off-road), you'd have to look at a pull up force, which is a more limiting case for this design vs. one that is firmly clamped to the bed frame.

Yep, those are the Yakima tonneau cover brackets I'm referring to. My JT comes with the rollup tonneau cover. Like I said, I wouldn't buy another tonneau cover (even if it was available). Also, if you read the specs on those Yakima tonneau cover brackets, they reduce the load carrying capacity of the racks (from 500/300 lb to 300/180 lb).

Modifying the rollup tonneau cover is out of scope for what I would do. I would just remove it before I tore it apart. Originally I thought the Decked system would be a great solution, but as details started to emerge it was clear that there is too much wasted volume with that setup. Really think the @BuiltRight panels under the tonneau cover for smaller stuff strapped to the sides, with larger stuff in bins or loose in the bed locked under a tonneau cover will work the best for me. I'll probably keep the Mopar cross bars even if I build a setup like this, because in some cases that will fit the bill (even if the tonneau is useless with those bars).

Agree that the cross bars wouldn't be symmetric fore and aft. If you look at the photos of the Overhaul and Xporter installed on JTs (https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/thule-xsporter-pro.18303/), they aren't symmetric there either (Yakima aft bar is pushed forward due to the wider bed frame near the tailgate, and Exporter front cross bar is pushed aft due to the fuel filler channel, and there's vertical adjustment challenges with that rack). Think you can make any setup symmetric, but sacrifice cross bar spread.

The bracket design above may have been developed by KB Voodoo and Max modular for the bracket that attaches to the trail rail system and then goes under the tonneau cover. I would love a system to have the tonneau cover and the ability to open and close the cover, along with having a rack. Sorry I don’t know how to post links, I will continue to read with interest some solutions

Thanks for the reference. Googled it and found their rack setup that probably would work out of the box with the roll up tonneau cover or even other tonneau covers (https://www.max-modular.com/shop-max-modular/utility-rack-for-tonneau-covers). Photos give an idea of what it would look like, and it has similar load rating to the Overhaul and Exporter racks clamped directly to the bed rails. I personally like the look of the Yakima rack better (not a fan of the industrial look of this rack), but this is definitely an option for some. The industrial brackets would stick out from the edge of the vehicle less than other racks (1.5" wide).

 

[Tortooga Custom Works]

funny, i think there is a link somewhere to the max modular ones. I had seen those and totally forgot about it. I agree that those would probably work right out of the box. They are more square... and I agree these look very "industrial" - or maybe the word might be "commercial" - like it's more a work truck than an expedition truck.

But I think it's the only thing out there that will work right of the box with the roll up cover.

 

[Bobs85Reny]

My concern is that you have no triangulation on either design. I would be worried that you have stress points on both designs.
the distance from where its secured to the post there is going to be a lot of up and down force that could either shear the bolt or crack the plate. Maybe I'm wrong but personally I would not want to take that chance.

 

[J33P3R]

https://www.kbvoodoo.com/shop?category=For+use+on+any+truck
maybe

 

[bheath-atx]

Watching this as well. I am very interested in keeping and using regularly the factory rolling tonneau cover. I use mine as a daily driver and the bed serves as my trunk. I keep major stuff in bins and tied down, but wan to to fit small loose stuff etc. in the gaps between the wheels, etc. Lots of that would fly out without a cover. I'd like to be able to do an adjustable solution like the Yakima Lookout HD.

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