Homemade Unistrut Tent Mount on Bed

[Zebago]

I rigged this up over the weekend while I wait for my new bed rack to arrive. Its pretty solid and easily removable. I may leave the tent on the rails and use them to hoist the tent up off the bed to the rafters of my garage. Or leave the rails mounted as is and put plywood or a cage on them to have a deck above the bed under the rack.

I ground some material off the heads of the carriage bolts so they would slide clear of the rail mounting bolts. I used 3/8” square nuts as the locating feature. They are ½” square. I had to grind the square nuts thinner so they wouldn’t stick out of the rails. The washers are 11/8” Dia. I welded the nut and washer to the bolt so they wouldn’t spin while tightening. I also had to drill the center hole on the 90° Brackets because the existing holes didn’t line up with the rail. I had to remove the forward set of factory tie downs to slide the rail bolts in the larger openings and down the rails. I used thin rubber on all mounting surfaces. I was going to use Unistrut clamps with bolts instead of the U-bolt to mount the rails but I dint like the looks of the bolts when tightened.

Materials:

1 - 10’ of 1 5/8” Unistrut cut in half (60” each)
4 - Unistrut 90° Brackets
8 - 3/8” Unistrut Channel nuts – You could get away with 4.
8 - 3/8” Hex bolts with washers
4 – 3/8” Carriage bolts with washers and nylon nuts. I used 2” bolts, but could be shorter.
Misc. pieces of rubber cut to fit mounting surfaces

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[Zebago]

I was going to do this, but didn't like the looks. And was worried the tent would hit it.

 

[WhatExit?]

I like it! Well done; thanks for sharing!

 

[Sladecm]

I rigged this up over the weekend while I wait for my new bed rack to arrive. Its pretty solid and easily removable. I may leave the tent on the rails and use them to hoist the tent up off the bed to the rafters of my garage. Or leave the rails mounted as is and put plywood or a cage on them to have a deck above the bed under the rack.

I ground some material off the heads of the carriage bolts so they would slide clear of the rail mounting bolts. I used 3/8” square nuts as the locating feature. They are ½” square. I had to grind the square nuts thinner so they wouldn’t stick out of the rails. The washers are 11/8” Dia. I welded the nut and washer to the bolt so they wouldn’t spin while tightening. I also had to drill the center hole on the 90° Brackets because the existing holes didn’t line up with the rail. I had to remove the forward set of factory tie downs to slide the rail bolts in the larger openings and down the rails. I used thin rubber on all mounting surfaces. I was going to use Unistrut clamps with bolts instead of the U-bolt to mount the rails but I dint like the looks of the bolts when tightened.

Materials:

1 - 10’ of 1 5/8” Unistrut cut in half (60” each)
4 - Unistrut 90° Brackets
8 - 3/8” Unistrut Channel nuts – You could get away with 4.
8 - 3/8” Hex bolts with washers
4 – 3/8” Carriage bolts with washers and nylon nuts. I used 2” bolts, but could be shorter.
Misc. pieces of rubber cut to fit mounting surfaces

This is great! Would you be interested in selling it once you get your new rack in?

 

[Zebago]

Thanks! No, I think I'm going to keep it and try to have it mounted under the rack. I may mount a spare on it and still have the bed for totes or drawers. Or put a piece of plywood or basket/roof rack on it to hold more gear. Also I think it would cost more in shipping than the materials cost.

 

[WhatExit?]

@Zebago - I linked to your use of Strut to support your RTT in my Bed Rack build thread. I appreciate you posting what you did as it was one of the many webpages I reviewed when doing my research.

Link: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...fect-for-me-gladiator-rack.27705/#post-448372

 

[Zebago]

Thanks Bud! I like what your doing in that thread. Some good information over there!

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