I'm building my idea of a perfect (for me) Gladiator rack

[WhatExit?]

That schematic looks like it's still two (non welded) pieces, right? So you get the "test bracket" (that you originally ordered) PLUS that piece that fits their racks? So still a possibility, albeit more expensive and with stuff you don't need....

They are two pieces - the lower one does bolt to the Trail Rail and the upper one bolts to it and to a cross rail. I needed a much taller bracket so I could open the Tonneau Cover completely.

Yes, unfortunately Maxx Modular won’t sell only the 4 lower brackets so you have to buy one set of the 8 pieces.

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[Mark Doiron]

... I wish and hope they'll sell only the Tonneau Brackets to the market. I understand they're a business and they're doing what they think is best for them. ...

Well, I hope they're reading this and that they'll respond to the market by offering their entire kit to fit with the OEM tonneau covers. That's what a business doing the best for them should be doing.

And, love what you're doing. Rolling up the OEM tonneau cover should not be a PITA or, worse yet, left out of the design. Maybe you should be the one to offer that better mousetrap.

 

[Mark Doiron]

... Maxx Modular won’t sell only the 4 lower brackets so you have to buy one set of the 8 pieces.

Two sets, right? Because you need eight lower brackets.

It will cost $300 to buy those eight lower brackets, and you'll have miscellaneous leftover hardware you don't need, including eight adapter brackets. What's needed is a company that will produce a single piece lower bracket, then you could make do with four. And that company should be your supplier of the upper brackets. Have you considered suggesting that to them?

 

[Gatorized]

Two sets, right? Because you need eight lower brackets.

It will cost $300 to buy those eight lower brackets, and you'll have miscellaneous leftover hardware you don't need, including eight adapter brackets. What's needed is a company that will produce a single piece lower bracket, then you could make do with four. And that company should be your supplier of the upper brackets. Have you considered suggesting that to them?

What gauge /thickness is that bracket?
For that kind of money you should be able to find someone to fabricate them locally and with a shape that follows the profile of the bed rail so the tonneau fits better with the bracket installed.

 

[WhatExit?]

Two sets, right? Because you need eight lower brackets.

It will cost $300 to buy those eight lower brackets, and you'll have miscellaneous leftover hardware you don't need, including eight adapter brackets. What's needed is a company that will produce a single piece lower bracket, then you could make do with four. And that company should be your supplier of the upper brackets. Have you considered suggesting that to them?

What gauge /thickness is that bracket?
For that kind of money you should be able to find someone to fabricate them locally and with a shape that follows the profile of the bed rail so the tonneau fits better with the bracket installed.

@Max Modular knows. As I mentioned, after I ordered 4 of their individual brackets, they killed that offering and now only offer 1 of them WITHOUT holes so prospective buyers can "try" their bracket to see if it fits their truck (I think they'll reduce the cost of the follow-on order by the amount of that one test bracket).

They seem to not be interested in selling just their tonneau brackets. But it's OK, there's nothing proprietary about those brackets and they can and likely will be made by others. They have the threaded nut welded on to the bracket and the powder coat is nice but I painted over that anyway. There's demand out there and the supply will follow it - at some point.

I had originally planned on using only 4 of their brackets - I was considering running a piece of 12 gauge Strut between them (one on each side between the 2 brackets) and then attaching the Tower brackets to the strut where needed. Once I saw how easy and better it would be to use 2 brackets per upper bracket, that's all I wanted.

So @Max Modular made me buy their complete kit with 8 parts which included the 4 parts I didn't/don't need.

 

[WhatExit?]

Well, I hope they're reading this and that they'll respond to the market by offering their entire kit to fit with the OEM tonneau covers. That's what a business doing the best for them should be doing.

And, love what you're doing. Rolling up the OEM tonneau cover should not be a PITA or, worse yet, left out of the design. Maybe you should be the one to offer that better mousetrap.

Thanks Mark. @Max Modular is offering racks using their Tonneau Brackets but they're not offering just the individual Tonneau Brackets. And that is, as I've said, what I think they should be offering to capture revenue while they can.

I could easily have these produced and offer them for sale for a lot less than $300 but I'm sure someone else - hopefully a known aftermarket company - will offer such components.

 

[Mark Doiron]

What gauge /thickness is that bracket?
For that kind of money you should be able to find someone to fabricate them locally and with a shape that follows the profile of the bed rail so the tonneau fits better with the bracket installed.

Yes. I have a fellow who lives near me who has done other fab work for me that would make easy work of this. But, one-offs are expensive, too. And I don't think he's interested in starting a business making these brackets.

Braking the custom mounting plate for my JK rear cargo area gear ...

 

[OneTraveler]

I bought 4 of their brackets that were "seconds" - they were in excellent condition and I was OK with them as I was going to paint them anyway.

Any chance you mean "utility" instead of seconds? I see they list a utility option, or did you contact them directly?

Love this, it may be the solution I go with (and in turn decides the RTT I go with)....

 

[WhatExit?]

Any chance you mean "utility" instead of seconds? I see they list a utility option, or did you contact them directly?

Love this, it may be the solution I go with (and in turn decides the RTT I go with)....

Thanks Alaska (no name shown). I emailed them and worked with Scott. I purchased their "No Weld Rack Towers" (they were, as he called them, "seconds"). It only saved me about $10 or so if I recall correctly.

You can contact him here: https://compactcampingstore.com/pages/contact-us he's pretty prompt to respond. He's seen this thread and is naturally very happy to see how his Towers are being used.

 

[WhatExit?]

What gauge /thickness is that bracket?
For that kind of money you should be able to find someone to fabricate them locally and with a shape that follows the profile of the bed rail so the tonneau fits better with the bracket installed.

I don't know the thickness as I didn't buy them to knock them off but an enterprising individual could easily figure out how thick such brackets would need to be.

@Max Modular did a good job with their brackets and I doubt they could be shaped differently in a way that would both "make the tonneau fit better with the bracket installed" and still be as strong as these brackets are.

But there are more clever people than me so anything's possible especially when an experienced steel fabricator is involved in designing and building a better mousetrap.

 

[WhatExit?]

Someone at a company watching this thread has informed me they are working on a new bracket that will be a 1-pice unit with holes designed to fit the Tower brackets I used to build mine.

I’m confident the quality will be very good and the price should be fair.

I look forward to seeing the design of the bracket and I hope to be able to test them on my Gladiator.

By the way, if anyone @Max Modular has seen this thread or learned anything from it I sure don’t know about it.

 

[Br4hm4]

That is reassuring...I am really interested in putting together a similar set up.

 

[OneTraveler]

Someone at a company watching this thread has informed me they are working on a new bracket that will be a 1-pice unit with holes designed to fit the Tower brackets I used to build mine.

That's good news!

 

[spazzyfry123]

Someone at a company watching this thread has informed me they are working on a new bracket that will be a 1-pice unit with holes designed to fit the Tower brackets I used to build mine.

I’m confident the quality will be very good and the price should be fair.

I look forward to seeing the design of the bracket and I hope to be able to test them on my Gladiator.

By the way, if anyone @Max Modular has seen this thread or learned anything from it I sure don’t know about it.

Glad to hear. I’m one of the few that actually likes the factory tonneau cover, but I would like more upward storage, so I like your idea. My hold back was the two piece design, so if someone is making a robust single piece to handle a decent load, sign me up!

 

[WhatExit?]

Glad to hear. I’m one of the few that actually likes the factory tonneau cover, but I would like more upward storage, so I like your idea. My hold back was the two piece design, so if someone is making a robust single piece to handle a decent load, sign me up!

To be clear, it's a one-piece lower bracket (rather than 2 of the separate brackets / 8 total).

I'm hearing that it should be available soon

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