ZroadZ Rack

[bradxn]

Looks great. How to the side doors stay open? I don't see any pneumatic arms. Are they spring assisted? How easy do you think they'll to open once you start mounting things to them (rotopax, hilift, etc.)?

The side doors use pins to keep them open or shut and do not have any sort of assistance. They're rated for holding 35 lbs each, so aren't going to get unmanageably heavy.

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[Baemen]

@bradxn how did you run your wiring harness for the led's? The install instructions completely ignore this and I haven't been able to settle on what I want to do.

Other than that I've been pretty happy with my rack, in the month I've had it on the truck it's been on the beach probably 20 times with no issues (I tightened 2 bolts that had just barely wiggled loose yesterday).

If you asked me to nitpick:
- yes having to remove the cargo management rails was annoying but I think I can work out a way to remount them to the rack if I want to
- if the vertical supports on the wings had been like 2" wider they would've fit a pair of MaxTrax...as is I cut a piece of aluminum plate and mounted it to the wing
-the layout of the mounting points on the cross braces mean that my tent is slightly (like an inch and a half off center)

 

[mikeatsnu]

I like the setup! I have had similar items where I just cut into the rack and tapped it for bolts to go through. Not the best but it works for me at this point waiting for my tent to get here by end of July and will hopefully have it close to center.

 

[bradxn]

@Baemen I haven't installed the rack yet as I'm waiting for a couple of replacement parts that will allow it to be mounted to the Trail Rail. In my photos, it's just resting there so I could take some measurements... The new parts are supposed to arrive next week and I'm anxious to get it fully installed!

I installed the Vision X backup lights a while ago and it was pretty easy to find places to tie down its wiring harness, so I'll probably just run the rack's harness through the right-side access hole on the front of the bed and then run it parallel to the backup light harness under the cab and up through the wheel well.

I am thinking about redoing the rack's wiring harness so that I can control the left and right side lights individually and to add extra connectors where it goes through the bed in case I decide to remove it for some reason.

I'll post here again once the new Trail Rail mounts are installed and when I have the wiring done...

 

[Baemen]

Thanks @bradxn will be interested to see what it looks like.
I'm also wondering if I can run the harness through the top tube of the access door to connect the lights on each side. It looks like it will make it but don't know how much of a hassle it will create with the pins.

 

[Revs2ninegrand]

Any update?

 

[bradxn]

ZROADZ is working on a new mounting option that will work with the factory Trail Rail. That is what I was supposed to get in the first place, but was accidentally sent the original rack. At first, they were just going to send me two new base plates to replace the ones from the original design, but apparently something else changed and they are now sending me a completely new rack.

The new one is supposed to be delivered this Saturday (after a couple weeks of delays). Hopefully I will be able to post some details on the new mounting option this weekend!

 

[Baemen]

Well shit....I want that one too

 

[bradxn]

Well, another week and another delay... I received a whole new rack on Saturday, but it's the old one, not the one that works with the Trail Rail. Oops!

The latest story is that the new parts are being powder coated today and will ship tomorrow. And we're back to not needing a whole new rack; just the two base rails. (@Baemen: That might mean you would be able to purchase new base rails and adapt your rack to the new mounting system in the future.) Hopefully I'll be able to post more info on how well the new rack mounts work in a few days...

 

[bradxn]

I received the correct base rails and the Trail Rail mounting hardware yesterday and have finally finished installing the rack. Here's what changed with the base rails:

These are upside down, looking at the plate that sits on the edge of the bed. The beveled holes are for the bolts that join these rails to the vertical supports of the rack. One of the old rails is on the right and the new rail is on the left. The old rails had a long lip for most of the length and one end had that shorter bit in order to clear the tailgate frame (normally the rack would be farther back):

The new base rails have the shorter lip along their entire length and are symmetrical. This seems to be a much better design and I can't think of any drawbacks.

The old mounting system used three clamps on each side. These clamps bolted to the holes you see on the tops of the base plates and clamped the plate to the walls of the bed.

The new system has three L-brackets that replace the clamps and attach to Trail Rail inserts. Here's a picture of the new mounting hardware:

Here's a picture of the new rail:

And a closeup of one of the mounting points:

I have no idea when ZROADZ will start selling their racks with these new rails, but I assume it will be soon. I also don't know if they will be offering them separately for anyone that has the old ones but would like to re-instal their Trail Rail. I do know that they are swamped with work right now and that they don't respond quickly (or sometimes at all) to email or the information request form on their website, so call if you want to contact them.

It has been a frustrating wait, but I'm very happy with my new rack and am glad to still have the use of my Trail Rails. Now I can get that Frontrunner rack installed on top...

 

[bradxn]

Here is the ZROADZ rack paired with a Front Runner tray:

This is the 61.4" long by 56.1" wide Front Runner Slimline II tray with the "tall" legs.

I was a bit concerned that things mounted to the rack's side gates would hit the tray when they were fully opened, but it worked out great. The shovel and axe on this side have plenty of clearance, and the other side has two Tred Pro's that fit perfectly:

 

[Racer_X]

Hot dog! We have a wiener!

 

[Baemen]

That's awesome on the Tred Pros...the MaxTrax mounting pins hit the bottom of my tent (which isn't really a big deal)...but maybe if I add that Front Runner tray it will give me the clearance and give me more space to mount fishing gear

 

[4shizzy]

Hey Guys,

New to the forum here! And this will be my first post!

BradXn, glad to see you got yours installed! I was hoping to be the first!!! with the rail mounts at least! LOL.

So I actually gave up my Gladiator to ZroadZ for 2 days to develop the mounting brackets for the rails system. I was local and I wanted their rack since Maximus 3 was taking way to long!

Anyways I finally took delivery of the rack last week and tried to install a few days ago. I ran in to an issue where the measurements we're off by 1/8in! There is a 1/8in gap between the rails and the transverse bar that goes across the top. If I tighten it down, it would bind the gates and also bend the rails and put severe strain on the welds. Here are some pics of my issues.

The tube that the gate slides into is about 1/16in too long/tall. If that was shorter, the hole for the pins to hold the gate up would align and fit. So if both tubes were fixed, then the 1/8in gap would fix itself.

I've been going back and forth with txt and emails with Victor and they couldn't figure out my rack was out of spec. I just dropped it off today with their designer Dan to take a look at my rack and figure out what went wrong. They said they've sold over 100 and I'm the first to have a problem. They suppose to have a new rack ready for me by this Monday so we'll see. Anyways I'm doing an install video to capture all of this for others to view and will post on YT shortly.

Just a little disappointed with this experience; leaving my truck, waiting for the rack, get a defective rack, waiting again, dropping it off, waiting again! Ugh. I just want to go camping!!

 

[Baemen]

4Shizzy you're not alone

I didn't have anywhere near as big as your your 1/8" diff in the length of the cross bar vs gate shaft....but the holes for my locking pins only line up in 2 out of 4 places.

It's possible that if I flipped the gates from one side to the other they might line up but I only noticed after I'd mounted mine to the bed and since most of my driving is on the beach and 1 pin on each side seems to be working just fine there was no way I was taking everything apart to find out.

Hope they get it sorted for you soon

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