Bed MOLLE Panels comparison chart

Since it's Black Friday and I'm looking to put MOLLE panels in the bed of my JTR, I have been doing a bunch of research. I put together this chart. Maybe some folks will find it useful and it will help out on their purchasing decisions.



It was really interesting to see the different design approaches and product variations.

Key differences:

• Builtright was the only one that mounted ON the bed rail. So, if you pick that one, you need to have a bed rail; either factory or theirs (maybe others??) And the panels block movement of any sliding tie-down points on the bed rail, but presumably doesn't matter much in practice for most applications. YMMV.
• Single-piece vs multi-piece: lots of tradeoffs, difference/preference may depend on application
• Material: aluminum vs steel; note that Motobilt was only one uncoated

During my research, I gathered pricing information, but I'm not including it here because I think that just won't age very well.

Also want to acknowledge that I spent a bunch of time today in a great thread, started by @johnparjr in February

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/who-has-molle-panels-in-their-bed.40248/

Thanks to all the forum members who contributed such great pictures and posts to that discussion.

(And apologies in advance for any errors in the table!)

Trying to justify buying a set...

I use my JTW 99% on paved roads

in the winter I carry an old coal shovel and a window brush. Neither would look very good

Can’t think what else to strap to it.

rickrogan said:

Since it's Black Friday and I'm looking to put MOLLE panels in the bed of my JTR, I have been doing a bunch of research. I put together this chart. Maybe some folks will find it useful and it will help out on their purchasing decisions.

Brand	Material	Design	Screw holes (in MOLLE grid)	Bed light cut-out?	Installation Notes
JCR	.120" steel, powdercoated	Side: two piece: front & back, bolted Bulkhead: three piece, bolted (small, big, small)	yes	yes	Installs behind bed rail; no lower mount (so no drill); need to enlarge (plastic) hole in trail rail
Builtright	.125" steel, powdercoated	Side: two piece (front & back; not connected) Bulkhead: three piece, bolted (big, small, big)	yes, slots	no	Installs ON bed rail; has lower mount point on side panels (no drill)
Motobilt	.120 steel, raw/uncoated	One piece	yes	no	Installs behind bed rail; lower mount: drill in bed; optional according to some
813 Fabrication & Design	.125 aluminum, powdercoated	Two piece (upper and lower, bolted)	yes, slots	no	Installs behind bed rail; enlarge (plastic) hole in trail rail; has lower mount point on side panels (no drill)
Molle Platform Solutions	steel, powdercoated (likely .125")	One piece (side panels are "half-height"	no	yes	Installs behind bed rail; enlarge (plastic) hole in trail rail;
Putco	.100" aluminum, powdercoated	One piece (side panels wrap fully around front of wheel)	no	no	Installs behind bed rail; lower "mount" is adjustable rubber feet (no drill)
Rough Country (Quadratec)	.125" steel, powdercoated	One piece	yes	yes	Installs behind bed rail; lower mount: Drill and nutsert for side panels

It was really interesting to see the different design approaches and product variations.

Key differences:

• Builtright was the only one that mounted ON the bed rail. So, if you pick that one, you need to have a bed rail; either factory or theirs (maybe others??) And the panels block movement of any sliding tie-down points on the bed rail, but presumably doesn't matter much in practice for most applications. YMMV.
• Single-piece vs multi-piece: lots of tradeoffs, difference/preference may depend on application
• Material: aluminum vs steel; note that Motobilt was only one uncoated

During my research, I gathered pricing information, but I'm not including it here because I think that just won't age very well.

Also want to acknowledge that I spent a bunch of time today in a great thread, started by @johnparjr in February

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/who-has-molle-panels-in-their-bed.40248/

Thanks to all the forum members who contributed such great pictures and posts to that discussion.

(And apologies in advance for any errors in the table!)

Click to expand...

Great comparison chart! Thanks for taking the time to put that together.

FrankFrqnkFrank said:

Trying to justify buying a set...

I use my JTW 99% on paved roads

in the winter I carry an old coal shovel and a window brush. Neither would look very good

Can’t think what else to strap to it.

Click to expand...

I’ve got one on my list because I had a propane tank bounce around and smash one of my wheel wells. This was with in-town driving.

I just want the cab side molle but have to admit I am just to damned lazy to take off my rails at this time and don't want to attach the molle to the bed rail cause I slide tie off's often

@JcrOffroad works perfectly.

Great write up. Thanks for putting together.

FrankFrqnkFrank said:

Trying to justify buying a set...

I use my JTW 99% on paved roads

in the winter I carry an old coal shovel and a window brush. Neither would look very good

Can’t think what else to strap to it.

Click to expand...

Like most mods you could probably get by fine without spending money on these, but I think they’re useful without being off-road all the time.

I went overboard buying stuff at first and have aftermarket bed rails with a bunch of DIY tie downs, and some BuiltRight molle panels.
I have some carabiner bungee cords I got at Home Depot and never use the bed tie downs to hold stuff, though if I had something really heavy I’d use those.
The carabiners clip into the molle grid and hold stuff perfectly since you have both horizontal and vertical options.

I went with the BuiltRight set up using their rails, front and sides. I modified the attachment hardware because theirs just seemed kinda cheesy. I cut 1/4" thick 1.5" squares, drilled and tapped them and used stainless bolts for fasteners. They are VERY solid. I have a jack, shovel, and two rotopacks attached to the panels. I also added a few "etrack" (from Home Depot) attactments for tie downs on the sides. Overall very happy with the results.

Rockridgeboss said:

I went with the BuiltRight set up using their rails, front and sides. I modified the attachment hardware because theirs just seemed kinda cheesy. I cut 1/4" thick 1.5" squares, drilled and tapped them and used stainless bolts for fasteners. They are VERY solid. I have a jack, shovel, and two rotopacks attached to the panels. I also added a few "etrack" (from Home Depot) attactments for tie downs on the sides. Overall very happy with the results.

Click to expand...

Cool idea to mount the e-track! Sounds like you did a super-beefy version of the molle nuts that Builtright sells

https://www.builtrightind.com/colle...ducts/molle-nuts-threaded-molle-pals-fastener

If you have a close-up picture of the e-track mount, that would be great. Can see that you chose to place it toward the upper part of the rack, which makes sense.

@JcrOffroad made the install super easy. Amazing build quality and would recommend to anyone.

Here are close up shots of e-track hardware. Inexpensive and VERY handy!

Rockridgeboss said:

Here are close up shots of e-track hardware. Inexpensive and VERY handy!

Click to expand...

Wow, that looks great... The matched bolts you picked make it look super-clean.

Really like the 813 stuff but their prices are crazy and on top of that they charge shipping. Anything worth the extra money?

I’m pretty set on the MOLLE Platform Solutions set up when I pull the trigger soon.

For me, and I know it may sound minimal, but I love the fact they have the bed light cut out. I know many ppl say well not having it, doesn’t interfere or make much difference which may or may not be true. Regardless I think the cut out makes the panels look aesthetically pleasing and like they belong and not just something thrown over top of the stock bed design. MPS looks a bit more Gladiator specific in that aspect. That little feature believe it or not has kept me from going with other brands that I generally like everything else about. I also like the fact the panels don’t screw together and are one solid piece (even if the side panels are half height length).

Just my 2 cents.

I’ve been considering adding these to my JT. Very helpful chart! Thank you, OP! There are some brands I didn’t even know made them. If only the prices were listed too. I know, I can go searching for them, but I’m feeling lazy. Cost is definitely a factor for me at the moment.