I’m shopping for a new pickup. It’ll likely be a Ford F150, regular cab, full 8/0 box.
My existing one has a cap on the box, with a cheesy pair of top rails that enable me to carry a few long boards, but I am looking to get a rack for the new unit, and no cap.
What’s a good one? I have seen one by Pace Edwards, that has siderails and an extension over the cab, integral webstrap tiedowns, and a removeable backrail that enables tall loads to go between.
Here’s a pic.
What are my other choices?
Edited 9/13/2005 8:30 am ET by Stinger
Replies
That looks liks an aluminum rack. Ive got one . Most come from Cal for some reason.
They are very nice looking but dont carry the weight of steel racks with legs made into the bed . But yet steel racks never look as nice . I think my aluminum racks are made to hold evenly about 500 lbs or so, mebbe more , dont remember . Its that portion thats over the cab thats vunerable. Ive seen steel racks hold 5000 lbs that had leggs bolted to the frame of the bed. Something to remember before you buy.
Tim
> Ive seen steel racks hold 5000 lbs
Cornering gets interesting with that much weight that high up. I can definitely tell the difference with only 1200 lbs on the rack on the F-350. It's a kinda boat-like feeling.
-- J.S.
How about TracRac brand? I am considering this as another alternative.
I've had good luck with my HaulerRack (haulerracks.com) Universal Truck Rack system - it's removeable, holds more weight than I'd want to load (1000#) and looks nice. I didn't get a rack thinking I was going to move 1000's of pounds of lumber with it - if I'm getting that much, I'll have the lumber yard deliver! No sense in knocking myself out!I've pulled the rear support out on several occasions (helping friends move, hauling rock/dirt, etc) and I tell you, it's handy being able to remove the rack without needing help.I think I paid around $400 for it (s/h included).MacView Image
Edited 9/16/2005 1:00 am ET by BuiltByMac
I used to have a KargoMaster on my toyota. Steel tubes, cleats for tying down and it could go over (and outside) a topper. It was bulletproof and could hold enough to make you tip over in a parking lot k-turn. You need some torque to get going with that set-up, a '91 toyota V6 was inadequate for the hills around here.DCS Inc.
"He who xxxxs nuns will later join the church." -The Clash
I can imagine !
I saw this steel rack hold a bunch of steel pipe and it was boomed by permanant belt winches like the big trucks use. It instantly caught my eye ! I walked over and struck up a conversation. They were pipe welders hauling supplies. It had a web headache rack behind the cab , so that took care of the rack swaying . It was on a 1 ton dually ,club cab , 8 ft bed pickup bed and supports came down to the front bumper. It was bolted to the frame through the bed . I knew it would be a serious lumber or drywall hauling set up. If I had it to do again , similar to it is what I would have built. I think somthing like 2500 lbs would be a big load that high. Get to thinking about it and you see car haulers hauling one car on top of a one ton truck though. How much weight is that ?
Tim
My SIL has one of the racks you posted, but not sure if he has the removable bar in the back. Handiest darn thing. Straps always there, relatively rigid (even with 4-18ft kayaks stacked on their sides), and relatively high "CDI" marks ( for looks). Not sure about the # ratings, but only you can decide how often, if ever, you might need to carry thousands of pounds on the rack instead of in the bed.
Have seen lots worse.......
Steve
I have that exact set up, rolling cover & all.
The good:
looks nice
built in winches are nice
The bad:
if you load it heavy the angled supports thrust out the bed rails, then the cover wont work
The back rail does come off , but is a pain in the arse to do so
if you want to have say a pallet of shingles put in the back, the rack is to narrow ath the top
if you want to have stuff loaded on top with a fork lift, the straight rail gets in the way
the sliding cover takes constant fiddling with to keep operating
All my previous trucks I have had Vanguard steel pipe racks, the back bar opens with the pull of a pin, it is wide eneough at the top so as not to interfere with tall loads, it has pins that stick up higher than the support railsthat make it easy for a forklift to offload on top, and they carry the weight much better.
My next truck I'll go back to the vanguard, after all its not a fashion contest.
I think Dieselpig just got a similar set up. Maybe he has an opinion.
As for me, skip the glamor and give me some nice solid steel racks. The soft metal ones can't carry much more than a ladder. I also don't like the taper towards the top.
Don
Check out SYSTEMONE,have had them on my 150 for 7 years with no problems.
SteveC
I have the TracRac on my F150. Very sturdy and more stable than my old steel pipe racks. They look nice, are easy to install and very versatile. Pushing the back rack to the front takes about 2 minutes.
I also added my across the rail tool box to the system. Slide the whole box to the back of the bed for easy unload/loading of tools..
stinger... i bought that rack for one of my guys ( the System 1 ).... worked good..
here's the one i bought for my '03 F150 8' bed....
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a Vanguard Stainless Steel... holds everything the system 1 will hold.. nice swing-away rear bar
Edited 9/13/2005 5:16 pm ET by MikeSmith
Some people have found that they can get by with something a little less involved. Perhaps something I call a 'half rack' or 'headache rack'.
Took some digging to find a brand and web site.
http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Headache_racks/BackRack.htm
You won't carry quite as large a load but this can be a good thing. A lot of tradesmen end up mounting tool boxes and large ladder racks. Then they fill them with every conceivable tool, implement and material. This stuff adds up. Not hard to load even a HD truck down with parts and tools. Not to have it add up to 1000 pounds or more.
This isn't an issue until you consider that it is costing you money at the pump through lowered gas mileage. The extra weight also wears out the tires and the truck faster.
I don't have anything against large trucks loaded to the gills with tools and materials which get used in a timely manner. But, working off service trucks with service bodies I find loads of stuff that hasn't been used in decades. With a little planning and forethought most of the tools and materials could be left at the shop. Saving gas, wear on the truck and, possibly most importantly, making everything easier to find and organize.
Sometimes less is more. Something to think about.
Who has a shop? I don't even have a garage. Even if I did it would be like the basement - hundreds of square feet of stuff I can't find when I need it.
At least if the stuff is in the truck (somewhere??) I have half a chance of finding it.
I do limited driving with the big truck, so that helps.
Don
You're on the wrong side of the country. Every carpenter in California has a Rack-It rack, and I had one shipped up here to WA for a hundred bucks. Welded round steel tubing, a section cantilevered over the cab, has gussets and cleats for tying rope. I can easily carry 24' long sticks on mine. The failure point would be the bed of the truck, which can apparently be split open/outward if you load the rack heavily enough and then hit some railroad tracks too hard. Here's one:
http://www.craigslist.org/eby/car/96770538.html
I've had the rack pictured, a System One, one my truck for 5yrs and It's done great. It's rated at 1250#. I dot mine direct from the company at ladderracks.com.
Knaack.
http://www.knaacksecure.com/content.cfm?page_id=16&subcategory_id=16
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We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.
Stinger --
Here's another vote for the Rack-It racks. I got one a couple years ago. The first day I had it, I tried to haul 90 green 2x4x16s in a little Ford Ranger. The rack had no problems at all; the truck bed, however, got a little squished. I had to pull over, take them all off, reload half of them correctly (I had them loaded completely wrong), and then had no problem hauling 45 at a time. I then jacked the bed back into place, fabricated a girder from angle iron to transfer the load directly to the frame, and have since had no problems with anything I wanted to haul. I think that any similar rack with steel tubing would perform just as well. I'd stay away from those boxy, ugly aluminum ones with terrible lines, although I guess they might possibly be better in that they don't rust. Just my $0.02.
Studman
the truck bed, however, got a little squished...I fabricated a girder from angle iron to transfer the load directly to the frame
Please elaborate: what happened to your truck bed? What exactly did you have to fabricate?
I loaded too much weight forward over the cab of the truck, and the posts behind the cab started to act as a fulcrum. As I braked or went over bumps, the front bounced and the weight crushed the front end of the bed about 5-6 inches.
To fix my bed, I put down a 2x6 in the floor of the bed and set a jack in the middle of the 2x6. Then I put a 2x6 on top of the jack, under the side rails of the bed, and jacked up the 2x6 to "un-crush" the bed. I then used 1" angle iron to make a girder by putting one piece horizontally under the rails of the bed (where the jacked 2x6 had been) and one piece horizontally across the floor of the bed. Then on each side of the bed, I put a diagonal brace from the bed rail to a spot directly above the truck frame member. Then I put the jack back in, jacked everything up slightly and bolted it together. When I removed the jack, the girder was held in by the pressure of the bed wanting to remain squished (and the bolts).
I'm trying to attach a crude drawing here.
That rack pictured is the System One. I've had it on my truck for about 2 years now and I'll never go back to steel again. Ratchet straps and tie downs are great. 4 bolts and two guys can lift it off to go through the car wash (annual car wash after winter).
I bought mine from Patriot Truck Equipment (patriottruck.com). At the time they were less than the manufacturer. Also bought a couple of these for vans. Good stuff.
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
http://www.lazarobuilders.com