osidepunker
Adventurer
Hello! 
I just purchased a Tepui Ruggedized XL. Should be here tomorrow. So now I need to design a bed rack. My truck is going to be in the shop for the next month or two while it gets the rear suspension upgraded so I have some time to design this. My main challenges with this build are the following:
1) Budget <$750
2) Packaging. The RTT needs to be mounted as low as possible for two reasons: it wont fit in my garage if its taller than the cab and I am interested in maintaining good weight distribution with my gear; the lower it is the better the handling. So this pretty much means that the bottom of the tent will be at the same height as the bed sides.
3) Gear access. I can fit all my gear under the tent. 6 jerry cans mounted just behind the cab, two full size spares just behind the cans, and gear boxes/firewood behind the tires to the tailgate.
4) Truck use. This is our overlanding rig, but I am building out the suspension to be able to reliably handle trail speeds up to 80mph. All my gear needs to be mounted solidly. So i need sturdy and simple with this design.
The RTT weighs 200lbs. When folded its 6' along the hinge and 4' wide (6'x8' open). So it will pretty much cover the whole bed. Theres no getting around it, I need to hinge it. Its the only way I can see to access my gear easily. Slides and lift mechanisms are too complicated. This is my current plan:
1) Two load bars, front and rear. 1"x3" rectangle tube, steel, .120" wall thickness. I will connect them front to rear with the same rectangle tube to form a rectangle. This should help with with twisting (more on this in item 5)
2) Heavy duty gate hinges for the drivers side, weld on. Like these:
3) For the latches, I plan on either a quick release pin or just use a Tbolt. I cant find any latch that will hold tight structurally. Whatever I choose to lock it down has to be as strong and tight as the hinge side. Still researching this one...
4) Attachment: From my research I am finding out that the stake holes are not good places to mount from. Most hard core trucks are seeing the racks pull apart the metal in the stake hole over time. The consensus seems to be to weld angle steel to the bedsides to distribute stresses and attach what you need to those reinforcements. So all I need to do is weld angle steel in 4 spots to the bedsides. I may look into welding diamond plate to the whole length and ditching the plastic covers, but that may cost too much.
5) Gas strut: I will have a half bed cage in the front of the bed for my SUA conversion. I plan on mounting a gas strut from the cage to the front load bar. This strut does not need to be able to lift the whole weight, it just needs to take most of weight off so that I am not trying to swing up the whole 200lbs. I will source one that can hold the tent up at almost 90 degrees. This is why I chose rectangle tube. Since I am only going to mount a strut on one side, I figured the rectangle tubing would twist less.
Cost: hinges are $60 a piece. The tubing and angle are just over a hundred. Haven't picked latches yet. Then I either need to hire a welder or buy a MIG and start learning. How much labor do you think this will take?
comments??? Do you guys think this will be reliable on the trail? Do you have any recommendation on the latch? Do you think the hinges or the tubing I chose are overkill? Not enough? I have never built anything like this before so I am doing all this planning from web research. I dont even know how to weld. Right now I am bouncing back and forth between buying a MIG and learning to weld or just paying a welder to put it together. I am a hardware engineer by trade. Im pretty sure I could learn to weld properly, just not sure that I would have enough projects to keep the skills sharp.
Let me hear your thoughts homies, good and bad
I just purchased a Tepui Ruggedized XL. Should be here tomorrow. So now I need to design a bed rack. My truck is going to be in the shop for the next month or two while it gets the rear suspension upgraded so I have some time to design this. My main challenges with this build are the following:
1) Budget <$750
2) Packaging. The RTT needs to be mounted as low as possible for two reasons: it wont fit in my garage if its taller than the cab and I am interested in maintaining good weight distribution with my gear; the lower it is the better the handling. So this pretty much means that the bottom of the tent will be at the same height as the bed sides.
3) Gear access. I can fit all my gear under the tent. 6 jerry cans mounted just behind the cab, two full size spares just behind the cans, and gear boxes/firewood behind the tires to the tailgate.
4) Truck use. This is our overlanding rig, but I am building out the suspension to be able to reliably handle trail speeds up to 80mph. All my gear needs to be mounted solidly. So i need sturdy and simple with this design.
The RTT weighs 200lbs. When folded its 6' along the hinge and 4' wide (6'x8' open). So it will pretty much cover the whole bed. Theres no getting around it, I need to hinge it. Its the only way I can see to access my gear easily. Slides and lift mechanisms are too complicated. This is my current plan:
1) Two load bars, front and rear. 1"x3" rectangle tube, steel, .120" wall thickness. I will connect them front to rear with the same rectangle tube to form a rectangle. This should help with with twisting (more on this in item 5)
2) Heavy duty gate hinges for the drivers side, weld on. Like these:
3) For the latches, I plan on either a quick release pin or just use a Tbolt. I cant find any latch that will hold tight structurally. Whatever I choose to lock it down has to be as strong and tight as the hinge side. Still researching this one...
4) Attachment: From my research I am finding out that the stake holes are not good places to mount from. Most hard core trucks are seeing the racks pull apart the metal in the stake hole over time. The consensus seems to be to weld angle steel to the bedsides to distribute stresses and attach what you need to those reinforcements. So all I need to do is weld angle steel in 4 spots to the bedsides. I may look into welding diamond plate to the whole length and ditching the plastic covers, but that may cost too much.
5) Gas strut: I will have a half bed cage in the front of the bed for my SUA conversion. I plan on mounting a gas strut from the cage to the front load bar. This strut does not need to be able to lift the whole weight, it just needs to take most of weight off so that I am not trying to swing up the whole 200lbs. I will source one that can hold the tent up at almost 90 degrees. This is why I chose rectangle tube. Since I am only going to mount a strut on one side, I figured the rectangle tubing would twist less.
Cost: hinges are $60 a piece. The tubing and angle are just over a hundred. Haven't picked latches yet. Then I either need to hire a welder or buy a MIG and start learning. How much labor do you think this will take?
comments??? Do you guys think this will be reliable on the trail? Do you have any recommendation on the latch? Do you think the hinges or the tubing I chose are overkill? Not enough? I have never built anything like this before so I am doing all this planning from web research. I dont even know how to weld. Right now I am bouncing back and forth between buying a MIG and learning to weld or just paying a welder to put it together. I am a hardware engineer by trade. Im pretty sure I could learn to weld properly, just not sure that I would have enough projects to keep the skills sharp.
Let me hear your thoughts homies, good and bad
