Bed Rack Beginner Questions

[rjvandoel]

So I’ve got a Maverick xlt Tremor coming in 23 hopefully.

I’ve camped before in my 09 Corolla for many years by just sleeping in the car and modifying with passenger seat removal for long excursions. Since those days I’ve now got a family and I’d like to use my new maverick for some camping so we can join our friends and family when they go out. We go out multiple times a year to Monmouth and the Quad Cities to see family. A RTT would work perfectly at my uncle’s Lake house.

when it comes to bed racks I’m a little lost. I’ve got a family of four. My wife and I, our teenager and our little one. When the time comes and that little guy is bigger I’d like to get a RTT for my maverick and have it mounted to a elevated bed rack so I can see out the back of the truck.
It seems like the Thule and Yakima bed bed racks can only support a static capacity of 500. (I don’t know if that’s the whole system rated or just per crossbar) When you factor in the RTT and all of our weight, easily exceeds.

Are there stronger racks out there with say 1k of static weight capacity? Should there be any modifications done regarding suspension if doing a RTT solution?

I’ve been reading through the forum a bit and wanted a thread for ppl like me on this topic that can use this as a reference for the future.

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[commadorebob]

I camp once a month with the boy scouts. Mostly in tents or hammocks, depending on the weather. But I'm not sure you will find a vehicle mounted tent system that will hold two adults and a child. Especially one for the unibody of the Maverick.

You might want to consider a teardrop or small camper similar to those made by Timberleaf: https://timberleaftrailers.com. They can be a tad pricey, but even the hybrid versions should be able to tow it without any issues. When your kids get older, you can kick them out to a tent while you and the wife continue to use the teardrop.

 

[respi133]

Seconding a teardrop HOWEVER if you really, really needed a bed top camper, GoFastCamper made one for the Maverick with a 7' popout bed on top and a pass through to the bed - could store your kids in the bed and sleep above them with your partner, like a bunkbed. Not ideal and will be super cramped - but that's why teardrop trailers exist!

 

[respi133]

Also, pretty sure the GFC camper needs/recommends airbags in addition to the oem suspension - but that's my recollection from the pre-commercial product so that might have changed

 

[JarrJarr]

Check out KB Voodoo's bed bars. I'm running their Pro-X bars now with a CVT tent and one other person in there with and it's solid as a rock. I weigh about 230lb and the misses weighs about....well maybe I shouldn't share that info haha.

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