Bed rail system worth it?

[Barracuda340]

What grade of aluminum did you use, 2024-T3? Also, what grade is the SS, 304? Were the rails anodized? Thanks.

Not sure what grade the aluminum was. The website didnt say. It was UScargocontrol.com I believe. People put these in enclosed trailers to strap down cars and motorcycles, so they should be just fine for small cargo in a Maverick. Bolts I believe were 301. I dont believe the rails were anodized. You can use a clear alodine 1500 to seal them. Mine will be under a trifold cover so it doesnt matter to me. If you want something more specific, Tiernay metals is a aerospace track provider, but those will be a bit more pricey.

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[gte105u]

I know

Stainless steel doesnt rust. I will grease them up with CorBan 27L before installing them anyways. Anybody else can use anti seize. I dont plan on removing them.

Stainless doesn't rust, but it does react with galvanized steel. A car's body utilizes zinc rich paint which is similar to galvanizing. Anywhere that this paint interacts with stainless has a potential for galvanic corrosion. Stainless is great with the aluminum, but if it touches the paint anywhere, like inside the bolt holes, the zinc and nickle can react. This probably isn't an issue in low salt environments. But near coast or where roads are salted could be an issue.

 

[Feldgary53]

I have them ordered on my MY23 but I noticed this week that the cargo management system ( 6 D-Link Bed Connectors) is not offered as a standalone option on the Ford website Maverick configurator anymore but now part of the Bed Divider System. I haven’t seen information on the bed rails being a constricted item but wondering if there will be an issue going forward getting my order scheduled. The DIY options will be fine if I have to delete but so far no reason to.

 

[Barracuda340]

I know

Stainless doesn't rust, but it does react with galvanized steel. A car's body utilizes zinc rich paint which is similar to galvanizing. Anywhere that this paint interacts with stainless has a potential for galvanic corrosion. Stainless is great with the aluminum, but if it touches the paint anywhere, like inside the bolt holes, the zinc and nickle can react. This probably isn't an issue in low salt environments. But near coast or where roads are salted could be an issue.

That is why I dont live on the coast, but I used to. However CorBan27L or any type of wheel bearing grease on the threads will work just fine on the threads since part of the issues with what your talking about also has to do with moisture and oxygen getting between the 2 metals which is really what makes it all head south. By the time something like that bed wall mounting lug corrodes thru in a coastal environment, the truck will have long been junked due to rust out. You are way over thinking this. Most of these vehicles will probably end up in the boneyard by age 15. Age 15 seems to be pretty typical. When mine is ready for the boneyard, that L track bolted into the bed is going to go to the boneyard right along with it.

 

[gte105u]

That is why I dont live on the coast, but I used to. However CorBan27L or any type of wheel bearing grease on the threads will work just fine on the threads since part of the issues with what your talking about also has to do with moisture and oxygen getting between the 2 metals which is really what makes it all head south. By the time something like that bed wall mounting lug corrodes thru in a coastal environment, the truck will have long been junked due to rust out. You are way over thinking this. Most of these vehicles will probably end up in the boneyard by age 15. Age 15 seems to be pretty typical. When mine is ready for the boneyard, that L track bolted into the bed is going to go to the boneyard right along with it.

I agree, with a bead of something to seal out moisture it would be fine. Just trying to spread the word on galvanic corrosion seems a lot of DIYers aren't aware of it. Clearly you are.

 

[Dad]

It's one of those things that if you don't have it, you'll wish you did. It's very convenient tying down loads.

 

[Barracuda340]

I agree, with a bead of something to seal out moisture it would be fine. Just trying to spread the word on galvanic corrosion seems a lot of DIYers aren't aware of it. Clearly you are.

I work in aviation mtx. Specifically structural repair. I know the effects of dissimilar metal corrosion. I deal with it every day I also know how to slow it down, and stop it from forming. Bet you didnt know this, but aluminum vs carbon fiber, the carbon fiber wins every time. You have to use stainless steel, monel, or titanium against it. A bead of "something" isnt going to take care of it, you need something that's thick n oily like axle grease on the threads before you put the screws in. And again, once installed, who's going to ever remove them. I know I'm not. These trucks were made to be DIY hence all the pre threaded holes. Again what you speak of isnt going to happen that quickly. The rest of the vehicle will rust out just as fast.

There's people on some maverick forum on fakebook talking about undercoating saving a chassis. Ummm nope. That made me laugh. What the chassis needs is body cavity wax like Dinatrol AV100D sprayed into every seam that water and salt gets into including inside the rockers and unibody framerails before the first snowfall. If you want to "undercoat" over that then sure, but straight undercoat itself will prevent moisture from getting out from between the seams. The whole point is to never let it rest in there in the first place.

I live in dry assed west Texas. My pickup is 28 years old and has no rust thru anywhere on it, not even the battery tray lol. However before here I lived in northeast NJ for 27 years. I hated that place. My "good car" got garaged in november, and didnt come out of hibernation till the spring rains washed the salt away. I had an opportunity to leave, and I jumped. Never looked back.

Aviation is my livelihood, however have done my fair share of full blown automotive restoration projects over the years, and have seen the effects of moisture between the seams on all this stuff. See my avatar. Heres the current one. 69 340 barracuda coupe. After removing everything attached to the unibody framerails, it was sandblasted and triple coated with Kirker Enduroprime epoxy coating. Anywhere its welded together I use a weld thru primer made by 3M. When the car is done, I will be pumping AV100D into the framerails, trunk drops etc. All I can say is thank God for AMD, golden star, and Goodmark for making repop sheetmetal so I could actually piece this thing back together.

 

[Sembazuru]

Nice diagram of hole placement. My hand diagrams never look that neat, in order to get something like this I have to pull out a CAD program. I was starting to look into considering this as a project for my Mav that I don't have yet, but was discouraged by someone else saying that the holes in the bed of the truck wouldn't line up evenly with the pattern in the L-Track. But if those hole spacing intervals that you show are accurate, they would match up with the 1" spacing of the L-Track pattern. (Obviously one would have to drill and countersink their own holes because the track that I found based on your breadcrumbs (see below) has pre-drilled holes on a 4" pattern.) You are giving me hope that I can revive my interest in this as a project.

Since front screw mounts are smaller thread. I did 2 screws instead one, and you just remove the cleats to install the track

Are the factory cleats attached to both the holes separated by 2", or only to the front-most hole? I've been trying to scrape the internet for the two sizes. If you have a chance and have a metric bolt sizer, would you please measure the size and thread pitch of the two sizes (either grab one of each off your truck, or if you can find the spares from this project).

Not sure what grade the aluminum was. The website didnt say. It was UScargocontrol.com I believe.

If it was UScargocontrol, it was probably this product which is currently $76.66 for the 96" length (more than enough for both sides of the Mav truck bed). The product page does list the aluminum grade as 6061-T6, what ever that means:

 

[Barracuda340]

Nice diagram of hole placement. My hand diagrams never look that neat, in order to get something like this I have to pull out a CAD program. I was starting to look into considering this as a project for my Mav that I don't have yet, but was discouraged by someone else saying that the holes in the bed of the truck wouldn't line up evenly with the pattern in the L-Track. But if those hole spacing intervals that you show are accurate, they would match up with the 1" spacing of the L-Track pattern. (Obviously one would have to drill and countersink their own holes because the track that I found based on your breadcrumbs (see below) has pre-drilled holes on a 4" pattern.) You are giving me hope that I can revive my interest in this as a project.


Are the factory cleats attached to both the holes separated by 2", or only to the front-most hole? I've been trying to scrape the internet for the two sizes. If you have a chance and have a metric bolt sizer, would you please measure the size and thread pitch of the two sizes (either grab one of each off your truck, or if you can find the spares from this project).



If it was UScargocontrol, it was probably this product which is currently $76.66 for the 96" length (more than enough for both sides of the Mav truck bed). The product page does list the aluminum grade as 6061-T6, what ever that means:

Thanks for the kudos on the diagram. That's my old high school mechanical drawing coming back to haunt me lol. It does still work well for me at work when I have to convey proposed repairs to the aircraft manufacturer engineers. I speak their language. UScargocontrolcorp sells that track also as a blank. With no holes in it. That's the one I ordered. Drilled all my own. Yes the factory front cleat picks up both fwd holes. Since they are smaller fasteners than the middle and aft holes I figured picking up both of them on the track will add strength at that end.

In between the 17" and 21" lengths on my drawing, theres 2 more threaded holes on the bedside, but they do not line up in a straight line with the ones on my diagram, nor do they measure at exact inch increments, so I didnt use them. I feel that if your pulling that hard on the track between these 2 spots to bend it, well then your also pulling the sheetmetal of the bed wall in as well and have bigger issues.

If you use the measurements and drill at the center of each circle, these will fit. If you dont have countersinks, I can recommend using a torx button head bolt to hold the tracks on. The 48" tracks, you will end up cutting about 5"-6" off one end when done so they fit.

Measure twice, drill once

Hope this helps
Matt

 

[Barracuda340]

Scratch that, they do not sell 48" blank tracks anymore. I just checked. Only 12" and 96" with predrilled holes. Well that's a bummer.

 

[Barracuda340]

6061 T6 just means in non aviation terms that it's some really strong shit.

 

[garryjohnson]

I just watched an install video (the guy had pulled them off of his Lux package before selling it to put on the replacement non-Lux). The top front (i.e. closest to the cabin) tiedowns are removed to make space. And there are 3 weld-nutted holes of which only 2 are used for this sliding. Given the short size of the bed, I wonder if just mounting 3 eye bolts on each side (held in place using a jam nut) would provide comparable flexibility at a lower profile. No, the eye bolts wouldn't slide for custom positioning, but you have more on each side. No, that wouldn't look as nifty as the Ford Accessory, but the parts can procured for around 1/10th the cost (depending on the eyebolt).

I added eight eyebolts (4 on each side) to the bed of my truck using nord lock 5/16" m8 vibration proof lock washers. I put them there to keep things from shifting around. I don't expect them to hold anything really heavy (I don't anticipate putting anything really heavy back there), but a heavy weight spread over 14 tie-downs should hold.

 

[Sembazuru]

I've been trying to scrape the internet for the two sizes.

If anyone is curious...

On another thread where this L-Track is mentioned a video is linked by Sam Haymart at TDTVGarage. I think I trust Sam and the rear holes are M8 and the front holes for the factory tiedowns are M6. Man he has a good instructor's voice.

 

[Barracuda340]

I found it. The L track is available in 46 inch length undrilled. It's really obscure to find it on their website, but here it is. Note on both pix it says undrilled holes.

 

[Barracuda340]

I will need to make 1 more of these track setups for the 2023 maverick we are picking up for my wife. Gonna start collecting up goodies for that one now too.

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