Harbor Freight HaulMaster 800 ladder rack!

[helderman86]

I just bought the harbor freight ladder rack 2 days ago. I couldn’t find a video or forums posts of people putting it on the maverick. I can’t afford to spend $1,000+ on one but thought since the harbor freight universal ladder was in sale with coupon for $250 until October 27 2022 I should give it a try and share my experience and maybe others can see my mess and either duplicate it or hopefully make it even better and improve on my attempt. I’m posting the coupon tonight and tomorrow I’ll share my first but of progress with pictures. By weeks end I will attempt uploading my first YouTube video and share that link and hopefully it will turn out okay enough to be of some help.

Sponsored

 

[triangulumhalohydra]

This is awesome - thanks for trying it out. I'm guessing you'll be able to get it to work, but wil probably take a little McGuyver-ing since the Mav is probably smaller than it's intended generic truck. Really looking forward to your updates.

 

[Maverickman74]

I think somebody earlier in the year did a similar one and detailed some of the fab work to make it fit. Was very DIY level. If you can weld, I would. Harbor freight can also get you fully ready to weld for less than $200 also.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I think somebody earlier in the year did a similar one and detailed some of the fab work to make it fit. Was very DIY level. If you can weld, I would. Harbor freight can also get you fully ready to weld for less than $200 also.

I put the HF one on a 2018 Nissan frontier and it just barely fit without any adaptations. The frontier had the tracts in the bed which I used to fasten the post brackets to the bed which just lined up perfectly in line with the factory top rail surface. The maverics are recessed more but could be used or could use strut channel "started and washered "2 deep. On maverick the curve in the plastic near the cab will require some grinding to fit or the support post will have to be moved (guess 3") towards tailgate. There will be some cutting and welding required to down size width and length of upper part. There was a fellow that made a diy bolt together rack using squarish aluminum with round corners. I will see if I can find his thread for it and update this post.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

This was one of at least two using this 80/30 aluminum alloy
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/members/chandonnet.5479/

 

[MakinDoForNow]

This was one of at least two using this 80/30 aluminum alloy
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/members/chandonnet.5479/

Dang fat fingers 80/20 anodized alloy. You could redesign easily to have overhang on cab area. This product is not cheap though.

 

[helderman86]

I didn’t do a good job of taking pics. But I did manage to get it to go on. Though it’s not as I wanted it. I found to get what I want I’d indeed have to cut and grind and maybe even weld (which) I don’t yet know how to do, but I did spend a little over $200 at harbor freight to get my started. Even though it’s not how I wanted it I do like it.

I slid the bracket over the plastic to see where I needed to cut it with my ryobi dremel tool. After getting it where I wanted I marked and drilled holes.

 

[helderman86]

This is the hardware I had to purchase to attatched rail brackets to the truck. It was tight down there under the rail.

 

[helderman86]

This is the hardware I had to purchase to attatched rail brackets to the truck. It was tight down there under the rail.

 

[helderman86]

I added some wood to the ladder rack yesterday while I had some downtime visiting in Florida. I wanted a rear overhang to keep rain off of me when I’m at the back of the truck. I’ve lost 3-4 mpg between city/highway fuel economy. Also quickly put together a plywood platform down to help keep brunt of rain off my things in the bed. Would like to make a platform to continue onto the tailgate to make a raised sleeping area for camping trips with my son.

 

[gte105u]

Be careful of galvanic corrosion. Both in the holes you drilled in your rails and the mounts of HF brackets. If you didn't use a spacer to separate the materials you may want to add.

 

[helderman86]

Be careful of galvanic corrosion. Both in the holes you drilled in your rails and the mounts of HF brackets. If you didn't use a spacer to separate the materials you may want to add.

woah. I don’t know what that is. I used stainless steel everything. So will that prevent the corrosion or is that only if I used galvanized steel? Thanks. What would I need to separate the metals? I used 2 stainless steel washers and a lock washer On each one.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I added some wood to the ladder rack yesterday while I had some downtime visiting in Florida. I wanted a rear overhang to keep rain off of me when I’m at the back of the truck. I’ve lost 3-4 mpg between city/highway fuel economy. Also quickly put together a plywood platform down to help keep brunt of rain off my things in the bed. Would like to make a platform to continue onto the tailgate to make a raised sleeping area for camping trips with my son.

Looks good. I mounted mine with the upper portion about a foot further to the rear. I had to not use the joiner plates and used steel self drilling screws to join the upper to the collars and to each other. My rear verticals were closer to tailgate.

 

[Dad]

Wow! I have to admire your confidence in going ahead with this mod and pioneering it for others. Looks like you did well. You should be proud of your project. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gte105u]

woah. I don’t know what that is. I used stainless steel everything. So will that prevent the corrosion or is that only if I used galvanized steel? Thanks. What would I need to separate the metals? I used 2 stainless steel washers and a lock washer On each one.

Galvanic corrosion results when differing metals touch (or are close enough that can be bridged by water) . It creates a corrosion which will weaken the metals similar to rusting. Stainless likes stainless, galvanized likes galvanized, nothing likes carbon steel. Aluminum is inert in this scenario.

The body of a car is zinc paint. The sheet metal below is not treated, so the paint is comparable to galvanized for this scenario. Any metal you touch directly to the car body metal (not rubber or plastic) is best to be galvanized.

Since you penetrated by drilling through the paint coating you exposed the steel below. You do not want this directly touching any fastener. If you oversized the hole, you could probably bed a bead of caulk to prevent water from getting in. You could also cold galv spray the holes. This may be overkill, but maybe not.

For the rack, depends on what it is made from. If it's aluminum it's a non issue since it doesn't react. If steel (likely given the price) same issues as above. If the paint peels off and the steel below is exposed to the fastener it will corrode. But this would happen with either galvanized or stainless fasteners. Would look to see how good the coating on the rack is. If it's powder coated or other paint not likely to come off should be fine. You can always put a rubber washer or some caulk below the metal washer to create a break between the metal.

This is all more critical if you live in an environment with salt exposure. Near the coast or north where roads are salted speeds the corrosion.

Take all that for what it's worth. I'd be more concerned with issues with the body because it's unibody and may not be visible. But the metal being weakened on the rack is a concern as well since it's structural for the load its carrying.

Sponsored