Looking for tie downs that fit on top of bed rails

[Glenn311]

Ford maverick with hard tonneau cover for on bed ,,looking for tie downs that fit on top of bed rails

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[PNWMaverick]

What you will need is a tonneau cover designed to accept a rail system. You would be looking at something like these:

1. Rails - scroll down the list
2. Cover

I am sure you could also DIY a few things with a drill....

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Ford maverick with hard tonneau cover for on bed, looking for tie downs that fit on top of bed rails

Something like this would be nice.
If it would work on a Maverick.
Roll/fold top up. Pop up the tie-downs. Job done. Push them down. Unroll/unfold the top.

Never realized how much I missed the ugly but functional Sport Trac exterior tie downs cleats. Until, I didn't have them anymore.

 

[Howard]

I don't think anything attached to the plastic bed rails will be very strong. You need to attach something to the fender metal just like the Sport Trac. There are lots of cleats available at the big box stores or perhaps the Sport Trac tie downs are available from Ford Parts.

 

[The Real Maverick]

I don't think anything attached to the plastic bed rails will be very strong. You need to attach something to the fender metal just like the Sport Trac. There are lots of cleats available at the big box stores or perhaps the Sport Trac tie downs are available from Ford Parts.

What do you think is UNDER the plastic trim?

Surly not only air.

 

[MetalsGeek]

I installed the Truxedo Elevate TS Rails, and they come with a set of 4 plastic cleats. HOWEVER, all such rails are thin aluminum extrusions and not strong enough to withstand any meaningful load that pulls either up or in (as most do). You could use them to secure a tarp, for example, but certainly NOT a motorcycle. I use them as the basis for a ladder rack, which is almost entirely a downward compression load, and they work fine for this.
I should mention that the Elevate rails sold for the Maverick are cut square to hit a price point, and this leaves a portion of the bed edge open at each end. To address this, I bought slightly longer rails (#1118329) and machined the ends into the shape that fits the Maverick perfectly. This took some time but worked out great and I would do again. I also tried a hard roll-up Tonneau that was supposed to fit, but the width was just too tight when piggybacked onto the Elevate rails, even after removing all the foam tape. I had a LOT of trouble with the 8 mm stainless T-nut hardware provided by Truxedo due to galling. The nuts were squeezed out of round to keep them from loosening, but the QA was poor and they were all too tight, ruining several of the bolts. I ended up buying better ones on Amazon. Truxedo may have fixed this by now. Galling is a common problem with stainless, so the only lock nuts that actually work well are the ones with nylon inserts.

 

[Howard]

What do you think is UNDER the plastic trim?

Surly not only air.

Yes, mostly air directly under the bed rail covers as they don't fit tightly to the metal underneath.

Here's a picture that I found on here a while back showing the construction where the inner and outer fenders are joined and it isn't the shape of the cover. Like MetalGeek's post, cleats on the plastic bed rail covers which are pretty heavy would be good for holding a tarp, but don't expect them to hold your motorcycle.

Yes, you could get under the rail and make a secure attachment, but I'm not sure that's what the OP intends.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Adding anchors here on the top rail will be just fine.

 

[Zachary]

I did this because I did not want a rolling tonneau cover taking up space in the bed when its retracted.
It's pretty stout but I would not tie a motorcycle to them.
I use them to tie my collapsable ice shanty or big travel bag to the top of the tonneau cover.
There was drilling, tapping and shimming below the bed rail cap involved.
I also tapped the top of the boat cleats and have steel angles that I run between the (2) boat cleats the length of the truck bed. The rails allow me to tie off anywhere where the boat cleats alone do not.
It was a bit of pain to do but I find it very functional.

 

[Zachary]

You don't see the tonneau cover and rails because I removed it.
I traded the truck for a 2025 XLT Fx4, just needed some off road capabilities that the Lariat did not seem to have.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I did this because I did not want a rolling tonneau cover taking up space in the bed when its retracted.
It's pretty stout but I would not tie a motorcycle to them.
I use them to tie my collapsable ice shanty or big travel bag to the top of the tonneau cover.
There was drilling, tapping and shimming below the bed rail cap involved.
I also tapped the top of the boat cleats and have steel angles that I run between the (2) boat cleats the length of the truck bed. The rails allow me to tie off anywhere where the boat cleats alone do not.
It was a bit of pain to do but I find it very functional.

Park it close enough to the shore and you can tie your canoe or boat off.

 

[Zachary]

LOL
Yeah it's more function than beauty but actually looks pretty good with the steel rails atop them

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