Roof / Bed rack

[sockeye]

Trying to get by on the cheap here. I'd like to put a rack for carrying small extension ladders, (12' long) and 6 - 8 ft. step ladders on my yet to be received Maverick. I've seen the various bed racks and roof racks that are out there, but the distance between the crossbars with either of those options doesn't seem optimal. (Too short) What I have in mind in my feeble little pea brain is one crossbar spanning the roof, I.E. half a roof rack, and one crossbar mounted on the bed rail,
I.E. half a bed rack, mounted so it matches the level of the roof rack. Trying to accomplish this on a 500.00 budget. Any ideas? Thanks.

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[giddyup]

I like your idea; a couple/few more feet between the rails makes sense. Most of what I've seen has either 2 roof crossbar racks or 2 bed rail racks. Maybe it would make sense to buy a set of each and split them into 2 sets of roof/bed rack with the hope of selling off one set. Hmmm

 

[wax87]

Make it out of wood

 

[gte105u]

The really high racks are expensive. I used a mid height rack for mine. I picked up a kayak over the weekend. Set it on the back bar which is about 10" up. Then put a kayak pad on the roof right at the back. Kayak was on a slope but it wasn't terrible. Maybe cheaper than trying to do a really high rack that's level across.

 

[FabMav]

Check out makerpipe.com
They sell connectors you can use with conduit or steel pipe to build without having to weld. Their downloadable Build Everything e-book has lots of rack examples that are sturdy and inexpensive to make.

 

[Timothyd]

Trying to get by on the cheap here. I'd like to put a rack for carrying small extension ladders, (12' long) and 6 - 8 ft. step ladders on my yet to be received Maverick. I've seen the various bed racks and roof racks that are out there, but the distance between the crossbars with either of those options doesn't seem optimal. (Too short) What I have in mind in my feeble little pea brain is one crossbar spanning the roof, I.E. half a roof rack, and one crossbar mounted on the bed rail,
I.E. half a bed rack, mounted so it matches the level of the roof rack. Trying to accomplish this on a 500.00 budget. Any ideas? Thanks.

I'd like a topper with racks but I'm waiting for something more reasonable than $3500 A.R.E. In the meantime, to transport my canoes I'll make "T" bar from my hitch and I'm looking for a roof rack.

 

[Strikingracerx]

Trying to get by on the cheap here. I'd like to put a rack for carrying small extension ladders, (12' long) and 6 - 8 ft. step ladders on my yet to be received Maverick. I've seen the various bed racks and roof racks that are out there, but the distance between the crossbars with either of those options doesn't seem optimal. (Too short) What I have in mind in my feeble little pea brain is one crossbar spanning the roof, I.E. half a roof rack, and one crossbar mounted on the bed rail,
I.E. half a bed rack, mounted so it matches the level of the roof rack. Trying to accomplish this on a 500.00 budget. Any ideas? Thanks.

All the cool thing is I’m in the repurposing stuff so that ladder rack I made is actually made from an old ladder. It’s all been ready together with the scrap aluminum Elaine around I put over put over 500 pounds on that rack and I drove great. I’ve been building he’s over cab racks for 35 years. This one’s all aluminum and I like it.

 

[801dute]

My gut says to look into harbor freight. I believe I saw something for $350-$400ish that someone put on a Maverick with minor modifications.

 

[Maverickman74]

Yeah you can probably find a full sized (its taller) universal trac rack style job on craigslist and match it up to a single roof bar. Shouldnt cost $300 or so. For added rigidity tie it together with a section of a old cheap or free extension ladder.

 

[reddead]

Xtrusion Overland makes one for the maverick but it’s pretty pricey. Looking at the design of it though, it is all made of aluminum 80/20. I’ve been coming up with designs while I wait for my Maverick and it seems like you could probably build something pretty durable for a couple hundred bucks. The hardest part would be making the bracket that will attach it to the truck itself. The nice thing about 80/20 is that you can put t nuts in the slots and adjust the position of the equipment you’d like to stow pretty easily. If you have access to a miter saw and a press brake I think it would be pretty straight forward given the proper dimensions.

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