ARB Sport Bar + tonneau cover combination -- how to have both (my solution)

[Hatman]

If you don’t like the ARB sport bar, you can move on to the next thread. I happen to like it but I wanted a tonneau cover too. I had 2 ideas to make both possible. The first idea was to make a plate that sits under the lip of the cover and allows you to bolt the bars on after cutting them up a bit. The second idea was more expensive and raised the bars up 3/4” higher, but it was easier, so here’s how I did it:

Remove the bars and cut all 4 mounting tabs off, flush with the base plate. Grind it smooth and hit it with flat black (or dark gunmetal) paint.

Install your favorite tonneau that has T-Slots. I went with the RetraxPro XR. The bonus with this setup is there is plenty of room to add track accessories later. Mark the T-Slot lines on the bottom of the bars and drill 2 holes in each section. I bought M8x25 T-slot anchors off Amazon and they worked perfectly. I would not go any longer, but you could go down in length to 18mm with no problems.

Toss the bars back on and you have the best of both worlds!

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[Rubenc87]

Great job. It looks exactly like the Youtube video that I had posted but had no idea what they had to do to accomplish it. How smooth (level) was it after the cutting?

 

[Hatman]

Great job. It looks exactly like the Youtube video that I had posted but had no idea what they had to do to accomplish it. How smooth (level) was it after the cutting?

Perfectly level. I took my time grinding it flat and sanding it smooth. The last 2 photos show the after and before (I kinda sucked at the post) that show how much higher it is after the install.

 

[bsquaredMTB]

I'm not a huge fan of the sports bar but I definitely appreciate good workmanship. Looks great!

 

[trailhunger]

Somebody needs to send this to ARB & Sheldon’s team, the OE needs to be designed shorter height so that the integration with the cover gets it flush for aero.

I got rid of my sport bar for GFC, but that first couple weeks w/it definitely head turner distinct trim differentiator. Should make the sport bar have better resale despite sitting high off the cab as the only compromise

 

[tacorancher]

If you don’t like the ARB sport bar, you can move on to the next thread. I happen to like it but I wanted a tonneau cover too. I had 2 ideas to make both possible. The first idea was to make a plate that sits under the lip of the cover and allows you to bolt the bars on after cutting them up a bit. The second idea was more expensive and raised the bars up 3/4” higher, but it was easier, so here’s how I did it:

Remove the bars and cut all 4 mounting tabs off, flush with the base plate. Grind it smooth and hit it with flat black (or dark gunmetal) paint.

Install your favorite tonneau that has T-Slots. I went with the RetraxPro XR. The bonus with this setup is there is plenty of room to add track accessories later. Mark the T-Slot lines on the bottom of the bars and drill 2 holes in each section. I bought M8x25 T-slot anchors off Amazon and they worked perfectly. I would not go any longer, but you could go down in length to 18mm with no problems.

Toss the bars back on and you have the best of both worlds!

Any ideas how to make it work with a Diamondback?

 

[Hatman]

Any ideas how to make it work with a Diamondback?

I looked at that as an option too, but it looks like the Diamondback flips up? If that’s the case, you could cut the mounting tabs off the sport bars and bolt them to the top of the cover. The limitation would be that the front section of the cover would only open 60% ish.

 

[grwil67]

Looks AWESONE, great job!

 

[BIGPZA]

This is NICE

 

[Rubenc87]

Measure and measure ten measure again before cutting. Looks factory. Is it me or does it look more narrow (just a tad) from the back looking towards the front of taco?

 

[Hatman]

Measure and measure ten measure again before cutting. Looks factory. Is it me or does it look more narrow (just a tad) from the back looking towards the front of taco?

I squeezed the bars closest to the cab in about 1/8 - 3/16” on each side just to minimize to amount of overhang out from the tonneau track. But I don’t really think that made much of a difference. Unfortunately I didn’t take any before photos from that angle to compare.

 

[Rubenc87]

I think it might be because they are not mounted to their normal mounting points that give it a different look.

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