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Hey all, first time owning a taco after wanting one for a good while. I've learned from others here, so I wanted to try and contribute.
Unfortunately, I work very impulsively and during the process I didn't take any photos between the steps lol. I'll take some more detailed pics of everything up close if people are interested.
Personally, I loved the look of the ARB rack immediately seeing it for the first time. After seeing how some other people mounted the rack to the popular RetraxPro tonneau cover, I wanted to make an attempt at a more affordable option and paired it with a SyneticUSA MB cover.
However, my solution requires more work to get it to sit at OEM height (which was a hard requirement for me)
I started with cutting the legs off and then measuring the cover so I knew how much material I would need to remove. In the first picture, you can kinda see how aggressive the trimming was to get it to clear the cover. My first plan was to use hardware, but the more I had to trim the more I realized it probably wasn't an option. At least for the rear part.
I got an idea of how much to trim by first getting the dimensions of the cover, then transferring that down on the garage floor with a tape outline. In hindsight, you could just make a stick at the correct width and a block at the height of your tonneau cover to test fit off the bed instead.
Use plenty of tape to prevent bumps and scrapes while dry fitting. I was up and down the bed probably a dozen times doing this myself. There's some scratches but mostly hidden now after it's installed.
Once I trimmed enough and there was enough clearance, I fit the rack and tacked on the plates that would become the mounts. I used 6''x6'' 6mm cold rolled steel plates from amzn. You could probably get by with a thinner plate and smaller dimensions.
Took a bunch of measurements to mark my holes to drill
I welded these brackets to mount it to the t-slots and used M8 hardware to fasten it all down. It's very stout, you can shake the whole truck and it doesn't budge.
I took a gamble with Rustoleum textured black paint, and it ended up being almost perfect. The sheen isn't perfect, but the tone and texture were spot on.
Day 0: about half way home. Driving from Tri-Cities to greater Seattle area
Same night, I installed the ARB sport bar that I had bought of FB marketplace several months earlier for $400.
Bonus pic of what I usually build, Subarus lol. I installed a wide body kit and painted the car in my garage. First time doing either.
Unfortunately, I work very impulsively and during the process I didn't take any photos between the steps lol. I'll take some more detailed pics of everything up close if people are interested.
Personally, I loved the look of the ARB rack immediately seeing it for the first time. After seeing how some other people mounted the rack to the popular RetraxPro tonneau cover, I wanted to make an attempt at a more affordable option and paired it with a SyneticUSA MB cover.
However, my solution requires more work to get it to sit at OEM height (which was a hard requirement for me)
I started with cutting the legs off and then measuring the cover so I knew how much material I would need to remove. In the first picture, you can kinda see how aggressive the trimming was to get it to clear the cover. My first plan was to use hardware, but the more I had to trim the more I realized it probably wasn't an option. At least for the rear part.
I got an idea of how much to trim by first getting the dimensions of the cover, then transferring that down on the garage floor with a tape outline. In hindsight, you could just make a stick at the correct width and a block at the height of your tonneau cover to test fit off the bed instead.
Use plenty of tape to prevent bumps and scrapes while dry fitting. I was up and down the bed probably a dozen times doing this myself. There's some scratches but mostly hidden now after it's installed.
Once I trimmed enough and there was enough clearance, I fit the rack and tacked on the plates that would become the mounts. I used 6''x6'' 6mm cold rolled steel plates from amzn. You could probably get by with a thinner plate and smaller dimensions.
Took a bunch of measurements to mark my holes to drill
I welded these brackets to mount it to the t-slots and used M8 hardware to fasten it all down. It's very stout, you can shake the whole truck and it doesn't budge.
I took a gamble with Rustoleum textured black paint, and it ended up being almost perfect. The sheen isn't perfect, but the tone and texture were spot on.
Day 0: about half way home. Driving from Tri-Cities to greater Seattle area
Same night, I installed the ARB sport bar that I had bought of FB marketplace several months earlier for $400.
Bonus pic of what I usually build, Subarus lol. I installed a wide body kit and painted the car in my garage. First time doing either.
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