What do you want to see in a Bed Rack?

We at Sherpa are working hard on making a really nice, affordable aluminum bed rack system to pair with our roof racks. We wanted to reach out to those that have experience using other bed racks, DIY bed racks, and have trucks, in general, to see what you want, wish you had, or think would be cool to have in a bed rack?

So far, we have one of the lighter bed rack setups out there that uses the same tech we have in our racks. High-quality thick materials, stainless hardware, heavy load capacity, modular. We also will have a mid-height, 3/4 height, and full height option. What you'd expect from a Sherpa product as well as a bucket list of accessories we plan to make for it.

Let me know what you guys wanna see! Here is one of the first few out in the testing phase. The side plates will only be an option with our Full Height System that lines up with the cab racks.


We will also be offering different options for the sides, I know some guys love the molle panel type things, as well as modular panels allowing the easy mounting of traction boards, gas packs, shovels, and axes, etc.



One big miss we have always seen with bed racks is they take away all function from the factory bed rail by covering it with a huge unnecessary mount, so we wanted to keep that accessible for tie-downs, mounts, etc.


Thanks!

Nice looking rack.

My criteria was and is very specific. Spare mount in a cradle above the tonneau, ax, shovel and hi lift mounts, spot for traction boards, and gas and water storage. Pics are of original version. Later modified for rub rails with alley lights and moved the water jugs inboard. Trees keep trying to rip everything off the sides.

Stairgod said:

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My criteria was and is very specific. Spare mount in a cradle above the tonneau, ax, shovel and hi lift mounts, spot for traction boards, and gas and water storage. Pics are of original version. Later modified for rub rails with alley lights and moved the water jugs inboard. Trees keep trying to rip everything off the sides.

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Yea some people love mounting everything on the outside and works for most users. For more hardcore wheeling and higher trails, it's really nice having it smooth on the outside as bed racks/roof racks love rubbing on trees, etc. So trying to cater to both users in that regard.

Alex Fleming said:

Yea some people love mounting everything on the outside and works for most users. For more hardcore wheeling and higher trails, it's really nice having it smooth on the outside as bed racks/roof racks love rubbing on trees, etc. So trying to cater to both users in that regard.

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Your design certainly looks like it will be easy to make it adaptable for any type of use. Very nice rack.

Triangles are more stable than squares. I’ve heard horror stories of erector set racks breaking due to the vibrations from washboard roads at high speeds. Angled cross braces would fix that problem

We certainly do not baby these bed racks in testing, if we find we need more we have considered triangulation and gusseting.

I'd like to see bed rack supports posts that actually are in the bed to help stabilize the weight of whatever is put on top.
I'd like for cross bars to mount from these bed posts, to the side rails to make the bed rack as rigid as possible.

I'd like to see the ability to mount a floor jack, and the ability to mount at least a 35 inch tire underneath it laying flat against the rear of the cab, without being mounted to the bed bar closest to the cab.

Instead of bed rack, think bed cage with the ability to do rack type stuff