Truck Bed Rack Buying Guide: 5 Things Most Buyers Overlook
Before you wildly spend $1200 on a bed rack to keep up with your buddies on the weekend, take a moment to pause and reflect on commonly made mistakes, when people buy a bed rack.
In this blog, we're going to try to save you some money (and some headache).
1) What Will You Carry?
This is an obvious question. If your answer is one of the following then you're probably in the right place.
If your only goal is to carry an RTT, you could spend $1200 on a generic Amazon Rack or you could buy a Low Profile Bed Rack from BillieBars, that only costs between $700-800.
That said generic Amazon Rack is also going to limit your options - most often they are not tonneau cover compatible, leaving your gear in the bed completely exposed. Not to mention that you'll likely have a cab height rack (there is nothing wrong with that, if your build calls for it) - which means you won't be able to pull into the garage with the RTT installed.
Bikes? Same thing - why would you want a cab height rack that makes it more difficult to load your bikes?
Then why do I need $700-800 bed rack for bikes instead of something cheap and generic on Amazon for $400-500? Well, because you don't want to look out your rear view mirror and see flex in your cheapo rack. And you may want to add other stuff down the road - like an RTT. Pay for the weight rating now.
Kayaks? Well, certainly you need a cab height rack to carry kayaks? Wrong! We have a LowPro Riser for the front crossbar that allows you to clear the cab - putting the kayaks on angle. Much easier loading. We'd recommend our 8" Low Profile Bed Rack (instead of the 5"). Each kayak will take up 16.75" of mountable crossbar space, so you'll have room for more kayaks, or something else.
Cargo?
This falls back to the argument found for RTT's and Bikes. Why have it higher than you need it? 5" or 8" above the bed rail will give you the ideal loading height. We dove into how to mount a cargo case, cost effectively, in a previous blog.
We'll lump the next 2 categories into 1 - Recovery Gear and RotoPax for gasoline.
"SURELY, I need a generic rack to be able to carry this?" WRONG. You can add molle panels to any BillieBars Bed Rack - adding an additional area of storage on the side of your truck. The panels are conveniently slotted for:
2) Static vs Dynamic Weight Capacity
This is the gold standard for judging the strength of a bed rack. Simply defined:
- Static Weight Capacity - this is when your Truck is stationary
- Dynamic Weight Capacity - this is when your Truck is underway or driving
Static Weight Capacity will ALWAYS be higher than Dynamic Weight Capacity. Why? Because Physics!
We did a deep dive into bed rack weight distribution which you can find here.
For the purpose of this article, why does it matter?
Well, when you're picking out your bed rack, it's important to understand this concept - the higher the bed rack, the higher the dynamic load. In the classic sense - bigger isn't always necessarily better.
Putting this into practical terms, we outlined a scenario below for our Low Profile Bed Rack.
- Bed Rack - 8" Low Profile Bed Rack
- Static Weight Capacity - 800 lbs
- Dynamic Weight Capacity - 400 lbs
- Truck - 2019 Nissan Frontier
- Carrying
- Roof Top Tent; ROAM Vagabond 2.0 - 150 lbs
- 2 mountain bikes - 30 lbs each
- Total static weight - 210 lbs
You can see in the chart that there is plenty of room on the static side, but the customer is at half capacity on their dynamic load. In this scenario, they'll run out of room before they run out of weight. With another 590 lbs of capacity left on the static load, they'll be able to comfortably fit some happy campers in their RTT.
3) Compatibility with Tonneau Covers
This is a huge consideration. Having a tonneau cover on your Truck greatly enhances function and look. Almost every bed rack on the market will ask you to choose. At BillieBars you don't have to choose.
The 4 major types of tonneau covers are:
- Trifolds
- Rollups
- Retractables
- Covers with an integrated T Slot (could be a trifold, rollup, or a retractable)
We outline full compatibly here - but below is a compatibility chart for easy reference.
Important note:
General Rule of Thumb (for our Low Profile Bed Rack): If the tonneau covers sits on top of the bed rail, it should be a seamless fit. If the tonneau cover is more flush with your Truck’s bed rail, it could require some trimming.
4) Bed Rack vs Roof Rack vs Truck Cap
The age old question for those with Trucks. They all serve their purpose in their specific lanes - we broke out the pros and cons below.
For the bed rack portion, we used generic stats. But if we were to tweak the cons section to be more BillieBars friendly - well there wouldn't be a cons section, because:
- BillieBars are easy to remove
- Since they are easy to remove, you can easily get full bed access
Side note: If you land on a Truck Cap, kneeling on your factory tailgate won't be fun. Our Tailgate offers the reprieve for your knees, provides a flat, non-slip surface - oh and it also has integrated cup holders. Shop here.
5) Aluminum vs Steel Racks
When it comes to bed racks, construction matters. We outlined BillieBars construction below:
- Brackets - Steel - 3/16" thick with dual powder coat (zinc base)
- Crossbars - Anodized aluminum - 40mm x 80mm
- Hardware - Stainless Steel
Why did we build it this way? We explain our logic below:
- Brackets - they hold the primary load so using steel is important
- Crossbars - aluminum will not rust, but they are also capable of holding weight
- Hardware - who likes rusted hardware?
As far as competitors construction - here are some things we noticed:
- Steel sheet metal crossbars - prone to rust
- Aluminum brackets - prone to bending
- Non Stainless hardware - prone to rust
When you go to purchase your next bed rack, consider the construction carefully.
FAQ
1) Can I install the bed rack myself?
It depends on the bed rack! Not all racks are created equal in terms of installation difficulty. For example: our Low Profile Bed Rack contains 6 pieces - 4 brackets, 2 crossbars + hardware. And the total system only weighs 47-50lbs.
Some generic racks have so many parts it makes your head spin.
2) Do bed racks affect gas mileage?
Absolutely! Especially if they are cab high and you plan on mounting an RTT on top. Keeping your RTT below the cab with our Low Profile Bed Rack can help improve your MPG.
3) Will a bed rack void my Truck's warranty?
If you're not drilling into the Truck Bed, then you should be good. Some bed racks require drilling and this should definitely be a consideration before purchase.
That's it!
Feel free to contact us with any specific questions. Most importantly, Get out there and Go!
Thanks for reading.
