Tonneau Rack?

[Snafu]

As I was messing around with the truck I thought it would be cool to have a rack for stuff. I didn't want to toss it up on the roof when there is a lot of space over the tonneau. So I started to think about a rack for the tonneau cover

Below is a link to a 'rough' design I drafted up this morning. It is about 18" h at the front, 9" h at the rear, 55" l and 55" wide. The rack is wide enough to hold a set of tires standing up - I thought it was a handy idea. This is also why the side is raised near the front. For the bottom and front I thought a mesh would be good to stop stuff from falling through or rolling through the rear window.

Tonneau Rack

A couple of things I need to work out. The first is the material. Square steel tubing would probably be out of the question for weight reasons unless I can get some thinner walled stock. So for weight I was thinking of square aluminum stock but this raises its own issues (not many can weld aluminum).

Welding is another issue as there are a lot. Rough count is around 100 welded joints

Another item I need to work out how to gain access to the bed with the rack mounted. Once loaded lifting the tonneau is out of the question. Even if the rack was not loaded lifting the tonneau will cause the rack to punch through the rear window. So I need to work out a way that would let me unlock and slide the rack back. It will have to move back enough so that when the tonneau is lifted the rack clears the rear window.

Of course the rack would have to be emptied to lift the tonneau. This is okay as I plan to use the rack mainly for transporting stuff I don't normally do (ex. hauling stuff to AW). The stuff I haul day-to-day would still go in the bed.

The last thing to figure out and the easiest is spacing/support so the rack sits level and flush with the not-flat tonneau cover.

Maybe this is a fleeting idea cause now I an thinking it would be easier to sell the tonneau and buy a cap.

BTW - if you need any plans drafted up give me a shout.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I love the Idea. I've actually thought of that a few times after getting the RTT seeing roof racks on the top of trucks...

I'll give you my $0.02 later, gotta get up early and fly home tomorrow. I don't think it's as complicated as you're thinking, except for access to the box, but there's systems for that...

[Snafu]

Thanks Mike. Looking forward to your ideas.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Honestly, I thought about that after I got my RTT and saw the rack on the roof of the Frontier...that I would be weird to have an RTT on your rack, and that on the box would be a better, honestly idea, place for it.

I don't think it's as complicated as it seems. I think mainly you'll need to make a sub-frame under your tonneau cover. It's fiberglass, right? It probably won't like much weight. I don't know what you have for clearance since I've never had a pickup truck, but I think it would be a good idea to have it where the subframe rest on the box as support. Since that would support the structure and the items on on the rack, it would not rely on your tonneau cover for supporting any weight, and it should simplify your design.

I see your issue about opening it. The only solution would be to get a scissor lift toneau cover. Depending on how you open it, just don't load tall items near the front of the rack. It would be beneficial to have the heavier items at the back for better weight distribution and traction for the rear tires. I don't know if you can get those types of tonneau covers for Frontiers tho However that system probably can't lift much weight.

If your good at fabrication, it should be farily simple to make. Maybe even just make it manual rather than electric.

With a subframe on the cover, you can design the actual rack however you want. It would be cool to have a large tube rack that mimic the stock Frontier/Xterra design so that I'll flow with your roof rack and give it a stock look. That's only 2 tubes, could add a crossbar or two, than from there you can use it as a rack, even design it to use the Nissan crossbars, or attatch a basket on top

[Miner]

How attached are you to the solid cover? I see three options: keep it (incredibly complicated, but awesome), sell it and buy a roll-up soft tonneau and install Yakima slides and bars over it (one of my plans, I have too many plans), or sell it and go with on of these or a cap with a rack on top.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Yo Ron, care to comment?

[PiDGE]

mount your own kind of utility track sytem like in the beds of 05+???? http://www.unistrut.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Snafu]

Thanks for the bump. The scissor lift tonneau is a pretty cool idea. The lifting mech would need some beefing up but it is a good idea. Making it electric would help if there is weight on top.

It would be nice to try and match the oem racks. Some more thinking to do.

That unistrut site is a place where I could get lost in with ideas for a hundred different things. Mecahnix for big boys

[avacado]

http://www.thuleracks.com/product_pro.a ... 92&sku=421" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Check this out; not exactly what you're looking for but pretty close.

[PiDGE]

[Snafu]

Both ideas are interesting. Wonder why it is called a taco chaser?

[Simon]

Probably in reference to Toyota Tacomas.

[Pezzy]

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/trucks.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, from urban dictionary:

1. taco chaser
the act of chasing a shot of alcohol with a taco

[nige]

Ew, those adventure trailers are so lame. It reminds me of the ford ranger splash: "Now with 25% less box space!"

have you ever thought of getting a canvas truck cap with crossbars mounted on top? I like how you can roll up the sides of the canvas tops to get stuff out of the box that is close to the cab. I saw this one

I don't know how well they would stand up to winter.

[avacado]

That`s exactly what I want.

[Miner]

I'll take two

[clark2334]

Interesting truck covers! Especially that red truck. I just wonder how much weight can it lift.
Anyway, for my truck, I only got the Advantage Torza tonneau cover.