headwest

I just received my new F150 last week and am going to install Yakima tracks on the bed rails, then use towers and cross bars to span the bed for bike racks. I'll have a Paragon cover on too which can be retracted under all the Yakima stuff.

I saw a set of photos of someone that did the same at ORS Racks Direct. However, I'm struggling a bit with how to go about mounting the tracks. I know I'll need to use the Plus Nuts underneath of the bed rail caps so those will need to come off. However, it looks like either the middle ridge of the bed rail caps were trimmed off flush or maybe cut out completely to allow the tracks to sit flush. I also have a little concern about the tracks riding on top of the caps and there being too much flexing going on that this might fail over time.

Any thoughts or suggests with this sure would be appreciated. I want to get the tracks mounted first before I have the truck Line X'd and mount the Paragon cover.

A link to the photos of this install is below. Anyone know who's truck this is that I might find a way to contact the owner?

Thanks for any assistance!

http://www.orsracksdirect.com/2012-f...ike-racks.html

cowboyway

Did you ever figure it out? I'm doing exactly the same thing on the same truck and have the same question.

headwest

I've started in on this project and have been totally frustrated. I drilled through the bed cap, marked the location in the sheet metal, pulled the cap and then drilled and installed the Yakima supplied Plus Nuts. After putting the cap back on, I was able to install 5 out of the 7 screws. Two got stuck in the Plus Nuts and the Plus Nuts are now spinning in the sheet metal.

Total frustrated and POed with the project. When I get a break from working too many hours, I'll drill out or grind off the heads of the two stuck screws, take everything back off and try putting in new Plus Nuts.

A couple of other things. I did get longer stainless screws because of the additional thickness of the bed rail caps. I also built up some stainless steel washers as a filler for the void between the sheet metal and the cap under each screw.

Have you started doing this and have any better luck?

cowboyway

well.... i hadn't started in on it just yet. Since it doesn't seem straight forward I've been doing mostly research. I do have all the parts ready to go and had tried to get the caps off, but was not able to do so. I was thinking of maybe straddling two of the ribs in the cap and putting fillers (washers) underneath but am just not sure yet. I had seen that pic on ors racks web site of the truck that has this done along with the toneau cover, but they don't know how it was done either. The plusnuts concern me, but seem to be the only way to go. So did you cut off the center rib of the cap? Seems if you don't that the track never sits flat. On a side note, i was thinking one would have to drill a little bit larger hole then the bolt to accommodate expansion and such with temp changes. But aside from that i'm in a holding pattern.

Looking at that original pic again... it seems the track is flush with the cap which it seems to me could only be possible if you shave off the center rib of the cap. I'm thinking a block plane from the wood shop. If you do it this way, you shouldn't have to take the cap off at all.

cowboyway

Ok i dove in... skip the wood block plane idea... not good. I used a new blade in a utility knife and cut the entire raised portion of the center rib out. I used a small sanding drum on a dremel tool to remove any raised pieces i missed.

I lined up the track and cut it to length. I had to drill a new end hole to hold the end cap. I shorted it up a few inches as the plusnuts need to be accessible from the area where the center rib existed. Note the outer rib is bowed to match the contour of the exterior of the box which is not useful for lining up the track. I looked at only the inner rib and lined up along that about 3/8" away. I believe the track needs better support underneath it. I found 1/4" by 1and 1/4" aluminum bar stock in 4' lengths at ACE hardware for $16 each. I'm going to try and squeeze that in underneath it for support. Not sure just yet how that will sit with the plusnut head, but will work something out.

Plusnut install seems easy for me... no issues so far as I'm 2 for 2. More updates to follow. Let me know how your experience goes? I think we are the only two doing this in the world except the original guy on that pic. haha.

-kevin

headwest

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for all the info with your project. I'm still on hold with doing anything more with mine at the moment but will need to jump back into it within the next 2 weeks. I look forward to further updates and hopefully some pics.

Hawkules

If you are still figuring this out, here is what I did with my Yakima rack.

https://www.f150forum.com/f7/help-ba...e-rack-212309/

karmabiker

Did you guys ever make progress on this? I'm looking at the same install.

I've got a rock and roll cover and need to mount 3 bikes above with the ability to open the cover without taking the bikes off.

cowboyway

See pics... Works well. I lift the whole yakima assembly off with two people. Attempt at your own risk.

karmabiker

Great install!! Thank you!