For the first time, I own a truck with less than an 8' bed. As a contractor, I have to carry long stuff from time to time, but I don't want to install a full ladder rack to this good-looking truck. So I decided to add roof rack rails to my Leer top. (And I'll probably add a rack to the cab too, eventually)

The Leer factory installed Thule tracks for $200, and the dealer is offering feet and square cross bars for another $400. I looked up the racks they are offering, and they only hold 150 lbs and probably whistle pretty loudly. That seems expensive for not great capacity.

I see a bunch of oval or blade shaped racks for less money, and most seem to hold 220-250 lbs, especially the ones made by Rhino.

Does anyone here have any experience here? Any suggestions for what I should go with?
I think the tracks are Tracker II, and they seem very basic, having a simple slot in the middle. I would think that many legs would fit these.

Thanks.

 

Are there any here who have Thule tracks?
If so, are you only using the Tracker II square rails, or are you using something else?

 

In law just bought a worker newer F150 with a canopy and put some track and bars on it

ill snap some pics if I can get see it in daytime. (He’s also my neighbor)

He’s not a huge fan of it. Mainly because it’s harder to get up to get a ladder/lumber off. He was used to having 8’ bed and letting ladders and lumber just stick out the back of the bed and not have to tie it down

 

Yes, I understand how he feels, as that's how I'm feeling right now. Almost wishing I had done the super cab with an 8' bed instead, but I made the choice, and now I have to live with it.

Pics would be great, and any info about brand and cost would be nice too.

Thanks.

 

Here’s some pics. I’ll see if my wife can dig up the invoice for cost

 

Thank you for those pics. That is exactly what I was looking for.
I will have to look into Yakima, as those look exactly like my tracks, but the crossmembers look much nicer than the cheap square ones my dealer is offering.

Yes, having to secure stuff will be a pain, but better than having to pull a trailer, or not being able to carry long stuff at all.

I appreciate the information. Very helpful and encouraging! Now I just need to source the right stuff, now.that I know it's out there.

 

Well to finish out this thread, I went ahead and spent the $330 and got the Leer dealer to order me a set of the Tracker II racks.

I found some on ebay and craigslist, but none looked exactly right, and some cost just as much.

In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and order a set of aftermarket racks for the CAB of the truck. For $35, I figured it was worth trying.
My reason for this is because I occasionally need to carry something long, like ladders or gutters or the like, so I need more than 6 foot of bearing length. So now, if I have , say a 40' ladder, I can strap it up there and feel good that it won't be whacking the roof of my truck if I hit a bump.

When I received the racks, they were surprisingly solid, but required some longer bolts and a little tuning of the mounting hooks to fit exactly, but they seem very solid, and I'm definitely happy with them. Had I known these would be so solid, I might have tried to adapt them to fit in my tracks for 1/10th of the Thule cost.

Here are some pics of the aftermarket racks:

 

Do you know what size (length) those bars are? I have an A.R.E. canopy and I'm trying to figure out which components I need. The tracks seem to be about 47" apart but I'm not sure how much overhang I want.

 

These are 60”, to give you something to compare to.

 

I heartily approve of your using a clamp on roof rack on the cab of your truck. With the amount of electronics in these trucks today, I think that anyone would be insane to add any holes in the roof of the truck's cab. FYI my previous truck (1985 Nissan) had an 8 foot bed and I had a full length shell on it but I carried a 16 foot canoe on it at all times. I let the canoe extend out over the cab of the truck and within inches of the front of the truck. I tied a rope from the front of the canoe down like an upside down V and tied off and each end to the front bumper at about where the two loops are on an F-150. The rear of the canoe extended about a foot past the rear of the truck and I added a second rope straight down from near the rear of the canoe and tied off on the rear hitch. Two adjustable straps over the canoe and tied down to rails running lengthwise on each side of the shell finished the job. The canoe sat about 4 inches above the cab of the truck and did not touch the cab and I could open my pop up sunroof but the tie down was super strong and held, with the canoe on the truck, through several Florida hurricanes. That truck was my daily commuter vehicle and I drove it everyday like that for probably 4 or 6 years and never had any trouble with it, even in 85 MPH cross winds it never budged.