MotsuNabe
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- Thread starter
- #1
I have always been interested in the Leitner Designs bed rack systems. The mounting pods look like a great way to store and access gear. I have had a chance to play with one but never owned one (if anyone has first-hand experience, please share!). The problem is I called Leitner and asked about Rivian plans and they "have absolutely no plans to support R1T" - I was surprised and bummed at the firmness of the response. (FrontRunner on the other hand has said they would love to get their hands on an R1T to make something for it, FYI for anyone in Socal.)
However, Leitner already makes a fairly generic T-track mounted option that is intended to mount to aftermarket rolltop tonneaus. I was inspired by this thread from W1SE, and thought, why couldn't I just mount an extruded aluminum T track to the top of the bed rail using the same system he used? I would cut out some holes in the rail to be able to access the buttons for the gear tunnel, tailgate, and tonneau. That would be a DIY approach. But I wondered if there was a way to do it even better so I took the R1T to a local fabrication shop to ask what they thought. After admiring the truck for 20 mins, they said they think they could easily fabricate a locking mechanism that attaches a 3" wide aluminum flat bar to the bed rail. A T track could be screwed or welded to that bar for attaching anything. They have some engineering to do to make the attachment but it sounds tempting.
Two questions: 1/ What do you guys think? and 2/ Anyone else interested in the parts? Engineering costs are probably going to be higher than the water jet fabrication costs. It would get cheaper if a few others were also in.
However, Leitner already makes a fairly generic T-track mounted option that is intended to mount to aftermarket rolltop tonneaus. I was inspired by this thread from W1SE, and thought, why couldn't I just mount an extruded aluminum T track to the top of the bed rail using the same system he used? I would cut out some holes in the rail to be able to access the buttons for the gear tunnel, tailgate, and tonneau. That would be a DIY approach. But I wondered if there was a way to do it even better so I took the R1T to a local fabrication shop to ask what they thought. After admiring the truck for 20 mins, they said they think they could easily fabricate a locking mechanism that attaches a 3" wide aluminum flat bar to the bed rail. A T track could be screwed or welded to that bar for attaching anything. They have some engineering to do to make the attachment but it sounds tempting.
Two questions: 1/ What do you guys think? and 2/ Anyone else interested in the parts? Engineering costs are probably going to be higher than the water jet fabrication costs. It would get cheaper if a few others were also in.
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