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Old 09-08-2020, 08:14 AM   #7
Bill
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
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Glad to oblige.

The uprights are plain old 2x4s, the 4" dimension trimmed at the bottom to fit the stake pockets. The crossbars are 2x6s, attached to the uprights with 2 stove bolts at each attachment point. The carpet is a rugged industrial indoor/outdoor carpet, glued and screwed to the uprights and the crossbars. The dimension inside the uprights, where you put the boats, is 57" (the Ranger was a much smaller vehicle in 1998). As you can see, the top of the crossbar is a few inches higher than the roof of the cab, enough to accommodate the curve of the kayak hulls at bow and stern.

These racks are not attached to the truck bed in anyway. They are held in place by the weight of the boats, which are strapped fore and aft to the front bumper and the rear trailer hitch. The whole thing is pretty rigid. When the boats are off the truck, the racks are easy to lift out, and drop neatly into the cargo bed for worry-free transport.

Hope this helps. Obviously this truck does not pull the TM, but with larger truck you could duplicate this approach, gaining more width for the boats. As noted in posts above, the uprights are vertical, and their height, from the top edge of the bed to the bottom of the crossbars, is enough to enable you to fold up the rear panel of a tri-fold tonneau cover.

Bill
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