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How I installed a headache rack and toolbox without drilling my truck

13K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Drakenight 
#1 ·
Let me start with a disclaimer. A headache rack can provide important safety to vehicle occupants in the event of a collision by stopping any cargo from going through the rear window and into the cab. I am posting this as a guide to how I did my installation, and I make no claim(s) as to the structural integrity of any portion of the mounting system and no claim(s) as to the ability of this to provide any safety to any occupants of your vehicle. If you choose to follow this guide you are doing so at your own risk.

So, I needed/wanted a headache rack to make hauling my kayak easier, just drop it in the bed and throw a strap around the kayak and the rack. No hanging out the *** end, no worry about some idiot not seeing the boat sticking out 5' past my tailgate, none of that.

I purchased this product from amazon Etrailer carries something similar, but they won't have it in stock until late august. I chose this one over others as it was aluminum, and I wanted to install it and not have to worry about maintaining paint or rust prevention. Just a note that the 2 arms that are to be bolted to the bed rail are mild steel. Mine were unfinished on the inside, so I cleaned them the best I could with acetone and then sprayed some lacquer inside them to help prevent rust.

I also discarded the provided hardware - its cheap chinesium, and I didn't want those rusting (also they looked like crap). I instead purchased all stainless steel hardware. Now this creates an issue: Galvanic corrosion. For those who don't know, you need 3 things to have an issue: Dissimilar metals, electrical continuity, and salt water. Basically, if I have my stainless bolts touching the aluminum utilitrack and the aluminum tool box and the aluminum I used for mounting, I will cause some corrosion of the aluminum when there's salt on it. And that is not good. So my solution to this was so lacquer the underside of the stainless hardware that would be in contact with the aluminum. They make rubber washers, but I elected not to use them because I had lacquer on hand, and I was concerned about any relaxation they would have causing the bolts to loosen - a big issue since many of the bolts are short and cannot stretch enough to counter that effect.

So first, the arms are bolted to the rack with M12x1.75x30 metric bolts. They took a 19mm wrench and my socket set only goes to 18mm, so I had to get a set of harbor freight wrenches for these. Underneath these 4 bolts I put a 1/2" fender washer and a 1/2" washer. Just 1 washer would bend a bit under a fully torqued bolt (becuase of the slot in the rack to let you adjust the arms), so I put the fender washers in there. I put the regular washers in upside down from the first install to serve as a belleville washer of sorts.

Next, I needed something to make the bottom of these mounting arms bigger. I purchased 2 pieces of 4"x12"x1/4" 6061-t6 alumium plate to serve as the mounting base for the rack. These were attached to the bottom of the arm with a total of 4 3/8"x1.5" machine screws. I countersunk the head fully into the bottom of the plate as this would be sitting on the bed rail. Looking back, I could have gone with as short of a screw as 1", and anything over 1.5" would cause fitment issues with the toolbox. If I had a do-over, I would have bought 1 1/4" bolts, as they would let me put a second jam nut on if I ever had a need to. I guess now though I could mount something to them if I needed to.

Now, I had also match drilled the other holes in these mounting plates to some aluminum angle- 1.5x1.5x3/16x12. I then put in the second bolt hole for the toolbox. All of this was for 3/8" bolts and drilled 1/32" oversize (13/32).

Before putting the rack in the truck, I bought some thin self adhesive foam from Michaels for $1 to serve as a gasket of sorts under the mounting arms. I cut it to fit around the bolt heads/holes.


I then bolted the aluminum angle to the utilitrac with 3/8"x1" bolts, washers and 3/8" unistrut nuts. Then the rack and toolbox went in. How this was bolted was as follows:
cab side bolt- rack to angle. 3/8"x4" bolt, then a washer, through the 1/4" plate, through the aluminum angle, washer, nut.
middle bolt- toolbox to plate. 3/8"x1" bolt, then a washer, through the toolbox, 3 fender washers (these provided clearance for the toolbox to fit over the rack arms. See the pictures.) through the plate, washer, nut.
tailgate side bolt- everything. 3/8"x4.5" bolt (4" is too short here), then a washer, through the toolbox, 3 fender washers, through the plate, through the aluminum angle, washer, nut.

All in all, I spent about $300 on this. Probably a bit more since I bought a few bolts the wrong length, paid more for shipping that I needed to with re-ordering stuff. I could probably do it for $250 now that I know what I need.

Anyways, hopefully this is helpful to someone. I've also attached 2 photos showing my old tool-box only install with 1/4"x4" bolts (should have used 3.5"), 1.5" aluminum angle from lowes, and a few other pieces, in case anyone wants to copy that installation.
 

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#6 ·
Looks great!
Have busted my rear cab window half a dozen times, from brush to equipment hitting it.
My glass guy knows me by my first name and my number is in his contacts.


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