Bak X4S + Kuat Ibex - The forbidden tonneau/bed rack combo

[sikedsyko]

I've wanted a bed rack for the Ranger, mostly so I could carry a bike on the side of the bed, ala the Kuat Piston SR/Ibex combo. However, I don't particularly care for a rolling cover cartridge that takes up bed space or the idea of using t-slots to affix a heavy rack to a bed cover that's clamped to the bed rail, the way most companies do it. I've thought the stake pocket attachment points on the new Ranger would be a better way to attach a rack anyways which would free up space to use whatever kind of tonneau cover you wanted (within reason).

I've had the Bak X4S on the truck since I bought it and when a Kuat Ibex rack showed up at my local REI's used gear section for half off (but in brand new condition), I decided to give it a shot, hacking it up to adapt it.

There's not any commercially available shims for the bed rail, so I made my own out of 1x3" Aluminum bar stock. The rear shim actually needs to be about 1/8" shorter than the front two shims to be flush with the plastic cap, but I think you might actually want to make it the same thickness as the front two, as the rack didn't sit quite level on the rear shim. (But it was only a tiny amount, over several feet, so I just cranked it down with the bolts.) The shims aren't perfect, but I overbored the holes to give myself some wiggle room. Put a layer of Flexseal between the shims and the bed, we'll see how that holds up, I might replace it with some better automotive gasket at some point. I've also got a 3D model built for the shims that could be sent out for CNCing, but would need a pretty big order to make it reasonably cost effective. Hopefully the aftermarket picks this up soon.

I drilled holes through the extrusions of the rack to bolt it down. You have to be pretty precise with drilling these holes, I used M8 fasteners so there's not a lot of room for error. You can see the profile of the extrusion in a test piece I drilled out. The circular extrusion area is where the end caps bolt to the extrusions and then you've got the T-Channel on inside. It wouldn't be a problem to drill through the bolt hole the extrusion, except at one end where it would interfere with the bolts.

The extrusion is pretty damn stiff in this area, so it shouldn't be a problem. The rack seems like its more stiff mounted this way, than the Kuat supplied methods of bolting to T-channel or clamping to bed rails.

Overall very happy with it, although it was alot of work to make sure it was done right the first time. Now I need to grab a Kuat Piston SR to mount on the side for a permanent bike carrier, since the Kuat Sherpa I've been using doesn't let you put the tailgate down. The Bak X4s has plenty of room to roll up like normal.

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[RealTruck]

I've wanted a bed rack for the Ranger, mostly so I could carry a bike on the side of the bed, ala the Kuat Piston SR/Ibex combo. However, I don't particularly care for a rolling cover cartridge that takes up bed space or the idea of using t-slots to affix a heavy rack to a bed cover that's clamped to the bed rail, the way most companies do it. I've thought the stake pocket attachment points on the new Ranger would be a better way to attach a rack anyways which would free up space to use whatever kind of tonneau cover you wanted (within reason).

I've had the Bak X4S on the truck since I bought it and when a Kuat Ibex rack showed up at my local REI's used gear section for half off (but in brand new condition), I decided to give it a shot, hacking it up to adapt it.

There's not any commercially available shims for the bed rail, so I made my own out of 1x3" Aluminum bar stock. The rear shim actually needs to be about 1/8" shorter than the front two shims to be flush with the plastic cap, but I think you might actually want to make it the same thickness as the front two, as the rack didn't sit quite level on the rear shim. (But it was only a tiny amount, over several feet, so I just cranked it down with the bolts.) The shims aren't perfect, but I overbored the holes to give myself some wiggle room. Put a layer of Flexseal between the shims and the bed, we'll see how that holds up, I might replace it with some better automotive gasket at some point. I've also got a 3D model built for the shims that could be sent out for CNCing, but would need a pretty big order to make it reasonably cost effective. Hopefully the aftermarket picks this up soon.

I drilled holes through the extrusions of the rack to bolt it down. You have to be pretty precise with drilling these holes, I used M8 fasteners so there's not a lot of room for error. You can see the profile of the extrusion in a test piece I drilled out. The circular extrusion area is where the end caps bolt to the extrusions and then you've got the T-Channel on inside. It wouldn't be a problem to drill through the bolt hole the extrusion, except at one end where it would interfere with the bolts.

The extrusion is pretty damn stiff in this area, so it shouldn't be a problem. The rack seems like its more stiff mounted this way, than the Kuat supplied methods of bolting to T-channel or clamping to bed rails.

Overall very happy with it, although it was alot of work to make sure it was done right the first time. Now I need to grab a Kuat Piston SR to mount on the side for a permanent bike carrier, since the Kuat Sherpa I've been using doesn't let you put the tailgate down. The Bak X4s has plenty of room to roll up like normal.

Genius modification! It doesn't impede the use of the tonneau cover and it looks like it's easy enough to remove if you needed to.

 

[Wolfman00]

that’s badass.

 

[yelnoc2]

To clarify, actually for me who might be the only one that was interested, this is the essentially the same as the Bak X2, comparing specs the difference is what you needed....ability to put on a rack, all other specs the same. For some reason the underside of the X2 is bare aluminum and the X4S is black but all materials are the same too.

 

[Davko]

Really a cool mod. It will look great when you mount the Kuat Piston SR to the side.

 

[mike burton]

I've wanted a bed rack for the Ranger, mostly so I could carry a bike on the side of the bed, ala the Kuat Piston SR/Ibex combo. However, I don't particularly care for a rolling cover cartridge that takes up bed space or the idea of using t-slots to affix a heavy rack to a bed cover that's clamped to the bed rail, the way most companies do it. I've thought the stake pocket attachment points on the new Ranger would be a better way to attach a rack anyways which would free up space to use whatever kind of tonneau cover you wanted (within reason).

I've had the Bak X4S on the truck since I bought it and when a Kuat Ibex rack showed up at my local REI's used gear section for half off (but in brand new condition), I decided to give it a shot, hacking it up to adapt it.

There's not any commercially available shims for the bed rail, so I made my own out of 1x3" Aluminum bar stock. The rear shim actually needs to be about 1/8" shorter than the front two shims to be flush with the plastic cap, but I think you might actually want to make it the same thickness as the front two, as the rack didn't sit quite level on the rear shim. (But it was only a tiny amount, over several feet, so I just cranked it down with the bolts.) The shims aren't perfect, but I overbored the holes to give myself some wiggle room. Put a layer of Flexseal between the shims and the bed, we'll see how that holds up, I might replace it with some better automotive gasket at some point. I've also got a 3D model built for the shims that could be sent out for CNCing, but would need a pretty big order to make it reasonably cost effective. Hopefully the aftermarket picks this up soon.

I drilled holes through the extrusions of the rack to bolt it down. You have to be pretty precise with drilling these holes, I used M8 fasteners so there's not a lot of room for error. You can see the profile of the extrusion in a test piece I drilled out. The circular extrusion area is where the end caps bolt to the extrusions and then you've got the T-Channel on inside. It wouldn't be a problem to drill through the bolt hole the extrusion, except at one end where it would interfere with the bolts.

The extrusion is pretty damn stiff in this area, so it shouldn't be a problem. The rack seems like its more stiff mounted this way, than the Kuat supplied methods of bolting to T-channel or clamping to bed rails.

Overall very happy with it, although it was alot of work to make sure it was done right the first time. Now I need to grab a Kuat Piston SR to mount on the side for a permanent bike carrier, since the Kuat Sherpa I've been using doesn't let you put the tailgate down. The Bak X4s has plenty of room to roll up like normal.

The Ibex recently got onto my radar after I saw that they have an adapter for T slot rails. I have the BAK X4TS. I have never seen an Ibex unit “in the flesh” but I like the concept. Lots to learn. Your mods are very good and the finished look is awesome.

 

[Clay6GRanger]

I've wanted a bed rack for the Ranger, mostly so I could carry a bike on the side of the bed, ala the Kuat Piston SR/Ibex combo. However, I don't particularly care for a rolling cover cartridge that takes up bed space or the idea of using t-slots to affix a heavy rack to a bed cover that's clamped to the bed rail, the way most companies do it. I've thought the stake pocket attachment points on the new Ranger would be a better way to attach a rack anyways which would free up space to use whatever kind of tonneau cover you wanted (within reason).

I've had the Bak X4S on the truck since I bought it and when a Kuat Ibex rack showed up at my local REI's used gear section for half off (but in brand new condition), I decided to give it a shot, hacking it up to adapt it.

There's not any commercially available shims for the bed rail, so I made my own out of 1x3" Aluminum bar stock. The rear shim actually needs to be about 1/8" shorter than the front two shims to be flush with the plastic cap, but I think you might actually want to make it the same thickness as the front two, as the rack didn't sit quite level on the rear shim. (But it was only a tiny amount, over several feet, so I just cranked it down with the bolts.) The shims aren't perfect, but I overbored the holes to give myself some wiggle room. Put a layer of Flexseal between the shims and the bed, we'll see how that holds up, I might replace it with some better automotive gasket at some point. I've also got a 3D model built for the shims that could be sent out for CNCing, but would need a pretty big order to make it reasonably cost effective. Hopefully the aftermarket picks this up soon.

I drilled holes through the extrusions of the rack to bolt it down. You have to be pretty precise with drilling these holes, I used M8 fasteners so there's not a lot of room for error. You can see the profile of the extrusion in a test piece I drilled out. The circular extrusion area is where the end caps bolt to the extrusions and then you've got the T-Channel on inside. It wouldn't be a problem to drill through the bolt hole the extrusion, except at one end where it would interfere with the bolts.

The extrusion is pretty damn stiff in this area, so it shouldn't be a problem. The rack seems like its more stiff mounted this way, than the Kuat supplied methods of bolting to T-channel or clamping to bed rails.

Overall very happy with it, although it was alot of work to make sure it was done right the first time. Now I need to grab a Kuat Piston SR to mount on the side for a permanent bike carrier, since the Kuat Sherpa I've been using doesn't let you put the tailgate down. The Bak X4s has plenty of room to roll up like normal.

Do you know which Kuat Ibex SKU you actually bought? You said it was used at REI, but looks like you cut a few inches off the horizontal rails to get it to fit, so I was curious if it was the A1 or A2 as those are a bit longer than the A3 made for the Ranger.

 

[sikedsyko]

Do you know which Kuat Ibex SKU you actually bought? You said it was used at REI, but looks like you cut a few inches off the horizontal rails to get it to fit, so I was curious if it was the A1 or A2 as those are a bit longer than the A3 made for the Ranger.

Yeah, check Kuats website they have a pdf with the dimensions of all the skus. I bought the A1, Tacoma shortbed, that is about 3” longer the A3 Ranger fitment. The A1 sticks off the end of the bed rails a little bit, not all the way past the outer edge of the tailgate. Someone could definitely run it with no problems. It’s pretty easy to shorten though, you just need a way to make a clean, square cut on aluminum side rails. I used a metal cutting blade on a miter saw and took 2-7/8” off each rail. Then you need to retap the M8-1.25 bolt holes in the extrusion.

I picked up the A1 from REI Re-Supply for $780, everything was new in box, but the box was almost destroyed, so I think they just damaged it out. Definitely worth the hassle of cutting it up for that price.

 

[Albatross Bill]

Thanks for the information on the aluminum shims, that is a great idea. I made some bed cap rails out of full 1 5/8” Unistrut with 1/2 size Unistrut for the cross-braces to mount a roof carrier on top of the bed on the 2022 Ranger I previously had. I was looking for the best way to mount this on my new 2024 Ranger and ran across your post here. Also, found out about the need to install the J Braces (Load bed reinforcement kit).

I ordered some aluminum shims from 1.25 inch x 3 inch x 1 inch to use to mount the Unistrut. When I layer the Unistrut on top of the bed cap, also found the gap is different at various points along the bed cap. My plan is use weatherstripping to fill the gap those areas are not structural.

Attached are some pictures of the 2022 Ranger with the Unistrut and carrier installed. The 2022 Ranger had a Retrax Cover which I don’t plan to use on the 2024 Ranger. Planning to install a TruXedo Sentry CT on the 2024. I kept knocking the drain plugs off the bottom of the Retrax cover when putting items in the bed and it took up more space in the bed than wanted it to.

Waiting on the cover and shims before I install in the UniStrut rails.

 

[sikedsyko]

Well to update this, the Kuat Piston SR showed up today with their mounts. I didn't really think about clearance between the rack and the tonneau, but the brackets interfered with the rail on the tonneau by a tiny amount. If I had realized this earlier, I might could have mounted the rack about 1/8" farther outboard to start and not had any issues. Still not a big deal, just needed to notch a tiny amount of metal from the bottom of the brackets.

 

[SoCalMike]

I've wanted a bed rack for the Ranger, mostly so I could carry a bike on the side of the bed, ala the Kuat Piston SR/Ibex combo. However, I don't particularly care for a rolling cover cartridge that takes up bed space or the idea of using t-slots to affix a heavy rack to a bed cover that's clamped to the bed rail, the way most companies do it. I've thought the stake pocket attachment points on the new Ranger would be a better way to attach a rack anyways which would free up space to use whatever kind of tonneau cover you wanted (within reason).

I've had the Bak X4S on the truck since I bought it and when a Kuat Ibex rack showed up at my local REI's used gear section for half off (but in brand new condition), I decided to give it a shot, hacking it up to adapt it.

There's not any commercially available shims for the bed rail, so I made my own out of 1x3" Aluminum bar stock. The rear shim actually needs to be about 1/8" shorter than the front two shims to be flush with the plastic cap, but I think you might actually want to make it the same thickness as the front two, as the rack didn't sit quite level on the rear shim. (But it was only a tiny amount, over several feet, so I just cranked it down with the bolts.) The shims aren't perfect, but I overbored the holes to give myself some wiggle room. Put a layer of Flexseal between the shims and the bed, we'll see how that holds up, I might replace it with some better automotive gasket at some point. I've also got a 3D model built for the shims that could be sent out for CNCing, but would need a pretty big order to make it reasonably cost effective. Hopefully the aftermarket picks this up soon.

I drilled holes through the extrusions of the rack to bolt it down. You have to be pretty precise with drilling these holes, I used M8 fasteners so there's not a lot of room for error. You can see the profile of the extrusion in a test piece I drilled out. The circular extrusion area is where the end caps bolt to the extrusions and then you've got the T-Channel on inside. It wouldn't be a problem to drill through the bolt hole the extrusion, except at one end where it would interfere with the bolts.

The extrusion is pretty damn stiff in this area, so it shouldn't be a problem. The rack seems like its more stiff mounted this way, than the Kuat supplied methods of bolting to T-channel or clamping to bed rails.

Overall very happy with it, although it was alot of work to make sure it was done right the first time. Now I need to grab a Kuat Piston SR to mount on the side for a permanent bike carrier, since the Kuat Sherpa I've been using doesn't let you put the tailgate down. The Bak X4s has plenty of room to roll up like normal.

Question for you, do you know the amount of space between the rack and the cab near the top? I installed a 3rd brake light that is 1 inch deeper than the stock light (1 inch towards the rear). I’m wondering if it would still fit. Thanks!

 

[sikedsyko]

Question for you, do you know the amount of space between the rack and the cab near the top? I installed a 3rd brake light that is 1 inch deeper than the stock light (1 inch towards the rear). I’m wondering if it would still fit. Thanks!

Plenty of space. The crossbars don’t mount all the way forward on the rack. You also have a bit of wiggle room as to how far forward you mount the rack on the bed.

 

[SoCalMike]

Plenty of space. The crossbars don’t mount all the way forward on the rack. You also have a bit of wiggle room as to how far forward you mount the rack on the bed.

Awesome, thanks so much!

 

[theHolographicP]

Am considering basically copying this mounting setup on my truck after learning about the need for spacers with the bed rail (edit: trim/cap) being non-structural.

I might try machining the spacers at a local makerspace. Are you hoping to sell some of the spacers or would you be willing to share the STEP (or drawings/measurements)?

Did you transfer hole locations to the rack with it assembled on the truck from the bottom? Seems like that would be a good way to do it but curious as to how you managed it.

 

[sikedsyko]

Am considering basically copying this mounting setup on my truck after learning about the need for spacers with the bed rail (edit: trim/cap) being non-structural.

I might try machining the spacers at a local makerspace. Are you hoping to sell some of the spacers or would you be willing to share the STEP (or drawings/measurements)?

Did you transfer hole locations to the rack with it assembled on the truck from the bottom? Seems like that would be a good way to do it but curious as to how you managed it.

Here's the 3D file I made for the bed shim, although I never actually tested this fitment. Drilling the holes in the shims, I put them in place and marked the holes from below. Drilled oversized holes through the shims to make fitment easier. Drilling the holes through the rack was alot of eyeballing and measuring with calipers, measuring twice and drilling once. You don't have a little of wiggle room on where that bolt goes through the profile of the aluminum extrusion.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6948727

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