Looks great @DonnieUtah, thanks for the reply. I installed the kb voodoo rails and took off the tailgate cap to allow it to close with my current topper. I just ordered a new tailgate cap from mobtown offroad which looks like it is very low profile as I have only a few millimeters to spare on the tailgate. Overall seems much better than the plastic.
I think I have one of their original ones. Its definitely lasted the abuse I’ve put it through.
I haven’t done much else to get the truck ready. When I get my install date, going to do an oil change, diff fluid change, grease my driveline, change pulleys and serpentine belt. And if i have time, i will replace my water pump and put in my aluminum radiator.
I ordered some Z brackets for my solar panel, and my DIY beef rack parts should be shipping soon. Ill get an update in when those come in.
Got some parts in today from 8020. 3x cross bars, brackets, and the hardware to attach.
Also coming later today are some Z brackets for my solar panel and some stainless cable clamps for the solar wiring on the extrusion. I need to order some more tnuts from Gzila for those. My 28 are already claimed.
Can you post any pics of what you did to your tailgate cap? I also have relentless caps and want to make sure I’m gtg for my install.
@Rising what brackets did you use for your DIY roof rack?
I bought 4014 from 8020, but yours seem to be 4 bolts instead of the 6 like I have.
Anyways, I will be meeting up with @crazyfingers soon to do some measurements. I have a cheapo drill press at my house, along with a caliper to measure how much the 1/4-20 tnut sticks out from the extrusion. I will then counter sink that into the brackets that I have. But instead of using 4x 10-32 bolts like I originally planned, I will use 2x 1/4-20 like you had pictured above. Greg at GZila Designs was gracious enough to exchange out 12x 10a32 tnuts that I had ordered for 1/4-20, since they are the same price.
Install date set for August 13th!
Crack down on maintenance starts now. Already completed:
F&R differential fluid change
Transfer case fluid change
Installed 3* retard cam gears for supposed 1-2mpg increase (still testing, because truck isnt my daily driver)
Still deciding if I should install a new water pump/thermostat. I have a new dual core aluminum radiator, silicone hoses, new pulleys, and a new serpentine belt to go on.
Ill be meeting up with @crazyfingers in the next couple weeks to see where I need to countersink on the diy roof rack brackets. And then after i modify those, i will need to borrow him again for a test fit.
Other than that, possibly pick up a new high lift jack bed rail mount, and start pulling things iff of my bed rails. Also may pick up a CTEK D250SE DC-DC charger and wire that inline with my solar to keep my secondary battery fully charged. Need to throw my fridge back into the truck to make sure it works haha!
Hold on…why do you need to countersink the DIY beef bars, did you go with the bigger t-nuts? I figured you could just use normal gzila t-nuts?
Gzila offers 2 versions of Tnuts (same as GFC) - 10-32 and 1/4-20. The 1/4-20 sticks out from the face of the extrusion, so if you want to attach something heavier like the rear awning pole block, it needs to have a counter sink or a washer to cover what the tnut sticks out.
I am just planning on counter sinking the red line amount. Gzila told me it was 0.1"
Ooooo I should’ve thought of this before I bought like 36 10-32’s! I guess I’ll find out if they’re strong enough to hold the DIY beef bars
Oh the price of DIY…guess that’s why the beef bars are $200 each since they thought of all this. LOL
In my opinion (designer not engineer!) I think the extrusion is so thin where the tnuts attach that you’d be close to breaking that before the fastener would break. I’d think if you have 4 per foot you’d be set, but again based on zero technical data
If you ordered from gzila, ask him about an exchange. I too bought 28x 10-32s but just swapped out 12x, since they were the same price.
The reasoning behind the change is the 8020 bracket doesn’t exactly line up with GFC’s extrusion. Im not en engineer either, but if you go to the quote from @Rising a few posts up, i don’t think all 4 will line up with the GFC extrusion. Which is why i am switching to two per crossbar per side
I am not putting much weight up there… just a 100w solar panel, traction boards, and possibly a case with my recovery gear - not more than 60 lbs
Yeah my plan is a canoe, so I may have to re-think my approach on the bracket. I ordered all my 8020 and brackets already, but I suppose I could contact Gzila and have them swap out 24 for 1/4-20’s.
The plan is to have three bars and was hoping to attach 4 bolts per bracket, but if they don’t line up. I’ll see about getting a custom bracket built from a buddy. Either way, I should test the rack with a friends canoe and not my Kevlar boat
Do you have someone near you that has a GFC? The earliest I could meet up with Chuck would be July 3rd, or I could make a trip out to his work on the 23rd or the 7th of July for a test fit to see what needs to be done. He is only an hour away from me, so Im not really going out of my way, since I need to get it done also.
Hopefully I can get this done sooner rather than later.
I wonder what the load rating is for the 1/4-20 bolts. Since I nor @jedgar are engineers I wonder if GFC could comment on the rating?
Any reason you’re aiming to countersink instead of drilling the holes bigger? I’m also doing the 8020 bars and was thinking I’d drill out the holes oversized to accommodate the 1/4-20 tnut protrusion, put a washer on the outside to secure. I’m hoping that by oversizing I can make enough slop to get 4 screws per bracket. (Ordered an extra 12hole bracket to experiment/ruin).
These pictures (not mine) show a small lip in between the face of the bracket and the face of the tnut. In my “non-engineer” thought process, Id like to have the bracket sitting on the lip of the 1/4-20 tnut, instead of an even smaller lip sitting on nothing. Does that make sense to anyone?
Also, and I think its better explained in the quote from above, i dont think the 4 holes in the bracket exactly line up with the GFC extrusion, since its not a standard 8020 extrusion… its gfc’s proprietary version.
circling around, I tried the KDVooDoo tailgate caps with Relentless bed rails for a V2 camper (gen 2 tacoma). The tailgate cap’s height didn’t let the back door close all the way, so I sent it back.
@DonnieUtah what kind of tailgate cap are you running? I prefered the VooDoo over Mobtown because it wraps over the back corner, but that was an issue, so eager to see if the Mobtown works. I may just lay up some fiberglass and make my own, currently have no cap on mine.
Havent bothered putting a tailgate cap on yet. I’m going to buy the Relentless one that replaces the interior tailgate panel though