So I've been wanting a ladder rack or contractor rack for the bed of the Colorado to tote kayaks on above the roof line leaving room in the bed for all the camping gear and allowing me to have a place to sleep in the bed. I bought $65 worth of steel and made my rack based on the Yakima Outdoorsman 300 with my own mods. The rack is much stronger than the Yakima and installs in seconds. I'm probably gonna leave it on for the majority of the time and if i need to put something large in the bed i'll probably just take the rear one off and leave the front one on.
Here's the pics.
This is how the bolts are bolted through the bed rail. I have a 2" 3/8s bolt welded at the head through a 1"square tube at 6" long and it goes under the bed rail to distribute the force along the length of the bed rail for windload when boats are on top and I'm drviving down the road.
Here's the pics.





This is how the bolts are bolted through the bed rail. I have a 2" 3/8s bolt welded at the head through a 1"square tube at 6" long and it goes under the bed rail to distribute the force along the length of the bed rail for windload when boats are on top and I'm drviving down the road.





