Expedition Type Bed Rack/Rails

[theblindchicken]

I just don't think you'd need the flat steel on the bedside if you did 4 stake pockets. Especially if you ran bolts through the square tubing and stake pockets. The stake pockets are already drilled with biggo bolt holes for that reason.

I got one of those cheap Harbor Freight pipe bender tools in a horse trade I did with a buddy. Actually the phuker owed me some cash that I knew I was never going to get it so I offered to take $50 off the cash he owed me for it. At any rate, I got that in hopes it's tough enough to bend some tubing. It'll be tough doing it that way, but I think I can get it done then I just have to find someone to weld it all together for me since I don't like the way my welds look.

What guage and what size tubing would you use to build something like this?

The infamous harbor freight tube kinker! It'll get the job done with some simple modifications. The rollers do end up leaving small dimples in the tubes though.

It depends on how strong you want it. I was planning the flat bar for atop the rails to link all the cross tubes together as well as spreading the load along the entire length of the bed.

Haven't run the basic numbers on them, but I'd go for something along the lines of 1-1/2 x 0.065" or for something really strong: 1-3/4 x 0.120" (roll cage strength).