DIY: Unistrut Bed Rails - Cheaper option than OEM

I was looking for ideas on tie down anchors and I notice I never posted a pic of my set up. Had mine on for about a year now. Works great. The tool holder I brought over from my old Taco. Got directions off TacomaWorld to make that.

 

Jeff, what depth of unistrut did you use on this build?

 

On mine I used 13/16 nominal. I used unistrut P4100. Which is solid back.

 

FINALLY got this mod done !!
Still need D-rings and such




Next up bed light kit install

 

Oh man. I don’t remember. I think it was 1 5/8 by 13/14 or 14 gauge

 

Question for those using OEM cleats.....

1. How are you able to have OEM cleats fasten onto itself? I have the fender washer in place like above, but the "T-head" spins freely and will not grab unless I attempt to hold the "T-head" in place using a flathead screwdriver or pliers. In short, the more narrow OEM channel hold the "T-head" place allowing the cleats to fasten vs the wider channel on the strut.

2. Are you mounting the "feet" of the OEM cleats inside the channel? The "feet" are too small to mount outside the strut, unless utilizing a washer....so does that mean using 2 washers?

Pics added for reference...OEM tundra cleat mounted on unistrut.

 

I finally did this mod. The hardest part was finding the holes through the bed liner, but once I found the first one the rest were easy to locate. One 10' piece was perfect for both sides so it was cheap and works great.

 

Resurrecting an old thread...
I am using 16mm long M6x1.0 pan head screws. They only go in a short distance (few threads) and stop cold. I do not see that there is anything obstructing the holes other than some minor surface rust. Any recommendations? Did anyone have trouble with the bolts/screws. I can get a tap if needed, but not sure why it should not just screw in.

 

Bed liner?

 

I have a spray-in bedliner, but the holes look clear. It seems like the thread pitch does not match or the hole is very short. I think i may have to pickup a tap, but I don't want to mess up the threads...

 

Fairly common for the bed liner to gunk up those threads. Double check correct pitch on screw. If so, it’s a quick fix. I knocked it out w a HF tap kit in about 20 mins.

 

This is a great idea. The possibilities are endless!

Genuine Unistrut P2750-EG 4 Wheel Light Duty Trolley Assembly for use with P1000, P1001, P5000, P5001, P5500, P5501 and All 1-5/8" or Taller Strut Channel

$30 Genuine Unistrut P2750-EG 4 Wheel Light Duty Trolley Assembly for use with P1000, P1001, P5000, P5001, P5500, P5501 and All 1-5/8" or Taller Strut Channel

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KQOB7DY?_encoding=UTF8

 

Cleaned out the bolt holes with a tap without issue. i decided to go with individual tie down points rather than the unistrut since I did not want to figure out how to mount with my BAK Revolver cover. Used tie down anchors with 16mm M6-1 stainless bolts and 1/4"x1" stainless fender washers.

$18 OwnMy Pack of 10 Cargo Tie Down Anchors Hooks, Heavy Duty Black V Rings Bolts Forged Lashing Ring 1000 lbs Capacity Trailer Anchors Hooks

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WQSYWN2?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

Went to Ace, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. Nothing in stock. Finally went to an electrical supply store. Employee said due to covid the suppliers haven’t been making or stocking a lot of this stuff. Paid about $31 for each 10ft section. All in about $130. Still cheaper than OEM and feels a lot more solid.

Easy to install. Only had to drill a few holes in the strut. Spray on Bed liner was surprisingly thick.

 

Thanks for the idea. The holes were covered before the bedliner was sprayed but they are easily located by gently probing with an ice pick. Unistrut was the perfect solution for my ugly top box mount.

 

Strut channel nuts and d rings from Amazon. Stainless steel hardware from Ace.

 

wonder if you can do this to the clamps with OEM rails.

 

I had to make an account for this post because I am in love with this mod! I wanted to share my (ultimate in my opinion) version of this mod!
Pics will show everything!

I will be applying bedliner and making additional quickmount stuff such as lockable ammo box for tie down gear since the eye hooks are removable by a simple 1/4 left turn (but don’t move at all under any pressure!)

I used:
•1 10ft shallower unistrut (yielded a 2” leftover piece, I only did the sides)
•unistrut cone nuts
•vehicle grade m6 x 1.0 (thread pitch) x 15mm long bolts
•Additional pieces in the receipt below

Let me know what y’all think!

 

I think you just provided me with a solution for my 2023 tundra SR that did not come with bed rails. Thanks!

 

Can anyone who has done this mod help school me a bit..
I have a 17 sr5, trd off road with factory bed liner.
I see some holes in my bed that appear to be there to mount the bed rail kit.
My issue is according to many photos the hole closest to the tailgate is not there on my truck and then the next hole forward of it does not have any nut to screw anything to, I can take an ice pick and put it in that hole and touch nothing, not even the inner bed side.
So I'm looking for a photo of how many holes by double cab should have and their location, same thing across the front of the box above the stamped tundra logo .
I want to do this mod but want to make sure I can, I'm thinking that there might be bed liner over my holes needed but I'm clueless to where they should be. As you can see by photo added the hole highlighted by the flashlight is my first hole I see.. any ideas?
Thanks guys.

 

On my 2012 DC, the first hole is 8" from the tailgate (with it closed) and the rest of the holes are 13" apart. I suspect that the problem with yours is the spray in bed liner. Whoever installed it simply sprayed over the holes. The ice pick might help you find the holes by poking through the liner. Once you find the holes, this will help clean them up. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-HANSON-2-Pack-Metric-Tap-and-Drill-Set/3732947

 

Great idea! I like what I see. Hardware store here I come...

 

See the pick in my "build" when I added the tie down rings. It shows the location of the holes that will be under the bedliner. double-cab-build.92631/#post-2392469

 

I know this is an older thread, but has anyone tried to cut relief into strut channel (cutting a triangle to bend) and weld to get vertical angles? A week ago, I added L-Track to the bedrails of my truck and also made some crossbars out of superstrut where the L-Track fittings allow the crossbars to be positioned anywhere down the length of the L-Track. Now I'm considering making a removable headache rack out of superstrut. (The reason why I need it easily removable is because I often end-up in parking garages where I'm already very close to max height and the taller headache rack I make would make would accommodate my 16+ foot canoe over the cab.)

Sorry, I'm not a Tundra owner, but by far, the Tundra and Tacoma guys are doing more interesting DIY than some other owners and brands.

 

Great write up

 

does anyone have a solution to minimize the height of the screws/bolts? reason why i ask is i'd like to use the unistrut as an actual track system, but with so many bolts securing the rail, i'm not really able to slide things down the track at length...

 

Has anyone tried installing a bed rack that normally utilizes the factory toyota system? I'm curious if this could work.

 

I just installed a Rola rack on my truck, if you have unistrut instead of the Toyota rail I think the Nissan fittings would work as they are closer in size to the unistrut.

 

For those of you that added the unistrut to the cab-side bed rail, how did you space out the unistrut? It's too wide to fit in that recess that's made for the toyota rail. Just stack a few washers?

 

Wanted to give a shout to OP. Was looking into buying the OEM railing kit but couldn’t justify the $250+ to spend on it. So I went the DIY route.

Was able to install my waterport tank, some tie down anchors as well as a board rack to keep my board from rolling around. Stoked!