Stake Pocket Truck Rack For Carrying Kayaks

Hi Shorty,

After we bought those two kayaks it seemed like a good idea to install a removable truck rack so we could carry the kayaks on the rack and store our bicycles in the bed of the truck. I didn't want to drill holes in the truck rails so I cut redwood wedges to fit in the stake pockets, then ran a 8" galvanized bolt (with washer) up through the hole in the bottom of the stake pocket and wedge. A 3 1/2" wide board goes over the bolts and the base of the rack is bolted down using the stake pocket bolts. I'll use additional bolts coming up through the board for the two other holes in the rack base. Then the boards will be painted black to match the bed liner.

The rack can be bought on Amazon for $55 plus about $30 freight. Throw in a few nuts and bolts and boards and you have a very strong rack for under $100 that can easily be removed from the truck. I'm going to attach 2x6 boards to the cross braces with cutouts for the kayaks to rest in securely.

With the truck rack mounting boards painted black you hardly notice them. I will probably just leave them attached to the truck for quick and easy mounting of the racks. The bolt at the rear with double nuts is the one that comes up through the stake pocket. The shorter bolt is inset flush with the bottom of the board.

Burt Revell