I'm shopping F150 SuperCrew short-beds - coming from a Suburban.
Main rack use is windsurfing and surfski paddling.
I need to mount a large cargo box and carry windsurfers/surfski next to the box.
I'm heavily invested in Yakima add-ons.
If it were just that, I'd get a set of these and they'd do the job:
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But I also want a metal roll-top or sectional bed cover - i.e. something besides soft fabric.
Problem is that I can't find a cover that can coexist with that kind of rack. Trak-Rak has a soft cover, but that's all - and they don't do Yak crossbars.
The racks do not have to be movable fore-aft.
That's leading me to the idea of posts welded to plates that bolt or pop-rivet to bed from the outside - leaving the top edge of the bed totally free for whatever kind of bed cover.
Is this totally crazy? Anybody seen it done?