Short bed weight max ON TOP of rails?

[FREEDOM RAMer]

I’ll be upfront about the question- how much weight can I place on top of my bed rails? By the “top” I mean on top of the sides of the bed (as opposed to the Mopar bed rail accessory, which has a dedicated thread) please direct me if I’m in the wrong place.

I’m asking because I recently drove down to New Bountiful, UT and had my long awaited Renegade Tonneau Cover installed (which is super cool, see below).

The cover claims to have a 2,000lb load rating- which I don’t doubt- but I’d like to independently verify their claim against reality.

Just because the COVER can hold a 2,000lb static load does not necessarily mean the bed rails can support that weight (or truck payload can accommodate it, separate but obviously related issue).

I assume this has come in to play for contractors mounting ladder/lumber racks, people with slide in truck campers, or maybe members who have large rooftop tents/over landing rigs?

Someone out there either has this calculation or has real world experience they’d be happy to share- and I’m happy to learn!

While this is not a review of the cover- I’m happy to support Renegade. Solid product, good fit and finish, rock solid and very flexible design.

Renegade Bed Covers | The Next Generation of Tonneau Bed Covers

Renegade Bed Cover is the best heavy-duty tonneau cover for your truck with top in class for security and functionality.

renegadecovers.com

 

[Darksteel165]

If you put 2000 pounds on the cover it will likely be fine. But you can't put 2000 pounds on the cover while it's on your truck period.

Put it on the ground and drive over it with a car, there's your 2000 pounds.

Their numbers are probbly right, but it really doesn't matter you will break your truck before the cover.

 

[FREEDOM RAMer]

If you put 2000 pounds on the cover it will likely be fine. But you can't put 2000 pounds on the cover while it's on your truck period.

Put it on the ground and drive over it with a car, there's your 2000 pounds.

Their numbers are probbly right, but it really doesn't matter you will break your truck before the cover.

@Darksteel165 you seem pretty confident and a bit sarcastic in your answer- but did not answer the question?

Given the payload of my truck is 1,750lbs the vehicle can obviously handle close to (but not quite) the 2,000 lb advertised limit of the Renegade Cover.

My personal experience and basic math are inclined to disagree with your assertion that, “it really doesn't matter you will break your truck before the cover.”

So while appreciate knowing what you think the truck CAN’T do- my question remains, does anyone know what the bed rails CAN hold?

 

[SD Rebel]

Depends on how the weight is distributed. I'm sure the metal bed rail itself can support plenty of weight. However, the plastic bed rail caps aren't that well supported, they are quite hollow, to the point that a 40lbs mountain bike mounted on a bike rack easily caved in the plastic bed rail at base crossbar support, shown by an arrow in the picture below.

I had the same rack system on my F150 and didn't have these issues. But I'm sure if you can distribute the weight evenly along the plastic rail, it should be fine.

I wish I could give you hard numbers, as I have personally looked for a weight limit on those rails, I have yet to find anything definite.

 

[Trooper4]

I’ll be upfront about the question- how much weight can I place on top of my bed rails? By the “top” I mean on top of the sides of the bed (as opposed to the Mopar bed rail accessory, which has a dedicated thread) please direct me if I’m in the wrong place.

I’m asking because I recently drove down to New Bountiful, UT and had my long awaited Renegade Tonneau Cover installed (which is super cool, see below).

The cover claims to have a 2,000lb load rating- which I don’t doubt- but I’d like to independently verify their claim against reality.

Just because the COVER can hold a 2,000lb static load does not necessarily mean the bed rails can support that weight (or truck payload can accommodate it, separate but obviously related issue).

I assume this has come in to play for contractors mounting ladder/lumber racks, people with slide in truck campers, or maybe members who have large rooftop tents/over landing rigs?

Someone out there either has this calculation or has real world experience they’d be happy to share- and I’m happy to learn!

While this is not a review of the cover- I’m happy to support Renegade. Solid product, good fit and finish, rock solid and very flexible design.

Renegade Bed Covers | The Next Generation of Tonneau Bed Covers

Renegade Bed Cover is the best heavy-duty tonneau cover for your truck with top in class for security and functionality.

renegadecovers.com

Although I personally don't need a bed cover that can replace the bed floor, I suppose the need is there for some. As long as the load is distributed along the length of the bed rail, a couple hundred pounds might be no problem. The only real issue I see in moving the center of gravity higher. That will affect handling some, and possibly more than you think. If you are going to put much weight on top of the bed, think about adding the Hellweg sway/roll bar.

 

[Darksteel165]

The cover claims to have a 2,000lb load rating- which I don’t doubt- but I’d like to independently verify their claim against reality.

If you put 2000 pounds on the cover it will likely be fine. But you can't put 2000 pounds on the cover while it's on your truck period.

Put it on the ground and drive over it with a car, there's your 2000 pounds.

Their numbers are probbly right, but it really doesn't matter you will break your truck before the cover.

You also seem to mis-understand payload. Payload is for the bed, not the sides. Regusrdless of payload the sides will always break first even on a fully loaded Limited (which has very little payload in comparison)
The sides are not strong, in fact there are even warnings about using the tie downs on or inside the sides of the bed as the bend will warp in.
The sides are not designed to accept the payload even if you distribute the weight across both sides evenly. In addition if it's on a cover, the weight is going to cause the sides to bow in or snap all together as the weight is in the middle and causing the cover to pull the sides in because of gravity.

 

[Belvedere]

Actually payload is for the truck, that includes the weight of the driver, the bed cover and anything else it didn't roll out of the factory with.

I have a bedcover, cross bars and a RTT. camping we have close to 700lbs evenly spread across both rails.

 

[LaxDfns15]

The cover itself is also 120 pounds for the short bed. This counts against your payload rating as well as what you already have sitting on the bed rails.

 

[FREEDOM RAMer]

Actually payload is for the truck, that includes the weight of the driver, the bed cover and anything else it didn't roll out of the factory with.

I have a bedcover, cross bars and a RTT. camping we have close to 700lbs evenly spread across both rails.

 

[FREEDOM RAMer]

Appreciate all the responses! This is why I asked the question originally. Trucks like @SD Rebel are holding 700-ish lbs without issue and @Darksteel165 ‘s perfectly valid point that the side of the bed cannot accommodate the full bed load. Just like to have a rough idea what it can officially accommodate.

RAM had to have done some calculations for these forces in designing the bed. Those calcs would have had to include some side-to-side or off-center of gravity assumptions.
Acknowledge, Payload of the truck is ALL things the truck is holding, not just bed cargo.

I assume it has more to do with utilizing the post-hole verticals? Every truck I’ve had with a ladder rack had them connect through those corners.

My intention is to be able to transport my ATV on the cover. And yes, the center of gravity will be dramatically effected- perhaps to an extent that makes it unsafe. I figure I’d cross that analysis bridge after I determined if the bed rails could even hold such a static load.

 

[Belvedere]

Just to clarify, I only have 700lbs static. I think my bars are rated for 500lbs dynamic or 300lbs off road.

 

[SD Rebel]

Appreciate all the responses! This is why I asked the question originally. Trucks like @SD Rebel are holding 700-ish lbs without issue and @Darksteel165 ‘s perfectly valid point that the side of the bed cannot accommodate the full bed load. Just like to have a rough idea what it can officially accommodate.

RAM had to have done some calculations for these forces in designing the bed. Those calcs would have had to include some side-to-side or off-center of gravity assumptions.
Acknowledge, Payload of the truck is ALL things the truck is holding, not just bed cargo.

I assume it has more to do with utilizing the post-hole verticals? Every truck I’ve had with a ladder rack had them connect through those corners.

My intention is to be able to transport my ATV on the cover. And yes, the center of gravity will be dramatically effected- perhaps to an extent that makes it unsafe. I figure I’d cross that analysis bridge after I determined if the bed rails could even hold such a static load.

Actually mine is holding 40 lbs and still caving in the plastic bed rail caps

Though I'm sure the metal bed sides can hold plenty, just not sure how much.

 

[boogielander]

the plastic bed rail caps are replaceable items. Mine caved when i installed the bed rack.

to answer OP's question, here's a breakdown of the max dynamic load I have on the bed rails (the side):
-Bed Rack with 3 equally distributed posts: ~95lb (rated up to 1500lb)
-My old motorized roof tent: ~300lb
-My new Inspired Overland slim tent: 87lb
-5 Gallons of gas: ~41lb
-Recovery board: ~15lbs
-Various lights: ~5lb

Total: 456lb (w/ old tent), 243lb (w/ new tent)

Static camp site load with my fat ***: add about 250lb
Total: 706lb (w/ old tent), 493lb (w/ new tent)

With both tents I did not notice any shaking, structural stress, or anything that I need to look out for. Only thing that looks like it needs to replaced is the plastic rail caps.
And I go through whoops and dips pretty fast in the desert so more force being applied under those situations and everything's still good (I check everything after each trip).

 

[ayoslickxd]

lol i have the diamond back cover rated for a atv,also i have put atv and loaded up the truck many times far more weight then i would like and it handled fine… one thing i notice was the rails installs seems the silver railed are alot more solid… i know this cause i had got a oem cover from ram it came with black ones and ptook the silver ones and compared them…

so on that note evenly distributed weight will be fine … i have a camper (145lbs)rails(100ish) spare tire 305/70/18 on front side and a box of some random crap on the top of cover … and then in the bed i had fridge cook ware battery pack tools. and inside ram boxes tons of recovery gear bottle jack with 2 tow chains thats are solid … and truck handles fine ….

 

[kapinallinen2]

Looking at the bed, the weak point could be the floor of the bed, not so much the sides.
The thin sheet metal flexing and stress-cracking with time (someone on the forums had that happen a while back)



My RTT with full bedding plus the rack is around 300 pounds on a damp day. I also have a BUG mounted tool box that weighs around 100 pounds, this adds to the bed vertical wall loading in a way also.


IMO, I do not see a problem with an evenly distributed max available payload placed on the rails, as long the CG is not upset to a point of causing handling issues. YMMW.