Headache Rack

[ChrHerrman]

I have been thiinking about buying a headache rack for my 08 chevy silverado when deliveribng firewood and hauling logs. I think they look pretty cool and would also lower the risk of my back window from breaking. I was looking at Back Rack's Safety Rack online and trying to find the cheapest price. So far Amazon.

Does anybody have these, and if so where did you buy one and how much?
Other brands suggested?

Also, can you still put a tonneu cover on your truck with one of these? I am a lttle worried the cover will not fit. Thanks

 

[giXXer]

I purchased mine at a local company that carries truck accessories and snow plows. A friend told me the price went up a little this year and they are getting closer to the $300 mark when the rack and brackets are purchased. I didn't go with the safety rack because I like as much visibility as possible for snow removal. This rack still offers a lot of protection, visibility, and is a great place to mount lights and strobes without them being in harms way. Since I haven't had a problem blowing out back windows with wood (I have broken a rear power sliding window on my old truck, but that's a story for another thread!) the main reason I purchased one was for mounting lights in a location where I wasn't constantly breaking them.

If you are good at fabrication and working with metal you could always build one. A lot of guys on this site have built very nice, practical, well built racks that you could "borrow" ideas from. I looked into doing that, but after buying the steel, not having the "perfect" tools to complete the task, getting it powder coated, and drilling holes in my new truck, the time it would take, etc. I was better off buying one. I paid about $250 with the brackets and did not have to drill a single hole in the truck. When I remove it you can't even tell it was on there. I guess it depends on your skill level and how nice your truck is.

They do also make provisions for tonneau covers and tool boxes. They simply use different brackets. My advice would be to find a back rack dealer that has sold several and get the details from them, but I do know it can be done.

 

[giXXer]

Here is the one from my last truck. If you find one used make sure it is not for a Super Duty. The rack itself is a little larger to fit the size of the larger Super Duty's cab. This rack was 10 years old and went through the Michigan winters and held up very well. It was a little faded from sitting outside, but didn't have any rust on it.

 

[Richard_]

I picked up a Pro-Tech aluminum rack for my Toyota off CL , it was only $150.00 , it was for an older Ford Ranger , so it's a little wider , but looks good , what I am saying is look around , some guys pull them off there trucks when they trade them in , so you can find them fairly cheap

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/search/pts?query=headache+rack&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=

 

[DieselTech]

Hard tonneu cover or soft? I'll admit, I can't understand what purpose a headache rack would serve with a hard tonneu cover.

If you're handy with a welder, it wouldn't be hard to make your own.

 

[trailmaker]

I got this rack from "rack-it inc." I like the tight mesh because I can throw splits in from quite a ways and not worry about it. Whole truck is covered in line-x also so no worries about scratches and dings. The rear crossbar is handy also for long items.

 

[laser]

I got this rack from "rack-it inc." I like the tight mesh because I can throw splits in from quite a ways and not worry about it. Whole truck is covered in line-x also so no worries about scratches and dings. The rear crossbar is handy also for long items.

How much did the Line-X cost? I've got a LR Discovery that I've been thinking about doing that to...

 

[RCR 3 EVER]

I need a rack that will fit inside the cap of my 1999 Ram 1500 for when I load the back with fire wood coming home from our cabin. I also need the cap to cover the rest of the luggage from the weekend trips to cabin.
Here we were too tired after trudging thru several feet of snow to drag the Christmas trees any further so we used the truck to get the trees to a trailer another 100 yds down the drive.

 

[giXXer]

Hard tonneu cover or soft? I'll admit, I can't understand what purpose a headache rack would serve with a hard tonneu cover.

If you're handy with a welder, it wouldn't be hard to make your own.

I have only seen them used with the soft covers.

 

[ChrHerrman]

I have only seen them used with the soft covers.

I thought about getting a soft cover as well as a headache rack but I am thinking if that even makes sense? The idea of a headache rack is to throw pieces up front with no worry of hurting anything, but if I had a tonneu cover up there I could not do that.

Anyboday that has this setup, feel free to comment.

 

[trailmaker]

How much did the Line-X cost? I've got a LR Discovery that I've been thinking about doing that to...

It was around 2600 for the whole thing. I think it makes sense for a working truck that will never be sold.

 

[nvrs]

Pro-tech makes a good one out of aluminum. looks nice and protects the window well....

http://www.protech.net/

 

[RCR 3 EVER]

Pro-tech makes a good one out of aluminum. looks nice and protects the window well....

http://www.protech.net/

THanks I will have to look into that version more, except no dealers close by.

 

[nvrs]

THanks I will have to look into that version more, except no dealers close by.

Its top quality, Really heavy duty. I had one on my 97 f350.