hey guys so i am building myself a headache rack right now to protect my back window while i haul wood and also to mount some lights on to for off roading. i am wondering since there is a pretty decent gap in the bed if it will pay off to run stringers down to the truck frame as well as along the bed. the entire frame of the rack is going to be 1 by 2 inch 1/8th wall rectangular tubing the and the rails on the bed will be 4 inch angle iron 3/16th of an inch thick so i am pretty sure it will be stout.

i am wondering if it is worth the time to mount it to the frame so i might have some roll over protection or if it isnt going to do anything and isnt worth my time

 

The bed needs to be able to move around in relation to the frame. If you weld
them together it will break the sheet metal around your welds or bolts
to the bed

 

that makes sense, i forgot the frame is pretty flexible on these trucks

 

Also it used to be very common (and still quite effective) to mount roll bars to the body. When doing that it's best to mount into a corner, where you can attach to both a horizontal and a vertical surface (like the floor and side of the bed), or at least to a curved surface (like the rear fender). Either of these is stronger than just going to a flat piece of sheet metal.

Also use a big "foot" on the bottom of the bar to spread out the load. And use fender washers or a backing plate to spread out the load on the back side too (to prevent the mount from ripping up and out in a rollover). But don't make the backing plate on the underside the same size as the one on top. There's a high stress point where the sheet metal will try to bend around the backing plate. You want to move the two stress points (for the upper and lower plate) away from each other to reduce the metal fatigue.

 

Your angle iron seems like overkill.
The whole bed will fold long before that angle even gets a dent.

I would suggest putting big radii on the plates or it will open up the sheet metal like a curchkey in the event you really need the bar.

 

i realize the angle iron is a tad thick, 4 inches is how wide the bed rail is. 3/16 thick is simply because my grandpa works for a manufacturing plant and all they carry is 3/16 thick, so its basically what i can get for really cheap, its also the same reason my tubing is 1/8 inch thick

 

Cheap is good!

My truck has 1/8x1 1/2 angle and forklifts don't dent it.

I made my rack 29 years ago and just recently had to repair it due to condensation sitting inside.

Post pics when you're done!

 

Will do, I am going to experiment with barbed fence wire. Going to put my rack next to my parts car window and hunk a log at the finished rack. If the barbed wire holds were in good shape if not will use 1 inch wide flat steel at an angle, kinda hoping the barbed wire works as it looks pretty cool to and will deter people trying to open my rear sliding window lol