Post Shared by TheNorseman

About a month or so ago I picked up the Melipron universal pickup bed rack, as it claims to have similar functionality to the comparable Yakima setup, and is under half the price, and doesn't have a bunch of logos emblazoned across it. It cost $560 on Amazon and delivered to North Pole, AK in a little under 2 weeks. I was busy getting married and dealing with all the responsibilities and duties that come with that, so it sat in the garage until this Sunday. I woke up early and got to work on building it. It was packed pretty well, and came with everything I needed to put it together. The instructions weren't written in the best English, but were completely understandable, and fairly easy to follow. The assembly wasn't particularly complex, but a few of the screws were too long, and interfered with the rails sliding into place, causing me to remove them entirely, as they just served to keep a bracket from falling until you got the load bearing screws installed. All in all, it took me about 3 hours from opening the box to having the rack fully assembled and installed. The clamping system initially seemed flimsy, but once I got the cross bars installed it became rock solid. There was one damaged piece, which I included a picture of, but it is only cosmetic, and I was able to put it in a place where it is virtually invisible. It may speak as to the QC at Melipron however, as others have mentioned similar issues in the Amazon reviews. (Though to Melipron's credit, all the people who contacted them about it received a replacement part free of charge). Later on Sunday I purchased a rooftop tent off of Facebook marketplace and installed it atop the rack. It would only attach with the rack at the most collapsed lengthwise position. (Did I mention the included T-Slot bars are adjustable? If you have a longer bed you can attach even more Rotopacks or multiple sets of recovery boards to maximize that overland bro experience!) After everything was seated and tightened it seems like it will withstand even the bumpiest of roads with no issues. I intend to make a 3.5 hour trip down south with my 80 lb kayak atop the 145 lb tent on the 4th, so I'll update you then. As for now, I must say that for the price, this seems like a fantastic rack, and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase it again.









Update: went camping over the weekend, 400 or so miles round trip. Had about 220 lbs of weight on the rack and experienced no issues. I found a little 4 wheeler trail and decided to test my luck, and drove a little ways up a ravine on it, getting thrown around in the truck all the way. The rack stayed rock solid, and everything on top stayed secure. I'm very impressed!