chiboulevards
New member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
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[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Hey all,[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I'm new to the truck world. I purchased a 2005 Dodge Dakota last week to use for the RTR and to have for a future cross-country move.[/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif] I also picked up an A.R.E. MX bed cap to use as a camper setup for the road trip and RTR. [/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I bought the cap used and the previous owner had four aluminum clamps for it. They didn't seem sure how to clamp it down as the truck they previously had already had the cap on when they bought it. I placed two clamps towards the front and two towards the rear, but on the drive home, the clamps became quite loose — enough so that I stopped at a store to pick up a wrench to tighten them back down for the rest of the drive home.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Since I'm going to be driving across the country, I'd feel better about bolting it down. It appears that there are already four pre-drilled holes in the fiberglass for bolts. I already have a few screw holes in the truck bed rails from another cap and was thinking I'd just try not to drill anymore holes in the truck body and just drill new holes in the bed cap, but now I'm not so sure about drilling through fiberglass. The problem is that I'm going to have to drill holes in the fiberglass at least for the front of the shell (towards the truck cab) as they don't properly line up with a place where I could put a bolt under the frame rail.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Any tips on best practices are appreciated. I've looked around Youtube and couldn't find too much. I'm basically ready to hit the road as soon as I get this thing secured and all of my stuff loaded up.[/font] Thanks for your help.[/font][/color]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif] Adrian[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I'm new to the truck world. I purchased a 2005 Dodge Dakota last week to use for the RTR and to have for a future cross-country move.[/font][font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif] I also picked up an A.R.E. MX bed cap to use as a camper setup for the road trip and RTR. [/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I bought the cap used and the previous owner had four aluminum clamps for it. They didn't seem sure how to clamp it down as the truck they previously had already had the cap on when they bought it. I placed two clamps towards the front and two towards the rear, but on the drive home, the clamps became quite loose — enough so that I stopped at a store to pick up a wrench to tighten them back down for the rest of the drive home.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Since I'm going to be driving across the country, I'd feel better about bolting it down. It appears that there are already four pre-drilled holes in the fiberglass for bolts. I already have a few screw holes in the truck bed rails from another cap and was thinking I'd just try not to drill anymore holes in the truck body and just drill new holes in the bed cap, but now I'm not so sure about drilling through fiberglass. The problem is that I'm going to have to drill holes in the fiberglass at least for the front of the shell (towards the truck cab) as they don't properly line up with a place where I could put a bolt under the frame rail.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Any tips on best practices are appreciated. I've looked around Youtube and couldn't find too much. I'm basically ready to hit the road as soon as I get this thing secured and all of my stuff loaded up.[/font] Thanks for your help.[/font][/color]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif] Adrian[/font]