I want to mount / hang some items from the interior roof of my truck cap. I do a lot of fishing and need some extra storage space for my gear.

My cap is for a long bed and it is the extra tall kind. I was told it was made by the amish and it seems to be pretty heavy. The roof also seems to have an extra thickness to it.



I was thinking of drilling through the roof and mounting some 2x2's on the inside and then securing other items to that.

OR... I was thinking of using some Epoxy to glue the 2x2's to the inside of the cap.


Not sure which way is better.

How much weight would be too much weight for the roof to support?

Any ideas??

 

Why not just build a 2x4 frame to fit the inside of the cap? No drilling thru the roof. Then you can remove it when needed.
Ken

 

I thought of that, but not sure how to secure it.

 

It's difficult to give confident advice without knowing the construction of the cap. Since you said it was made by the Amish, we can't even guess. Is it wood? Fiberglass? Injection molded?

In general, I would avoid penetrating through the cap, because of the likelyhood that it will eventually leak. If the roof is thick enough, like 1" or more, I would screw into, but not through, with wood screws. That should work with either wood or fiberglass.

If it is wood, epoxy can work very well, but you will need to sand through any finish before you apply the glue. Consider just gluing square blocks about 3" square of 3/4" high quality plywood like Baltic Birch. Then screw your rack to those blocks.

Another way to skin this cat would be to drill through the sides of the cap, into runners along each side, and then build your rack off those runners. If you must penetrate the cap, you will be better off doing it from the side so water will run away. Use some silicone and stainless steel fasteners. I would reserve this idea for fiberglass caps only. Wood swells and shrinks too much, and the penetrations will leak no matter what you do.

 

Just frame it up from the inside ledge of the cap and over the inside top, front and back. Use deck screws so you can unscrew to remove.
Ken

 

The cap is fiberglass and the roof of it appears to be fairly thick, maybe an inch or so.

I think I am going to try the epoxy route. Its less bulky. My only worry is the epoxy coming loose and my gear falling all over the place...

 

I've never tried epoxy on FG, but I'll bet it will hold well. Just rough the surface up with some 60 grit paper and of course make sure you are through the paint if there is any.

 

Check out a fastener call a Jack Nut. They work similar to a pop rivot or one of those dry wall anchors that spreed apart when you tighten the screw. They come in many different thread sizes. Fortunitly my work has a gun type tool to make them WAY eaiser to intall but I dont know where they got it. I'v mounted 20 rods and reels to my cap for a Canada trip I normally only have room for 10 but I added an extra rack for the trip. I've also mounted lights and eye bolts to hang stuff from. The last place I got them was Sears hardware. Your cap should have a double wall somewhere you just need to drill on the inside and there should be enough gap to get the Jack Nut in and get it pulled tight. Once its in you have a nut up in your roof now that you can attach any thing to. I passed the Jack Nut thru a fender washer first to give it more support and so it wouldnt bottom out in the hole. There is a similar thing made of rubber but they rot out over time. If I could send a picture I would but I cant figure out how to do it this is my first time on this site.