D.I.Y.: Building a Custom Exo-Cover Cargo Rack for an F-150
Forum member shows how easy it is to make your F-150 even more capable with some piping, a welder, a pipe-bender and some elbow grease.
If you spend much time off-roading, you have likely seen an F-150 or some other large truck with an exo-cover cargo rack mounted above the bed and perhaps the cab. This tubular racks are the best way to add gobs of cargo space, but buying them can prove to be expensive. Fortunately, one of the members put together a build thread showing how he built a rack for his own half-ton Ford pickup.
The Introduction
This exo-cover rack project thread was shared to the forum by phattacorider, who explained his motivation along with detailing what he purchased for the build.
I’ve always been against a bed cover for my personal purpose, along with camper shells. However, I couldn’t resist trying my first exo cage thing for the bed. I guess after drooling over Impact9’s and OGTerror’s rigs, I felt something needed to be added to the bed. I like having the entire bed for cargo, but I need some place semi-permanent to put all my recovery stuff along with spare tire instead of in the cab and under the bed. So after finally buying myself a welder, a cheap Harbor Freight 12T hydraulic pipe bender, some steel, and a few other tools, I got to work. Keep in mind, it’s my first project like this over an existing platform, a few things haven’t been thought through ahead of time.
He didn’t mention this, but in addition to the piping, the pipe-bender and the welder, you will need to know how to weld and how to use a pipe-bender if you plan to tackle this project yourself. However, if you happen to have a welder and access to a bender, you can build this rack on a relatively small budget.
Assembling the Rack
The first step was to assemble the actual rack assembly, with the OP bending the tubing and welding it together. Along the way, he shared images of the rack while it was being assembled and while it was being test-fit to his F-150.
Adding a Floor to the Rack
After the basic skeleton of the exo-cover rack was assembled, the OP wanted to add a “floor” of sorts so that he could carry smaller items over the bed of his F-150. At first, he uses a fine mesh, but it proved to be a headache to weld to the rack and once assembled, it was too weak to hold basic off-road essentials.
The mesh is going to go. The top cargo area is too large in terms of area, mesh was an impulsive and inexpensive. I guess I was preparing in the event I was going to put something ridiculously small up there. Then I realized that if I put something THAT small up there, it belongs in a box, not just floating around. The mesh is already starting to sag so I had to use some sort of bracing. Now, I’m just regretting the whole mesh idea.
After that, the OP removed the mesh and added more tubing running side to side, allowing his F-150 to haul larger, heavier items in the custom over-bed rack.
The Final Touches
Once the OP had found a floor construction that suited his needs, he added sides to the rack, as well as a small portion that extends out over the cab a bit. That front part also got hooked up with a large LED light bar, adding some illumination with the extra cargo capacity.
We have included a few images of the custom F-150 exo-cover cargo rack here, but the OP has many more pictures in his thread. Click here for a closer look at the project post.
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