Originally Posted by DeltaNu1142

Since I bought my truck, I've been generally dissatisfied with the BoxLink cleat system. To me, the more modular system in Toyota trucks (for example) makes a lot more sense. I've never seen a need for a lock cylinder on the cleat. For the better part of the last year, I've acquired parts and hardware in pursuit of a plan to mount load bars across the top of the BoxLink cleats and still keep whatever functionality the cleats provide as anchor points. I've just gotten the most critical part done.

This is a custom-fabricated bracket that I had made. I made the CAD file and shared it with a guy who was able to cut four brackets from around 1/8" aluminum:



The load bars are black Thule crossbars that I bought as replacement parts for their XSporter rack. They're 72", so I need to have them cut down to the right length for the bed, and I just realized I don't have the fasteners to bolt the brackets to the cleats... but that's all that's left to do.

This system will allow load bars to be mounted below the bed rail height for bike racks, etc. It could be really useful for those with roll-up tonneau covers... although, I am currently using a SofTopper. The bars should be pretty easy to remove and store. I'm happy that after many months, this is finally coming together.

I don't have plans to sell these, and I don't know whether the guy that fabricated them is interested in making more. I'll post more photos as this comes together.