Ram Heavy Duty Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

How much weight can bed rails support?

strantor

Member
Joined
May 18, 2021
Messages
40
Reaction score
42
2021 ram 2500 6.4ft bed
If you had a heavy toolbox or a ladder rack or camper or in my case a really heavy homemade bed cover... how much weight is safe to load onto the rails?
 

Sir Snacksalot

Active Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2021
Messages
150
Reaction score
187
2021 ram 2500 6.4ft bed
If you had a heavy toolbox or a ladder rack or camper or in my case a really heavy homemade bed cover... how much weight is safe to load onto the rails?

Well it’s probably evenly distributed, so it should be fine unless it’s made out of lead.. how heavy is it??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

strantor

Member
Joined
May 18, 2021
Messages
40
Reaction score
42
Well it’s probably evenly distributed, so it should be fine unless it’s made out of lead.. how heavy is it??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The bed cover itself is probably only going to be 250lbs or less (not done making it) but the reason it's so heavy is because it's a steel frame that I could load stuff onto. Like maybe a lawn mower or a ton of bricks. I suspect the lawnmower might be ok, I've seen people carry dirt bikes and snowmobiles like this. But the pallet of bricks might be pushing it. Just curious if there's a rating for this type of loading.
 

H3LZSN1P3R

You're doing it wrong
Joined
May 29, 2020
Messages
9,017
Reaction score
8,127
I have stood on my bed rails without issue im 250lbs now if you spread that weight out across all the bed rails that is minimal weight for the bed rails
 

BikePilot

Active Member
Joined
May 21, 2021
Messages
176
Reaction score
136
I see people with a deck on top of the bed rails with two sleds on top all the time. Guessing that’s around 1500lbs.
 

strantor

Member
Joined
May 18, 2021
Messages
40
Reaction score
42
I see people with a deck on top of the bed rails with two sleds on top all the time. Guessing that’s around 1500lbs.
Thanks. I've read posts on sledding forums in the course of my digging and found that most of those guys are supporting the decks with something inside the bed. Some are not, some had issues with bed cracking, some didn't. I'm leaning toward not loading anything heavy until I come up with some kind of internal support. Might not need it, but rather be safe than sorry especially considering it's a brand new truck.
 

Don-T

Active Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2019
Messages
219
Reaction score
204
I read someplace that Ram says if you put a cross bed tool box on a truck you need to add bed supports. If they are needed for a tool box I imagine you would need them for your case as well. You may be able to find something aftermarket to support the bed rails.
 

Rockcrawlindude

a rock crawlin’ dude
Joined
Jan 1, 2021
Messages
6,273
Reaction score
16,209
Location
Georgia USA
Someone posted this earlier in another thread.
703A7343-C698-4054-80D2-60AFA0A6936A.jpeg

a topper sits on the bed rails and they weigh about 200lb naked. You can put roof racks on them and some people do roof top tents on top of that. Without people in the tent that’s easily 500lb evenly distributed on the rails. I think they can handle quite a bit.
 

H3LZSN1P3R

You're doing it wrong
Joined
May 29, 2020
Messages
9,017
Reaction score
8,127
I read someplace that Ram says if you put a cross bed tool box on a truck you need to add bed supports. If they are needed for a tool box I imagine you would need them for your case as well. You may be able to find something aftermarket to support the bed rails.
I think they are full of crap i have had hundreds of lbs in my cross bed tool box problem free
 

strantor

Member
Joined
May 18, 2021
Messages
40
Reaction score
42
Diamondback touts a 1600 pound hauling capacity on top of their tonneau covers, so it appears they have a bit more confidence in the bed sides.
You're probably right, but I'm not sure we (I) should read that much into their rating. After all, manufacturers of supercharger/turbo kits advertise their horsepower gains without any mention of the upgrades you'll most likely need to make to the drivetrain in order to handle the extra power. Maybe if I bought a diamondback cover and destroyed my bed hauling 1600lbs on top of it I would have the beginnings of a legitimate gripe, but when I destroy it with my own bed cover, "but diamondback said..." is going to sound pretty pathetic.
 

Don-T

Active Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2019
Messages
219
Reaction score
204
I think they are full of crap i have had hundreds of lbs in my cross bed tool box problem free
That would not be a big surprise. May just be something the lawyers put in the book in case someone puts a ton in their box.
 

McHenry2500

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2020
Messages
455
Reaction score
464
I had a full headache rack, bed rails, with built in lights and two side mounted toolboxes on my 2001 ram and never had any flex/warp in the bed. I would guess based on your bed cover design in the other thread you'll be ok.

Now, the guy who hauls his 1900lb Kawasaki Teryx on the bed cover may have issues eventually......
 

strantor

Member
Joined
May 18, 2021
Messages
40
Reaction score
42
I had a full headache rack, bed rails, with built in lights and two side mounted toolboxes on my 2001 ram and never had any flex/warp in the bed. I would guess based on your bed cover design in the other thread you'll be ok.

Now, the guy who hauls his 1900lb Kawasaki Teryx on the bed cover may have issues eventually......
Yeah that's pretty much my feel for it too. The bed cover itself shouldn't be a problem. But before loading a bunch of weight on it I'll want to investigate my options for supporting it from the frame under the bed.
 

H3LZSN1P3R

You're doing it wrong
Joined
May 29, 2020
Messages
9,017
Reaction score
8,127
I had a full headache rack, bed rails, with built in lights and two side mounted toolboxes on my 2001 ram and never had any flex/warp in the bed. I would guess based on your bed cover design in the other thread you'll be ok.

Now, the guy who hauls his 1900lb Kawasaki Teryx on the bed cover may have issues eventually......
That looks like a regular “sled deck” where it has supporting legs in the box... also thats only about 1300lbs even the new 4 seaters only weigh in at 1600lbs
 

McHenry2500

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2020
Messages
455
Reaction score
464
That looks like a regular “sled deck” where it has supporting legs in the box... also thats only about 1300lbs even the new 4 seaters only weigh in at 1600lbs
I didn't know they had supporting legs but that makes sense.

Also, the kawasaki site lists that unit at 1896lbs. The crew cab RZR's and Cand Hams are much lighter but for some reason the Kawi is fat.
 

H3LZSN1P3R

You're doing it wrong
Joined
May 29, 2020
Messages
9,017
Reaction score
8,127
I didn't know they had supporting legs but that makes sense.

Also, the kawasaki site lists that unit at 1896lbs. The crew cab RZR's and Cand Hams are much lighter but for some reason the Kawi is fat.
That is an older unit but my uncle just got a 2021 its 1300lbs his is not the crew we weighed it at the scale just to see
 

ChuckOatman

New Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2021
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
I have a 2022 Ram 2500 Gas, I added 4 brackets on my bed rails that tuck around the tonneau cover and ran last summer with two e-bikes on top, plus bike rack, probably 200 pounds, 3,000 mile trip and had no problem. I plan to add a Thule Topper tent in place of the bike rack for this summer and I’m thinking I will beef up some support under the rails. I do have a rigid cross bar bolted from side to side so that spreads the load and prevents deflection, but I’m getting worried the tent platform might shear off the bolts. Should be easy to add some posts or angles to take part of the load off the bolts.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top