By Mark Clement
I like simple and smart. When I find a product with those characteristics, I usually like it, too. That’s the case with TracRac’s T-Rac Pro. Designed for hauling lumber, ladders, plywood and other jobsite materials, the T-Rac Pro (an upgrade from the existing T-Rac) is a pick-up truck rack that delivers.
Installation. The first thing to like about the T-Rac Pro is that installation is a snap on either full-size or compact pick-ups. Smartly designed hardware enables you to install the T-Rac Pro with just an Allen wrench, adjustable wrench (or ratchet) and tape measure in about 40 minutes. First, you locate the T-Rac frames where they go on the bed rail. Since they sit nicely right on top (there’s no drilling out the bed rail for fasteners), it’s easy. Then, the T-Rac Pro is clinched to the bed rail by turning a few bolts that snug a bracket underneath. For about five minutes you’ll wish your fingers could bend the other way, but tightening the rack frame in four locations is over before you know it.
The brackets and top rails go on next. Installation is easy: The design is sweet and the machining plush. Sock the nuts down, and you’re off to the races. Because there are a number of small nuts and washers, laying them out on some cardboard makes it easy to find them.
T-Rac Pro also makes room for your truck tool box. The front frame is engineered with a smaller diagonal bracket that enables you to mount your truck box right to it and never miss a beat. The low profile T-Rac Pro frame also means that the box isn’t raised signficantly off the bed rails, so you can still reach the key hole, handles, and the contents inside.
On Board. TracRac makes the T-Rac Pro from powder coated aluminum. That means high strength, low weight—and no rust. Even after years of road rash, rain storms, and rough loads it holds up and looks good. Your truck will probably show wear before the T-Rac Pro does.
But no-rust and sweet looks only go so far. I want a rack that I can bury under extension ladders, stacks of plywood, piles of 2-by and long runs of trim stock. T-Rac’s great strength-to-weight ratio makes that possible.
The unit itself weighs only 35 pounds, but can carry up to 750 pounds, according to Trac Rac. Nice.
Details. TracRac includes tie-down brackets that slide in a rail dadoed into the top rail of the T-Rac Pro. They’re great for stabilizing both light and heavy loads, and since they slide, they can accommodate different loads. Whether you’re hauling a long box of J-channel, a step ladder, or a stack of birch ply, you can be sure that with the proper tie downs it won’t slide in transit. If you don’t use straps to tie your loads down, contact your nearest Boy Scout leader or sailor for the low-down on knots that’ll save you time every day.
I also like how the T-Rac Pro’s top rails come right to the edge of my truck bed. It sounds like a small detail, but when you’re curling sheets 3/4" MDF up the side of your truck, it makes a difference. For loading sheet goods from the side of the pick-up—alone—the ends of the rails are flush with my truck bed and that location makes it easy (oh, okay, easier) to get the load aloft.
Finally, the T-Rac Pro adds a terrific feature: cleats on the frames. Manufactured of Marelon, a marine grade polymer, they’re just like you’ll find on a boat dock—perfect for tying off loads and for holding lines tight. a terrific upgrade!
Good Looks. The T-Rac’s smart design also means it looks good on your truck. Its bull-nosed aluminum top-rails ride just above the roof line of your pick-up, and the slim lines of the frames provide a sleek, professional look, which I want when I arrive at a customer’s home. Even if I look like I just crawled out of a hole (and I may have), I want my truck to look tuned.
I also like that the T-Rac’s low profile has no noticeable impact on my gas mileage or howl in the wind during highway travel. You can even take it off and put it on a new truck—or add accessories to carry a canoe or bike on the weekends. They thought of everything.
Smart and simple, the T-Rac is a winning combination.
T-Rac Pro, www.TracRac.com, $459
Mark Clement is a remodeler and author of The Carpenter’s Notebook and The Kid’s Carpenter’s Workbook, Fun Family Projects! Learn more at TheCarpentersNotebook.com.
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