Leitner ACS Forged Tonneau Rack review

Installed the Leitner ACS forged tonneau rack today. It is Paired with a ReTrax pro XR tonneau cover. Very happy with the fit, finish, and quality. 10/10 on customer support. Stripped some bolts and more were sent to me free of charge. It is definitely the most expensive of the three racks compatible with t slot tonneau covers. upTOP and KB VooDoo being your only other two choices I know of for true modular racks compatible with t slot tonneaus. The whole rack only weighs 85 pounds and would be very easy to take on and off. A third load bar can be installed which I will probably do when I get a rooftop tent. Leitner advises that in order to run two XL gear pods that you must be using the electronic version of the ReTrax xr pro. This is because the open/close latch for the tonneau will hit the bottom of the pod when opening or closing your Retrax cover. I have found that it is still possible to get the cover opened and closed, the latch Just needs to be barely opened/engaged to get the ball bearings rolling and then you can hold the physical cover and slide it under the gear pod. (See attached pic) Yes, it does make opening and closing the cover a little tedious but I think it is well worth it for the added storage that running 2 XL gear pods offers. The Leitner rack is attached to the T slot channels by simply using three square nuts that slide into the T slot channels on each side. It felt very secure once mounted with no wobble or play. All of Leitner’s bolts came pre-treated with red or blue Loctite which was very convenient. I suppose the biggest thing that sets Leitner apart from the KB Voodoo or the upTOP Is the height of the rack. With Leitner you only get one rack height and that is cab/full height. This rack has a static parked weight capacity of 800 pounds and a dynamic on road weight capacity of 400 pounds. Per Lightner they are unable to advise an Off Road dynamic weight capacity Because they say that the rack relies on the mounting hardware of the Tonneau cover, which is very true. My tonneau cover is mounted with four clamps that utilize the factory Toyota bed rails So I feel like this rack will be extremely sturdy on and off road. I will be doing some rigorous off roading soon and I will be sure to diligently check the rack’s bolts/fasteners for any sort of compromise or loosening. I would definitely recommend This rack to anyone who is looking to pair a full height rack with their tonneau cover and looking for additional storage that the gear pod XL’s offer. Be cautious of over tightening the bolts on this rack. They use an allen head and are extremely easy to strip. Also, if you are using the non-factory bed mount option from ReTrax which are the clamps with the rubber end that clamp to the bed sides, I would recommend mounting your Retrax with the factory toyota bed rails and new bed rail clamps from Retrax. They will sell you 4 for $25. IMO, it is a much more secure mounting option. The old bed clamps I was using had play and would back out over time. For what its worth I asked Leitner about this (if mounting tonneau via bed rail system made the rack more secure than the other clamps, and they advised it made no difference, but if you care to witness the difference I think you will agree mounting the tonneau via the rails is much more secure! Also, as Leitner states the GearPods are not 100% waterproof. I’d say from my testing they are pretty waterproof though, however, with a heavy rain there will likely be water intrusion so be mindful of this. They are a great addition to the rack, but unfortunately come with a hefty price tag. Feel free to PM me or comment with any questions and thanks for reading.

PS: Leitner offers a 20% off first responder discount


*** UPDATE ***

No longer running this set up and unfortunately never got to test it off road. I moved to a fiberglass camper shell for more weatherproofness and the ability to sleep in.

 

Hello sir, i was glad to see a set up like yours here as i intended to get the same exact set up. As the company of leitner cannot not offer a payload for off road, how was your experience off road with this set up? In your opinion, how much payload can this set up handle off road? And do would you recommend? I’m not sure how long have you had this set before you sold it, but any feed back would help me to move forward with a purchase like this set up. Thank you and good luck with your new set up.

 

PMed you

 

Im also interested in any in-depth comments you may have. Currently running a mid height KB Voodoo which has been good. However, evaluating my options for a full height Retrax compatible rack when my larger RTT is ready.

 

I have sold this set up and went to a fiberglass shell, but PM me with any questions you have