A Quick Guide to Putco Side Bed Rails
Pickup trucks are typically very practical vehicles, especially for hauling cargo. However, some drivers often need to carry bulkier gear like furniture, motorcycles, or pallets of wood, which don’t fit snugly within the walls of the truck’s box. These items could possibly be damaged by too much side-to-side movements. Newer pickups are often fitted with cut-outs and tie-downs which ropes and chains can attach to, but these are usually at very fixed locations, and aren’t always easy or convenient to access.
Putco has come up with a solution that is both stylish and useful. They offer a line of side rails that are designed to stretch the length of your truck bed. These rails are simple to install and come in a variety of designs. Made out of chromed stainless steel, they are not only strong but they look great too.
Designed to anchor into your truck`s current tie-down cutouts, the rails can be easily installed with simple hand tools. The three main pieces – two curved anchors and a long steel bar – are joined together, the anchors are placed atop the cutouts, and the mounting bar is then tightened from the top with the use of an Allan key. There are no visible clamps, and scuffing or scratching is prevented by a rubber gasket which goes between the rail and your paint.
The basic Putco locker side rails have a simple steel tube which has a cutout at each anchor end for more involved tying. They can hold up to 1000 pounds, which is more than enough for most hauling. You can also upgrade to 2.5 inch tubing with the same design if you feel you need a heftier look, but these ‘Boss’ railings, as Putco calls them, only hold 500 pounds.
Putco’s Pop Up Lockers are a great option if you need to have more tie-downs, but don’t want to clutter your truck’s bed rails. These lockers have 4 hidden tie-downs rated at 500 pounds along the railing, which can be “popped” up to use, but otherwise appears solid, without the openings at the anchor points like on the standard version.
For those looking to only enhance the appearance of their truck bed without necessarily needing the option of a tie down, the Putco SSR Locker fits the bill. It’s a good chrome accessory because it adds a lot of shine without competing with the rest of your truck. Chrome wheel well flares, for instance, usually compete with your truck’s wheels because they’re so close together. By adding chrome parts where nothing existed before, the eye tends to treat them a little better.
If you find yourself frequently climbing in and out of your truck bed, especially in wet conditions when bed liners or bare steel are extra slippery, you might get a lot of benefit out of adding bed side rails, which make excelling hand grips. They’re also useful for leverage when reaching over the side of the truck bed to the cargo floor. Their main disadvantage is that they make it impossible to use a tonneau cover. However, that may not have been an option anyways, if you’re used to hauling large gear. Putco side rails are fairly inexpensive, with a going rate of about $200. They’re a great way to jazz up your truck’s look, and offer a practical edge too.
