Payback with AnchorTrax

My favorite neighbor in my cul de sac has given me firewood, fresh trout, smoked salmon, garden fresh tomatoes, grapes, and toys for my son. Fortunately, that same neighbor owns three different Ford trucks which makes reciprocating on his kind gestures pretty easy. Last year I licked an Edelbrock carburetor problem he was having on his 1977 F250 4x4 wood truck. I felt it was time to do something else for him since he's been such a great neighbor. Recently when helping him add stakes and plywood to his truck bed, I noticed he had some pretty sad looking tie downs welded above the rear wheel wells. As a quick favor I ordered 2 pairs of AnchorTrax from Mr. Gasket and walked across the street for a quick surprise installation.


Here's a shot of one pair of AnchorTrax. They mount to the top of the bed rail using a backing plate. The tie downs can be positioned in various locations along the track. I installed two pairs.


This is my neighbor's truck, the subject vehicle. You can tell this is the real deal. A Northern Nevada 4x4 that really gets its share of duty.


Two pairs of AnchorTrax offer good versatility and four tie down points.


Here's a before shot of the truck bed.


This was one of the do-it-yourself tie downs that the previous owner installed. Not exactly a pro job.


Each tie down is spring loaded.


I measured 9" from the front and the rear of the bed to locate all four AnchorTrax units.


After marking holes using the track itself as a template, I drilled two 9/32" holes for each AnchorTrax. A total of eight holes.


Once the holes were drilled, a hex head bolt and nylock nut were used to secure the track to the backing plate.


The tie downs lock into position.


Here's a shot of one installed unit.


And another up front on the passenger side.


I completed installing all four in about 20 minutes, providing my neighbor with flexible tie down points in all four corners of his truck bed.

For more information on AnchorTrax see the Mr. Gasket website

what are they rated at? They look a little flimsy? am i mistaken? would you be worried about tieing a fourwheeler down tight?

Sharp,
The literature says 3000 lb break strength and 1000 lb load limit. I didn't get the feeling that they were flimsy.

http://www.mr-gasket.com/newproducts...NPMrGasket.pdf

oh ok, thats plenty strong, i didnt know how they attacted being that they are movable. it wasnt meant to be critisism, in the pictures its hard to tell their qualitity. Cool article, looks like a nice a addition

I have a friend who hauls his XR659R dirt bike around using these same tie downs. works well. I have the tie downs that pop and twist into the bed sides, and actually hate them. I will be going to these. good post.

Pretty much the same kind of track used in aircraft seat tracks... Anyone who has ever worked with it knows what kind of loading it is required to stand up to.

Nice upgrade. I must tell you that your neighbor has one of the toughest Ford pickups ever made, as I bet you know. That bad boy will be running when all the 2008's are in the scrap heap.