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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-thule-tracrac-sr-sliding-truck-bed-ladder-rack-2021-gmc-sierra-2500-th94re.aspx
Hi everyone, Aidan here with etrailer. Today, we’re gonna be taking a look at and showing you how to install the Thule TracRac SR ladder rack on our 2021 GMC Sierra 2500. Now this is gonna be a very capable ladder rack, perfect for a work truck because it’s got a heavy weight capacity of 1,250 pounds. Plus with some nice features like included load stops for helping to box in whatever you’re carrying and plenty of tie down points throughout, you’re gonna be able to tie things down safely and quickly. But one of the things that really sets this apart is the sliding where you can loose up hand knobs and actually move the uprights front and back to match different spread, or just all the way towards the cab for a more stored position, or entirely remove them if you wanted to take it off. And here’s what that would look like all up to the cab of your truck.

This takes up no more room front to back than something like a toolbox or a retractable tonneau cover might. And the advantage here is now we’ve got all this vertical room where we can stack stuff up if we’ve got a taller load maybe something like a refrigerator. Or you’re just loading up your bed with a bunch of stuff, you know you don’t need the ladder rack and you want the ability to stand up and move around your bed more freely without risk of bonking your head as you’re walking by. And when you’re ready to use the ladder rack again, it’s as simple as sliding it back out to whatever position you need and tightening it down. The use of hand knobs means that making those adjustments is quick and easy.

So you don’t have to worry about bringing tools with you. And the stops at the end of each track mean that you don’t have to worry about sliding this too far off. And if you wanted to, you could always remove those screws and fully remove the uprights if you needed more full access to your bed. The thing that makes all of this sliding possible is the base rail system. You’re gonna have separate tracks for both your rear and your front crossbar, so they operate independently from one another.

And Thule even offers some tie down points and other accessories that could slide onto these tracks and give you extra function, meaning that these aren’t just used for the ladder rack itself. They can be used to expand and add tie down points. And just overall, keep your rack a little bit more functional. It’s a really simple install process, getting these base rails attached to your truck bed rails. And for the most part it’s utilizing factory holes.

The other nice thing is if you’ve got something like the grab handle included from the factory on your Sierra, you retain that function. There is a bolt behind here, but everything reinstalls just like it was before and you don’t have to sacrifice that feature on your vehicle just to attach the ladder rack. This rack is gonna sit 27 5/16 of an inch tall from the bed rail to the top of the crossbar, which on our Sierra gives us plenty of clearance with the cab if we did have an elongated load that’s stuck over the cab. Something to consider if you are using this for work and you’re hauling really long ladders or lumber and you’re gonna frequently have loads extending over the cab, you may consider the version of this that has the cantilever arm, which will be an extra supported arm out over the cab. That’s gonna be really helpful for the job site application. And if you don’t go with that right out of the gate and you just start with this base rack system, you can’t add the cantilever as an accessory later down the road if you change your mind. The crossbars are 69 1/2 inches long, which is gonna give you plenty of length to work with for loading up lumber, ladders, or just mounting accessories too. Now our neighbor today is using this primarily for work. So stuff up here is gonna probably be for the most part, loaded up with the load stops, strapped down, things like that. But if down the road he ever did decide to mount up something that’s more of a sports and rec accessory, like maybe a tent or a kayak carrier, these bars are gonna be pretty thick and maybe not so accommodating to clamp around accessories. But the T-track that’s in the top of these bars that are load stops are utilizing to move around, can also be used for those other accessories. So if you do have a kayak carrier or a bike rack that you wanted to load up here, you could utilize that track to mount it. And because these bars slide back and forth so easily, we can bring them closer together and get