Wildernest Retrofit wide rails on 2006 Nissan Frontier

[mudshark]

Hi All, new to forum. Just picked up a Short Wildernest in good shape to put on my 2006 Nissan Frontier. Length leave me with a 2 inch gap which I can seal by attaching material to the bottom of the rear flip up window. Not sure if I will use wood wrapped in rubber or foam wrapped or some type of vinyl? Right now, it's temporarily filled with black duct tape around rolled bubble wrap. Hey, it will hold for a month or so.

Numerous other issues but the biggest one is the narrowness of the Wildernest topper versus the width of the bed rails. I have about 1 - 1.5 inches of the topper resting on the rails, the rest is overhanging into the bed. I'm wondering what the best way is to give more support to the topper by extending the bed rails inward about 1"-2". Just can't really think of what to do there and so I'm looking for suggestions/ ideas. (Instead of clamps I will likely drill through the topper and bed rail and was thinking maybe use some kind of steel plate for extra support at each rail bolt, but again, not sure what the best way to proceed is to make it safe.) For now, I have 4 clamps on each side but due to the narrow contact with the bed rails, I don't trust it for supporting the sleeping area of the Wildernest.

So, thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide...
The first image shows the outside topper/rail situation 


The second image shows the inside topper/rail situation.

[Wildernest_ADV]

I bet you could fabricate a steel lip that bolted to the bed top and side and then hung over to match up with the bottom of the wildernest.

[mudshark]

Thanks ADV- that's a good idea! I went out and got some 1/8" 6 ft long angle iron and am going to bolt that onto the rails which would look like the left side of your red bracket in the drawing, although I do like your idea better. There is enough overlap of the topper on both the angle iron bar and the bed rail that I can stagger bolts through both and I'm thinking that should support it well enough- 4 bolts per side. I'm also considering maybe putting a 3 inch flat piece of steel over the angle and bed rail as well before installing the topper.

[mudshark]

Here's what I ended up doing with the angle iron on the rails. Not sure about the clamps for the topper since there is no vertical lip for the bottom of the clamps. It's probably ok that way but I'll be drilling a few bolt holes through the rail just to be safe as I'll likely have the topper on year round.

[mudshark]

Ended up redoing both rails and topper mount - reversed bolts so that bolts are facing outward. Much more streamlined and less chance of catching stuff on bolt ends. Replace the bolts I had used with grade 5 since I didn't know what the others were. Locktite on threads. About 9 bolts on each rail- it ain't going anywhere. Attached topper with 3 bolts each side - 1/2 inch grade 8. Plus put a clamp on each side up front since they aren't in the way there. That topper ain't going nowhere either but it should be easy to remove when I need to. If u zoom on pix u can see the bolts. May end up replacing topper bolt washers with fender washers but other than that, I'm done with this part of the operation.  

[mudshark]

he first 2 pix show the precondition of the gel coat, the next   an example of the sanding.  After sanding through two paint layers to reach the original white paint, I was still hitting cracks in the paint. Called it good, went to 240 grit and smoothed out as best I could, timewise. Put 2 coats primer, 2 coats rustoleum bed liner, and it came out pretty good; a couple hot spots but overall satsfied with the improvement. Yes, it will crack again but it's definately better than it was. New buckles to close the top, a piece of trim (gutter trim for house from Home Depot)to close the 2" gap in the rear, some tent patches, new rear window lift stabilizer(amazon) and window ball mount bracket (size 10 3 hole from ebay), rear window lock, and it's workable now, depending on how many leaks the tent will have in the first rainstorm. Pictures to follow...

[mudshark]

SOme more pix of the process: REar window gap piece (gutter from HD)

[mudshark]

Painting results:

[mudshark]

Final product:
Looks good from 5 ft away.

[BMoore]

Looks great! Herculiner?

[BMoore]

Looks great! Herculiner?

[BMoore]

Trying to see if a 6.5 ft Nest will fit my 2017 GMC 6.5 bed.