2012 Nissan Frontier: Strut Channel Install

This article details the design & installation of a 5' section of Strut Channel into the bed of my 2012 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab SV 4x4. This is a functional (although different) stand-in for the Utili-Track™ that comes as an option on some Nissan Frontiers. Frontiers that did not come standard with the Utili-Track™ cannot have it easily installed because the bed-frame is different. Inspiration for this project came from Tyson Cook's DIY Writeup - Utilitrack with Unistrut over at the Club Frontier Forums. I chose to install this Strut Channel because it gives a good base (that does not permanently modify the vehicle) to mount a Ham Radio Antenna (which I'll add to the bottom of this article as soon as it is done). After a parts order from McMaster-Carr (who doesn't show shipping costs up front, but has really good shipping rates... my order was $6 shipping) and 5 trips to various Home Depots & Lowe's I finally had what I needed. I'll try to streamline the process for anyone wanting to follow my example.

Assumptions

1. You want a really clean looking install and are willing to put in a bit of extra work
2. You have a drop-in bed-liner
3. You don't want to make any permenant modifications to the vehicle

Grocery List

• 1 section of Strut Channel
  • 1 5/8" depth (& width)
  • 5' length (fits perfectly)
  • Solid (slotted will cause the section to be off-center but requires no drilling)
  • Aluminium (we don't want it to rust)
• 5 M8x1.25 45mm Hex Bolts
• 5 3/8" x 1/2" x 1" Steel Spacers (only Lowes had these, not Home Depot)
• 5 M8 split washers (lock washers)
• 10 M8 flat washers
• Glue (I used Gorilla Glue because that is what I had lying around but other adhesives like Super Glue should work just fine)
• 7/8" Spade Bit
• 23/64" Drill Bit
• Small Drill Bit (smallest you've got: for pilot holes)
• Metric Ruler with at least 30mm (preferably 60mm) of marked length
• 13mm Socket + Ratchet with Extension
• Utility Knife
• Deburring Tool
• (optional) Fitting Brush
• (optional) Drill Press

Basic Information

• The wall of the bed of your Frontier should have 5 evenly spaced bolts in it, a few inches from the top lip.
• These holes are spaced 30cm apart from each other and are centered in the bed (left to right)
• These holes are size M8x1.25 (a metric bolt meaning an 8mm diameter with 1.25mm thread spacing. Don't get M8x1.0 bolts by mistake)

Directions

Prepping The Truck

1. Pull up the front lip of the bed liner. I simply had to pull up & out on the middle of the top lip to get it to come free. I probably pulled it off and put it back on 20 times during the install to check fit.
2. This is probably the trickest part of the whole install: You need to drill pilot holes in your bed-liner that line up with the factory bolts on the Frontier. I basically had to eyeball my first hole. From there I measured as best I could (although this was made difficult but the uneven surface of the bed-liner) I haven't come up with a better solution but this worked for me.
   1. With the bed-liner pulled off (and the factory bolts in place) I eyeballed the first hole and used the smallest drill bit I had to drill a hole through the bed-liner.
   2. I then reinstalled the bed-liner, stuck my drill bit back in the hole, and ran it against the factory bolt for a second to, intentionally, leave a scratch mark. The 3 photos below show the results of this technique. The blue circle highlights my 1st attempt. The green circle highlights my 2nd attempt. The photo of the bedliner shows the 2 holes I drilled for the 1st location. (click for a larger image)