Jerrod Jones
Former Editor, Off Road
Trucks are made to haul stuff. That’s why they have big, open beds for carting all sorts of loads. That being said, there is rarely more than the four anchor points (one at each corner of the bed) to secure items in the bed, often leaving an inadequately strapped load heading down the highway. Not only is it unsafe, you can lose your junk! That’s why there really isn’t a truck bed we can think of that wouldn’t benefit from a Mac’s Truck Tie Down kit. A couple aluminum tracks bolt onto the inside rails of any truck bed in about an hour, and allow multiple tie-down anchors to be placed at any point along the bed rails. It’s a quick, easy install, and can really increase the versatility of your bed if you use your truck for hauling stuff.
Mac’s Tie Downs’ Truck Tie Down Kit comes with two Versatie aluminum tracks that are precut for easy fitment. Mac’s has specific application truck kits and universal cut-to-fit kits. All kits come with two aluminum tracks with pre-drilled and countersunk holes, along with the 1/4-inch stainless steel hardware to mount them. Four tie-down rings are provided with the kit, but more can be ordered through Mac’s Tie Downs.
We used two C-clamps to hold the Versatie tracks exactly where we wanted them on the interior of the bed rails. On the back of the track, there will be stickers indicating which side goes towards the front of the truck bed. This is important for the pre-drilled holes in the tracks.
We started by first drilling a small pilot hole, and then removing the track to drill a 1/4-inch hole for each mounting bolt along the rail.
While most mounting nuts can be accessed with a wrench by simply reaching under the bed rail, the rearward bolt holes will often be drilled through double-wall steel near the stake bed holes. The bolts included are short enough to not interfere with any aftermarket parts that utilize the stake bed holes.
The Versatie tie-down rings are extremely easy to place and remove and replace. The spring-loaded anchor points swivel and also fold. They can be moved at 1-inch increments along the track, giving limitless tie-down combinations.
We’ve been using this tie-down track kit for about a year now, and we haven’t loaded anything big enough to put a noticeable strain on these tracks, tie-down points, or the Mac’s Tie Down Straps we ordered to compliment the VersaTie kit. The tracks also make it much easier to mount items that do not have easily-located tie-down points.
Besides the strength, the nicest feature is multiple, movable anchor points. The VersaTie track system allows more than one item to be safely secured in place, ensuring no damage or loss comes to any item that is strapped down.
Additional tracks can be bought for custom jobs or to go along the front of the truck bed as well, giving three sides of the truck bed to plug the tie-down rings to. An added bonus is that this track can stiffen the front of the truck bed under the back window.
Sometimes, the factory points midway up the side of the bed are too high to properly secure a very flat item. For such cases. Mac’s also has these Anchor Plate Kits that can be mounted on the floor of the truck bed. They accept the same tie-down rings as the VersaTie tracks do.
