By Mike Schoby
My personal history with Leitner Designs goes back over a decade when I first installed one the company’s ACS (Active Cargo Management System) on a Toyota Tacoma. In a world where everything is a compromise, Leitner Designs eliminates some of those compromises. Case in point; put a traditional topper on a truck and you essentially eliminate some of the functionality of the bed. Yes, you can fit a roof top tent and awning atop and keep some gear dry and secure, but forget about hauling a motorcycle or other large, irregular gear (as a truck is intended).
The ACS essentially provides the exoskeleton of a topper, which makes mounting a roof top tent easy, and when not in use as a music festival baby making device, can be removed, the load bars adjusted and still allow you to load dirt bikes and have fun with the boys.
As a bonus, the ACS is modular and can be fitted with side opening gear pods of various sizes, so keeping gear organized, clean and secure is easy, not something that can be said about the cavernous dark hole under a traditional topper. Of course, Leitner Designs offers many compatible accessories such as shower pods, awning mounting brackets, as well as fuel cans and traction mat mounts.
Leitner Designs Ineos Accessories
Always being on the cutting edge, it is no surprise Bernhard Leitner, the founder and CEO, was early money developing accessories for the Ineos Grenadier (our current favorite vehicle).
In addition to full roof racks and half racks for the Grenadier and Quartermaster, Leitner Deisgns also offers a rear passenger divider/storage grid, external side-mounting grids, front bumper light bar, tire relocation mounting bracket, and multiple other accessories.
For our recent Grenadier build we selected three Leitner products: 3/4 roof rack, front bumper light bar, and rear tire relocation bracket. The light bar was self-explanatory and even we were able to install it in minutes. A few minutes more and we had a pair of Baja Designs LED lights installed that are bright enough to sunburn a Kandake.
The Grenadier Mod
The tire relocation bracket was likewise simple to install and fixed the problem of larger tires interfering with opening the rear door. As good as the Grenadier is, it is evident that the founder is British, as he could never imagine the large tire obsession of your typical American (forget about the average Utard).
But then we tackled the roof rack. Being a two-man job, Wiley Watson, our intrepid head videographer, set down his camera and offered to help. Unbeknownst to most, Wiley is the rare breed … artist and gear head. From motorcycle racing to running Baja he knows his way around a camera and a wrench.
Unboxing the rack, we laid out all the frame pieces, cross bars, bolts and brackets on the shop floor. Reading the instructions carefully and laying out the parts in their various order we began assembling them. About then Pete Correal walked by, drink in hand, and muttered, “Have fun rebuilding that a half dozen times.”
We laughed and are proud to report Pete was wrong.
It didn’t take us six attempts to build the rack … it took seven.
No shit, it was the worst experience I have ever had assembling anything aside from an Ikea bidet.
First let me be clear, the rack is amazing (now that it is complete) and built Hell for stout. Honestly, there isn’t a single design or material element I would say could be improved upon.
Except for the instructions.
I’m sure Bernhard Leitner will roll his eyes at this criticism, and I’m equally sure he and every one of his employees and engineer buddies can assemble this rack blindfolded with one hand tied behind their back. But that ain’t us, or honestly, 90% of Leitner customers. We are not engineers, collectively are not overly bright, and yes, we do like to self-medicate while working with power tools. After realizing we had the frame backwards, then upside down or didn’t install the crossbars correctly, we finally after seven iterations had it wrapped up and installed. If we were working for minimum wage (obviously more than we are worth) the labor charge would have been more than the rack.
All that said, the rack is solid, quiet and rattle free. The rest of the accessories are equally well built and now our intrepid leader, Jason Vincent, has the most capable vehicle in the entire school pickup line.
Pros — The design thought and quality materials on every Leitner product are unmatched.
Cons — Leitner Designs needs our help rewriting its instructions for anything more complicated than a Monkey F*ing a Football.
