Let's be honest for a moment—it's the gear that truly makes overlanding what it is. And while trucks may seem like they have an advantage when it comes to storage space, the truth is that hauling expensive equipment and large tents can be somewhat of a challenge when it comes to vehicles with open beds. So, how does one deal with such a shortcoming? One option is adding a bed cap, but doing so severely limits the size and quantity of items that can be hauled. Sure, bed caps give some amount of protection from the elements (though they often aren't completely water or dust proof) but they are also rarely rated for adding any kind of weight on the top, which complicates things in a hurry when it comes to overland builds.

So, then, what is the best solution for outfitting a pickup? To find out, you needn't look any farther than the row of contractor pickups at the local hardware store. The answer: bed racks. A bed rack allows pickup owners to not only store items on top, where longer pieces can stretch over the roof, but also keeps the bed open for large items and provides ways to secure cargo to the outer edges of the bed as well. But we're not hauling lumber. Enter Leitner Designs and the company's Active Cargo System.

Leitner Designs was founded in 2007 by Bernhard Leitner, son of Horst Leitner of ATK motorcycles and AMP Research fame. From 2007 to 2014, Leitner Designs operated at a research and design firm, helping both emerging and established companies develop innovative products for their markets. In 2014 Leitner Designs shifted its focus with the introduction of the world's toughest modular truck bed rack and cargo system, the new "Active Cargo System."

As the plans were coming together for our 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500HD overland build we knew that we would need a bed rack, and wanted one of the best on the market. While Leitner Designs offers a solution for just about every modern pickup, the company only officially offers the ACS rack system for 2007-and-newer Silverado HDs. Not willing to give up—and after a bunch of measuring and back-and-forth with the experts at Leitner Designs—we decided to give the ACS Classic a shot on our 2002 Silverado, and we're glad we did, as the rack fit like a proverbial glove.

While there are many options when it comes to bed racks these days, not all are created equal. Right off the bat, we were impressed that the Leitner Designs ACS Classic bed rack was designed, engineered, and built right here in the United States. The ACS Classic rack is constructed of military-grade aluminum, is fully TIG-welded, comes with Grade 8.8 zinc-plated fasteners, and weighs in at just 81 pounds. And, at 23 inches tall, the ACS Classic rack would allow us to mount a larger tent on top of the rack by clearing the truck's roof.

We were also drawn to the Leitner Designs ACS Classic bed rack because of its modularity, with the company offering an ever-growing line of accessories including storage boxes, mounting plates, wash kits, and much more. We'll be digging into this aspect of the ACS Classic rack system in the future, so stay tuned.

We're always impressed when high-quality parts come packaged in a way befitting of their price tag. The boxing of the Leitner Designs ACS Classic rack system did not disappoint. Everything comes individually wrapped in multiple layers of bubble wrap and paper. While it creates quite the barrel full of rubbish, all the bits were well protected.

Pro tip: Lay out a section of carpet or a large moving blanket prior to assembly. This will help give a defined place to organize all the parts and pieces, along with preventing the beautiful powder coat finish from getting inadvertently scratched.

You're going to want to get used to working with these little guys. Nearly all of the fasteners that hold the Leitner Designs ACS Classic rack together are these M8 T-bolts, of which there are 32 in total.

Because of the modular nature of the Leitner Designs ACS Classic rack system, assembly is quite easy. The first step in the process is inserting these four T-bolts in each of the four upright brackets. The nuts need to be left loose in order to install the side rails in the next step.

Here it is, the single most difficult part of the ACS Classic rack system assembly. The two long side rails connect to an upright assembly on each end by sliding onto the previously inserted T-bolts. While the three outermost T-bolts are relatively easy to get lined up properly, there is one that is inaccessible. We used a long, skinny flat-blade screwdriver to help properly align this T-bolt.

Getting all four of the upright T-bolts inserted into the side rails properly is critical because these rails need to fit entirely within the upright and flush with the finished end. If a T-bolt slides in crooked, the rail won't be able to slide in completely and will stop the assembly process.

Assembling the Leitner Designs ACS Classic rack system is not the place to get wild with exotic power tools. The 8mm T-bolts come with 13mm flanged nylock nuts that get installed to a maximum torque of just 18 ft-lb, which is about hand-tight.

It's the small details like these that make installation a breeze. Each of the bedside rails comes with either a laser-cut "D" or "P" indicating which side of the truck the rail will attach to.

It's critical to get the square upper side rails installed fully into the uprights so that the uprights align properly with their machined attachment points on the bedside rail, seen here. If not fully seated, these points won't line up and assembly can't move forward. Note the Leitner logo here as well.

Another important selling point of the Leitner Designs ACS Classic rack system is that it doesn't require permanent modifications to install (except for a few inconspicuous nutserts, that is). The rack is attached to the truck's bed with six of these aluminum clamps, three on each side.

The rail clamps are designed to fit precisely into grooves on each of the bedside rails, then secure each side to the truck with a clamping bolt under the bedside rail.

These small aluminum pucks, the rail clamp spacers, rest on top of each of the bolts that run through the bed rail clamps, and work to distribute the bolt's holding force more evenly. Again, noticed the cast-in Leitner Designs logo on the rail clamp spacer. These small details really drive home the premium nature of the ACS bed rack.

It is incredibly important to resist the urge to over-tighten the bed rail clamp bolts. Leitner Designs says that these bolts should only be torqued to 7 ft-lb and no more, as damage to the aluminum rail clamp spacer can occur. It's so important that the instructions have large, bold, red letters with three exclamation points to drive the point home. Pro tip: In general, 7 ft-lb will be about as tight as you can get the bolt using just two fingers on a 3/8-inch ratchet.

Part of the magic of the Leitner Designs ACS bed rack system is the T-bolt accessory attachment system. Each load rail has a slot on all four sides with the ability to slide in a T-bolt. These T-bolts not only attach the load bars to the rack system, but they can also be used to attach all sorts of different accessories, both from Leitner Designs and from the broader aftermarket.

With the side rails complete, attention can be turned to the top crossbars. The crossbars attach to these crossbar mounting brackets by way of, you guessed it, T-bolts. The bracket attaches to a pair of T-bolts in the top track of the side rails while the crossbars slide onto the T-bolts shown here.

The cab-side crossbar brackets get attached to the rack firmly with nylock nuts. However, the rear crossbar comes with these large rubber knobs. Why rubber knobs, you ask? Well, another one of the wonderful features that sets the ACS Classic bed rack system apart from the competition is the ability to easily slide the rear crossbar forward to load tall items into the bed.

Adding to the strength and stability of the ACS Classic rack system are a pair of front and rear upright braces. The braces at the front of the bed are simple flat plate, while the rear is tubular. Installation of these braces begins by loosely bolting the upper end to the bed rack's uprights.

With the top of the brace in place, the bottom mounting bracket is swung into place. Using a steel punch, we marked the location where the rivet nut needs to be installed to secure the lower mounting bracket. Once marked, the support arm can be moved out of the way.

Installation of the Leitner Designs ACS rack can be achieved, for the most part, with basic hand tools that everyone should have. There are two specialty items, however, that are provided with the kit. One of those is the 25/64-inch drill bit needed for inserting the six rivet nuts that hold the support arms to the bed.

Also included with the ACS Classic bed rack is the necessary tool to install the threaded inserts, also known as rivet nuts, or rivnuts. The tool is not difficult to use, and Leitner Designs gives great instructions for how to do it, along with a couple extra rivet nuts just in case. Pro tip: If your truck has a spray-in bedliner you'll need to trim some of the material from around the drilled hole so the rivet nut will attach properly to the sheet metal.

The cab-side braces of the ACS Classic bed rack system are constructed of flat plate and utilize a single rivet nut each. If the rack is properly squared, these will mount symmetrically.

The tailgate-side braces are more robust and constructed of aluminum tube. The brackets that attach the braces to the bed will utilize two rivet nuts each. The robustness of this support bracket is necessary to allow the rear load bar to slide forward without compromising the integrity of the system.

Another nice touch that Leitner Designs includes with the ACS Classic bed rack is a rubber tread strip for the upper crossbars. This rubber insert works to not only tune out any potential wind noise, but also serves as an anti-slip pad for items mounted on top of the rack. It also looks pretty good too.

One of the most important features of any bed rack system is how much it can actually carry. Across the industry, there are three different figures that are often quoted: static weight capacity, on-road dynamic weight capacity, and off-road dynamic weight capacity. The Leitner Designs ACS Classic bed rack system that we installed on our 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD comes with a 1,000-pound static weight capacity (parked), 500-pound on-road dynamic weight capacity (driving on pavement), and a 250-pound off-road dynamic weight capacity (driving on dirt). What this all boils down to is that we can only load 250 pounds of gear onto the rack since we intend on taking the truck off-road, but it also means that we'll be just fine loading four people into our giant rooftop tent when we're parked. If for some reason you need a higher load rating, Leitner Designs offers its ACS Forged bed rack system, which bumps the off-road dynamic load rating up to 400 pounds, on-road to 800, and static to a whopping 1,400 pounds.

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