Has anyone used them? If so what is their opinion of them? Are they built well? Has anyone encountered any problems with them? Thanks,Nick
I use a towel, works fine…
You wanna get tech, go to Home Depot and grab some pipe insulation.
I am also thinking about soft racks.But the idea i being able to lock the board in [Longboard]is appealing.I live in New jersey ,you can get the baggies taken off you if you go to the wrong place.Just kidding it is not that bad but locking up your board is not a bad idea.I know of people who has had their boards clipped while checking the waves . A.C can be a rough town.
No Kidding, A.C. is more intense than people think (especially if you’ve never wandered outside the casinos). I once knew a guy who went to surf States Ave. and left his wallet, keys and get this, a Nikonos camera all in his unlocked car parked on the street. Needless to say when he returned all were gone. Beter thanthis was the fact that he then had to make his way home (off shore onto the mainland) alone through AC with no money, shoes, wallet, etc. in a wetsuit and while carrying a surfboard. Even more priceless was listening to the call when he had to explain to his parents what happened… PS. He made it back home alive - personal effects never recovered.
Is there no one out there with experience with this rack system.I just want to know if they are built well because they are not cheap. but neither is replacing a board.
Hi Nick, First; it’s not, repeat not a rack system, according to their very own product page; http://www.lundlook.com/products/bedprotect/1_gatekeep.html. It’s a stick-on piece of rubber that’s used to protect the tailgate paint. Think in terms of a chunk of glued on inner tube, ok? I won’t even go into how worthless something like that is if your truck actually works for a living. Next, what the boys are advising you to go with instead is not only a helluva sight cheaper but will actually protect your board from the tailgate, not protect the paint on somebody’s widdle toy twuck from what happens when you really haul stuff around in it. Again, the Lund product is for yuppie toys that once a month go to the hardware store to get a new lawn rake. Nothing more. If you really want to protect your board, consider welding a coupla links of fairly heavy chain to the top of said tailgate, spaced out a foot from center, so you can strap your board down onto some padding and keep it from banging around. Also useful for setting lally columns in and so forth. . Me, I keep my board in a nice padded board bag, so I can put it on top of the stuff ( like concrete blocks, fishboxes of materials and chunks of scrapiron) that tends to inhabit the bed of my pickup truck. I could care less about scratching the paint. hope that’s of use doc…
Doc, I think that you have your products mixed up. The “Gatekeeper” is a rack that protects your board and not necessarily the paint on the truck. From the ad in Longboard Magazine it appears to be a good solid product that deters theift.
http://www.dabco-products.com/ I’ve seen a homemade version of the rack in Hawaii. It probably cost about $40 in materials. I guess it all depends on how much of a handiman you are. I can’t see paying $200 for the rack.
yah i wouldnt bother paying that much. i do have the FCS tailgate pad though. kind of the same thing but strapped around the tailgate with a pad on top. has straps for the board too so it doesnt go flying. it costs 15 bucks but you could make one yourself. i personally didnt feel $15 dollars was worth the time to make one. 
I agree, it looks like a nice system but limited to one board.it is hard to tell from pictures on a website if it is well made.And yes the price tag put me back on my heels alittle.I am pretty handy,making a knock off is not a bad idea.A modified bike lock may be worth looking into .the locking aspect of the gatekeeper is appealing.There is a need for it where i live.
The truck rack I saw was pretty ingenious. I’ll try to describe it for you. The guy had one of those “pro-net” soft gates to prevent anything in the actual bed from falling out. As for the rack- It was made with about 1 1/2 to 2" tubing (thick) on the bottom, looked to be semi-permanently mounted to the truck where the tailgate actually latches to the bed sides. It had a hinged top piece made out of smaller tubing (not sure if it was hollow or solid steel tubing). Holes were in the top piece about every 2" or so. There were 2 permanent vertical rods (welded or bolted probably) coming up from the bottom, spaced so that 2 boards could be placed side by side. Both mated into one of the holes on the top part when the rack was closed. The hinged top was layed down into place, with a padlock and chain locking it to the bottom pipe. I assume the chain was used to make sure there was a tight (locking) fit. He paut side padding on the other side of each board, the would insert a bolt through the top holes for a tight fit. The bolts had a hole going through each one that he put a small padlock through, securing it. It looked like he used pipe insulation tubing for padding. It sounds pretty ghetto, but it looked hella sturdy and secure. With imagination, you could come up with a lockable rack of your own.