Leitner Designs

Bernhard Leitner began designing and honing his skill at an early age while tinkering at his father’s famed motorcycle company, ATK.  By the time he was 15, he had built his first motorcycle.  These skills proved very useful to guild him to a head engineering job with active sports protection in 2001 and later on start Leitner Design in 2007.  In 2014, Bernhard shifted the company’s focus from being a design firm to manufacturing its own line of truck accessories.  His love for adventure and the outdoors drove the development of the company’s first product the “Active Cargo System”.

Leitner Designs Active Cargo System

The ACS system is made out of military grade aluminum which is fully TIG-welded and weighs only 70lbs, which is powder coated in a dual-stage finish that will handle anything you can throw at it.  Once assembled, the ACS can handle up to 250lbs off-road weight capacity all the way up to 1k static weight capacity.  The ACS is designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA.

We met up with Bernhard Leitner on an early Saturday morning in beautiful Mission Viejo, California.  After some catching up, we headed to the back of his warehouse to start assembling the necessary parts we would need for the Overland F150 build.  After carefully laying it all out on the floor we got to work.  During the install I, couldn’t help but notice the attention to every detail Bernhard had designed into the ACS.  The welds were perfect.  The powder coat was flawless.  Every piece meticulously engineered to fit together. Bernhard thought of every imaginable detail all the way down to the carefully laid out instructions.  Once we had both sides assembled, we took them to the truck.  While I held up one side of the ACS, Bernhard added the 3 clamps that would attach it to the bed rail.  The Active Cargo System is mounted via 6 bed clams and (depending on vehicle) 2 rear and 2 front upright braces.  The upright braces not only allow the rear load bar to be able to slide all the way forward, allowing you full access to the bed, but it also directs the load back into the Structural “D” pillar and takes it off the bed rails.

Once both sides were installed and tightened down we moved onto the load bars.  One of the best features of the Leitner Design Active Cargo System is the fact that you can slide the rear bar all the way forward.  For years I have been stuck with the fact that I would have to unbolt my whole bed rack system if I wanted to use the bed of my truck; which did get me out of every truck owner’s worst nightmare…  Helping people move!  But alas… that excuse is no more.

Accessories:

Leitner Design offers a great array of accessories for the ACS.  We chose 2 gear pods (which are manufactures from Roto-molded high- density polyethylene),  Maxtrax and 2 Rotopax brackets.   Other accessories include: High-lift mounts, light bracket, flag pole kit, load stops and Roof top tent brackets.  All brackets are made of the same high strength Military grade aluminum.

The Leitner Design Active Cargo System is the best cargo system we have used to date.  With the super light weight, ultra durable finish and the ability to interchange accessories to meet customer needs make the ACS a great choice for every truck.

– Learn more about Leitner Designs by visiting www.leitnerdesigns.com

* OutdoorX4 Magazine – Promoting responsible 4×4 adventure travel and outdoor recreation