Bed Stiffeners? Concerned now about integrity of composite truck bed.

I’d be more worried about your rear axle with anything over 1200lbs…that’s an insane amount of weight for a Tacoma axle

 

I like the plastic bed. I can toss my salty surfboard or my salty kayak in the bed, without worrying about bed rot.

 

Seems flush enough? Looks like ~2mm of space

 

During my years, I also have seen truck beds fail. I expect metal beds to fail eventually. I have repaired a 1950ish truck bed failure when it was converted to a trailer. So, these things are expected. The new factor that must be tested over time, is the composite truck bed. We would all hope and expect that Toyota has done extensive testing of their product before it it released to the public, (all over the world and the harshest conditions). We all have the highest expectations otherwise we wouldn't have purchased our trucks. Trust, is all that we have, and the manufacturer is counting on that. New generations produce new cultures. Is trust a given? No. It must be earned. So we have a new, and for the uneducated consumer, product we will discover in the long run, is a good bet, or not. Metal fatigue or plastic degradation? How will plastic hold up? I donno. I won't be around to see, but I am interested in this new thing. I also have seen how corporate cultures have changed since the days of General Electric and Zenith. And "a man's word is his bond". Since that doesn't matter that much anymore let's just pardee on!

 

Bed stiffeners are a marketing gimmic, unless you are competing in the Baja 500. People who have had trouble with their canopies rubbing their bedside sometimes think their bed wall is flexing. It isn't! They just need to regularly tighten their clamps which hold the canopies. Save your money.

 

Gonna start closing all my posts with this.

 

Yeah all looks good to me. There is no way for that gap at the top of the stiffeners to close.

 

I rubbed some paint off my long bed with a hasty install of a used camper shell; however, once I straightened it out and added another set of clamps (six total), I've not had any issues and dont see any signs of stress in the bed. I also dont like idea of drilling through sheet metal unnecessarily.

 

My bed side at the tailgate is cracking, I’ll post up some photos but it is a thing. I do have a canopy so the extra weight probably contributes but it is starting to crack.
3rd Gen and 2nd Gen beds are pretty much the same.

 

Couple of buddies have 15’s. I randomly checked the corners of their beds, both trucks had cracks and have no toppers. Idk what that means, if it even means anything at all. Enough for me to buy a used set tho. Everyone’s mileage may vary. Do what makes ya happy people, mitigate your own risks and let that be enough, not whether or not someone does or doesn’t do what u do.




Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

 

I overloaded my 2005 SR5 many times with gravel and lots of other things. Never had a problem with the composite bed. I have total confidence in my 2021 as well.

 

of course the frames of the truck collapsed, but we let that slide....

 

Fuck it, 4th gen is getting a plastic frame. Toyota will finally solve the rusting frame problem they've had for the last 40 years.

 

What’s wrong with a little rust?

 

This truck doesn't know what high centering means.

 

This looks like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I have yet to see a Tacoma's bed damaged due to not having these. If this was a real issue I would think there would be so many that would have broken/damaged beds. How many Tacos are sold and how many have racks and camper shells on them. It's got to be hundreds of thousands.

 

This came up elsewhere... Bed rail separation has been a problem for decades... back in the 80s it was a set of angled braces that would be attached to help the problem. There are now MANY brackets available for the tacoma. Some are better than others, but for the most part if it is made of a decent chunk of steel it will do the job. You can spend $150+ on some of the more affordable name brands, but I picked up a set from Amazon a while back and was quite pleased with them. They are 3/16 steel, and are as stout as any of the high dollar versions I found. Composite or steel bed, I would recommend some form of bed stiffener/brace. My previous truck had a steel bed, and a gap between the tailgate and bed rails you could see daylight through. My Tacoma had the start of a gap forming, but the braces will help prevent it from getting worse.