DIY bed mat for less than $40

I saw somebody else mention these on a different thread a couple months ago but disregarded it at the time because I just had to have the OEM mat. I quickly blew thru my upgrades budget on weathertechs, wet okoles, UWS boxes, fluid film, etc etc and it just wasn't meant to be. I was at Tractor Supply the other weekend and saw their 4x6 3/4" rubber horse stall mats out front for $35 so I picked one up, made some cutouts, and threw it in.

I'm really happy with how it turned out so I figured I'd share that process on here in case anybody else is considering a bed mat but can't quite spring for the official one. I think I actually prefer my custom one to the real thing but I'll grant that I've never seen the Tacoma bed mat in person so take all this with a grain of salt.

I think the thicker rubber does a better job of cushioning those plastic bed channels. I had to crawl around a lot while getting the crossbed box in place and it was actually pretty easy on the knees and hides the bed channels really well. I think that's a plus for those who camp in the back of their trucks.

I saw some people say their mat slides around sometimes when pulling out heavy cargo. That just won't happen with this one. With its rough, grippy underside, its weight, and wheel well cutouts it isn't going anywhere.

I like the clean, flat look. It provides better coverage up by the cab than the OEM one, but not as good in the back. There's probably 2" of bed exposed in front of and behind either wheel well. The scraps from the cutout can be trimmed up and fit nicely behind the wheel wells though if you're so inclined.

The only con that I have is it's really heavy. 100lbs doesn't seem like much, until you're trying to wrestle it around in the form of a 4x6 rubber mat. It's also a significant dead weight in the back and probably hurts my mileage a bit. On the bright side, between the mat and toolbox I won't have to mess around with sand bags in the winter ever again. Screw everything about those things.

What you need:
- 30 minutes
- 1 horse stall mat (mine didn't have the diamond plate pattern on it though)
- Good sharp utility knife / box cutter
- 3 clean cardboard scraps that can be arranged around the perimeter of the wheel well
- duct tape
- masking tape
- tape measure
- sharpie
- long bed 2nd gen Tacoma

The Template
When cutting the mat, accuracy is extremely important, and it's not too hard to achieve. Make a template using 3 rectangular sections of cardboard and some duct tape. When you lay them out around the driver's side wheel well, the piece closest to the tailgate will be pointing diagonally towards the passenger side of the cab. The 2nd piece will be pointing along the length of the bed. Where these 2 intersect is what you'll use as your point of reference for your cut. So lay the 3 pieces out on the bed and get them as close to flush with the wheel well as possible, then tape them together. Mark the directions to the cab and tailgate and put an "L" on the side facing up and an "R" on the opposite side for reference.

The Cut
The wheel well cutouts need to be 2.5" deep into the mat. I made mine 2 5/8" but I ended up with a sliver of clearance between my mat and wheel well. The template needs to be 32" from the bottom of the mat (side that's adjacent to the tailgate), as measured from the reference point I mentioned above. In the finished cutout there's 2 corners to the cut; the reference point marks the lower corner closest to the tailgate. Sharpie doesn't show up, so put masking tape down and then mark on that.

So you'll measure a point that's 2.5" in from the edge and 32" from the bottom, then go a couple feet higher and measure another point 2.5" in and mark a line between them. Use that to line up the template, then tape it down with duct tape so it doesn't slide around on you. Go back 1 more time and measure everything out in the truck bed to be sure it looks OK, then score it really well with the utility knife. Take the template off and finish the cut.

Flip the template over, repeat for the other side, try not to get a hernia throwing the whole thing into the back of your truck, and you're all done!

Security
Forget about it - this thing only cost 37 bucks and a half hour of your time. Your ROI on this risk kicks in the 2nd time you didn't have to crawl under your truck to unscrew a bolt to get the mat free.

 

Nice write up. Think I will be going to tractor supply soon

 

That's a 100 lb mat. Good find but more weight than I want to add.

 

Congrats to you. I thought about doing the same thing but when the dealer gives my 15% off on any accessories I bought the lb Tacoma mat....for about $95....and call it good.

 

I have the same mat as the OP but cut mine into 3 pieces to make it easier on my bad back when taking it out or putting it back.

 

Thanks! You won't hear any argument from me that it's pretty damn heavy. I live 5 mins from work and mostly use mine for DD and hauling boards, rocks, dirt, furniture, etc around town so if it's taking off .25mpg or so, I'm not too concerned. I'm going to get some bolt-on sliders some day and fill the toolbox in the bed up with junk so 100lbs isn't that big a deal, plus it adds a little more weight to my bed for getting around on icy hills and such. I had a few 70lb frozen sand bags rolling around in my old pickup for the past 7 or 8 years and I'm extremely sick of messing around with those.