Reducing dust in the truck bed

Whoa whoa whoa. You seem overly sensitive and hostile. I gave you some links to information about the subject. Don’t cut off the hand that feeds you.

 

I appreciate the links, the patronizing first paragraph could have been left out. That air dust blower thing that dude has going is way overkill tho. Have a good one

 

Yes obviously they are not. That's why we buy things like tonneau covers...

 

The light thing is exactly what I did prior to driving a bunch of dirt roads out in Utah, weather stripping and some silicone in the transitions where the bed rails curve and to gap the step down at the front of the bed. It stopped 99% of the dust and I drove through a 2 hr rain storm with almost zero water in the bed. Part of my work was sealing electrical enclosures to the desert elements. I doubt it can be stopped 100% but I can live with 99 w/o too much effort.

 

Alright, here's the full method.

1. ESI Tailgate seal for the tailgate.
2. Remove the inner bed rails (sides and front). Silicone around the bolt holes and reinstall
3. Remove the bed caps. Aluminum tape over the bed sides, then silicone around the holes (I'd do a long bead on the outside and inside of the holes), then reinstall.
4. Either add a foam block in that front gap in the corners of the bed and tape over it with flex tape, or shove as much rubber butyl as you can in there.
5. Remove the bed cubby, silicone around the bolt holes, reinstall. Same thing with the power outlet.
6. Use rubber butyl tape and push it into every crack/holes in the bed

If you do all of that, and the seals on your tonneau cover is good, you will be 99% waterproof and 95% dustproof.

 

I’ve never owned one, but I don’t think tonneau covers come with a guarantee to keep the elements out. It’s going to take more work to seal a pickup bed. There are drain holes, openings along the tail gate, and other unsealed gaps. You have to know the history of the pickup to fully understand the reasons for this.

In any case, there are many threads about sealing the taco bed, but I’ve not read one that claimed the same success as a SUV (eg the 4Runner) designed by the factory. I’m not saying you cannot make improvements, but keep your expectations in check.

 

I've driven my truck thru literally hundreds of miles of heavy rain with mine, a remnant of a hurricane, and only had very minor water intrusion (and because of this thread I know why and how to fix it). The dust seems to be a bigger problem since it floats up with air, and now I have a fix for that too.

 

This is awesome

 

Did I miss this video being posted?...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8MX0RvSCXg&t=423s

 

Just found the Tacoma installation-specific tailgate seal info for ESI's "Ultimate Tailgate Seal."

https://tailgateseal.com/ToyotaTacoma2016.html

Good seal material size and profile. When I was trying to piece this together in 2015, it was difficult to even source materials, most of it showing up from Asian countries and having dubious/vague specs.

 

This! This is more or less what I have done with an excellent result!
1,2, and 3 are spot on. For #4, Toyota sells (expensive) parts for these corners. I added these and also butyl. No leaks. And for #5, there is a TW member selling kits to seal the bed cubbies, and they've worked great for me.

 

The only way to cut down on dust is to leave your truck on the showroom floor

 

There is a specific route guide for the Tacoma side rails with this esi product- I have it and used it on my install. I have extra that I plan on using to redo completely to incorporate the rsi canopy. Esi is some of the best foam truck tape/bulbs you can use out there- I have the rubber tailgate gap shield from them too that I need to install yet (I tested a excess piece in the corner to see how it was going to hold up and it’s done good as long as you clean properly and use 3m adhesion primer/promoter). I’ve been meaning to spray inside the tailgate with 3mcavity wax before installing the gap shield since it won’t be as accessible after.

 

Looks like if I kept reading I’d seen you found it already.

 

I did the Toyota plug for #4 but I was specific on my cuts to the bed caps for a perfect shape tight fit. I don’t use any silicone or butyl tape personally and when I had the are fiberglass cap they included foam tape to fill the gap on the front bed rail so I cut to fit with the plugs. I’m happy with the results for my use

 

Easiest way I’ve found is to get some positive pressure in the bed. I have a Softopper and found that leaving the front window unzipped a bit and taking out the tailgate to bed seal( I have a snail armor plate and the gap is larger) the amount of dust has actually decreased to almost nothing. Air coming in at the front and leaving through the back prevents the dust from coming in at the rear in the low pressure area. Just my findings.

 

One thing that really helped me was to cover the holes in the bedside cubbies. Right in the rear tire fender wells, they pick up a lot of dust and mud

 

That's interesting (can't do it it with a tonneau though), but what about in the rain? Why not seal too? It's pretty cheap and easy. Those bed rails covers apparently snap right off and definitely are a spot where water gets when thrown up from tires during rainy drives.

 

Has anyone tried

ESI ROK BLOCK Tailgate Gap Cover

$36 ESI ROK BLOCK Tailgate Gap Cover 4.25" width

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BPE4AP6?language=en_US

Looks like a great solution for the gap at the bottom of the tailgate especially since I seem to have small items fall into that crack sometimes when tailgate is down.

 

I guess you didn’t see my recent post mention this