Sealing the Bed.. with pics.

So I did many searches ... and what to do is mentioned a lot but I couldn't find anything with any pictures to really help me understand what most folks were doing when it came to best practices for sealing the bed caps and other areas of the bed to minimize dust and water intrusion. After looking at a bunch of threads here and on other sources and reading what people did I came up with my approach. This is by no means the only way I am sure... nor am I claiming it will be the best, but it is what I am trying. For further clarification, I am getting a Alu-Cab Contour Canopy installed this Friday so I will update this process going forward and try and document any issues or setbacks that I have as well. I will also update with any further measures I end up taking. Hopefully this is helpful to someone out there.

So first thing is first... Removing the bed rail caps.. I used a plastic trim tool from set I got long ago on Amazon I would gently lift on the cap and then push the tool under and against the clips... it seemed to help push the clips in enough to wiggle and easily pop the caps off. I was able to get it off without breaking a single tab.




Now we can see all those holes everyone loves soooo much!... Hopefully the above pictures will help with showing the layout of the tabs next to their respective holes. Next step was to use some rubbing alcohol to clean and remove any wax or anything from the surfaces.


Next up... Removing that front bar and the first step to sealing things up (fingers crossed)...

 

All Right... So that Front rail is held in by 5 T30 Torx bolts. Now my truck has 20k or so miles on it I was expecting these to come out fairly easily.... NOPE. Some of the bolts had corrosion on them and were quite stuck requiring a bit of force to break loose.



They did come loose and I will have to clean up those bolts and probably use some Anti-Seize on them to hopefully help keep it from getting worse. The bar comes from the factory with a simple foam seal.. I have never really trusted these so I added a nice thin bead of Automotive Silicon along the contact edge and then forward at the caps to seal under it.



Put it back on and tighten down those torx bolts and bingo this part is done (for now)... Next working on the bed sides and caps....

 

Did you notice if your front rail bar has a hole on the bottom of it towards the driver's side and did you seal it up?

I finally got around to trying to seal my Tacoma's bed last year and couldn't figure out how water was still getting in when I was looking from the tailgate area in (didn't climb in). Even more confusing it looked like water was streaming a little while after it rained.

Finally climbed in there and discovered there was a hole at that spot that I think was acting like a gutter or something. Sealed that hole up and then water started to leak through the seams where the bar meets the bed. And I think under the side caps still had leaks draining towards the end too.

I gave up at the time but guess maybe I need to remove the front bar entirely and try to seal it up. Not sure how water is getting in there though because never looked at it. I talked to someone with a F150 and they said their truck is kind of similar where it has tubes that's supposed to direct towards the drain holes on the floor of the bed. And I'm not sure if Toyota was trying to do that too, having that hole a little bit over the drain holes.

Anyways watch out for that hole in the front bar if you haven't already. I might've missed it but don't think I've ever seen it mentioned in any of the threads talking about sealing the bed and am not sure if they changed something so it's not applicable to all years. And thanks for the pics, I might give it another shot.

 

Curious to see how this turns out for you. I have gone to the extent you have here but I found most my issues stemming from the rail by the front rails. I used foam and sealant both have worked for a but but never fully. its never a ton of water but certainly more than I would like.

 

The tailgate will be the toughest spot to keep out the critters from getting in your shell. Curious to see what you do.

 

I looked at that bar pretty closely and didn't notice any holes. I did the Silicon in an elongated U if you will with it along the front where it touches the front of the bed and then forward towards the cab on the ends along the bottom of the plastic cap.. so creating a dam of sorts.

 

On to the side rails! First off was to seal this big ol hole... You can see in the pic that it looks like dirty water was coming in from this spot. I started with some Foil duct tape to cover it and then used this silicon to lock it in and seal the gap towards the top. (I also ran a bead along the sneaky little seam underneath the hole and up into that corner by the tail light... and then along the front edge of the track bar... You can see it in the pick if you look close) Sorry I didn't get a pic of it all sealed up with the tape and everything.



Next, time to tackle those top holes!.. Along the inner edge I used a butyl tape (made in the USA) to create a dam and seal that giant gap between the plastic cap and the metal of the bed. For the individual holes I used the Silicon and created a generous ring (probably just shy of a 1/2 in deep) around each hole that should seal very well to the cap... I know this is a bit of double duty but I want to give it the best chance possible. I know others have used foil tape but that never made sense to me because as soon as you put the cap back on it punctures it.




Next up ... dealing with that pesky front gap between the front rail and the caps.

 

This seems to be where many problems arise.. the stupid gaps between the front bed rail and the front of the caps. In the first pic you can see how much air space is in there... and it isn't just between the two there is a long gap that runs down (that is near impossible to get a pic of) just below the inner edge of the cap. I took my time here and just used the Bed-it tape to try and fill any gap I could find. Take your time and use a nice bright flashlight.. get up in your bed and shine it all over the damn place under the rail (do it at night) and it will help you find all those gaps. It isn't purdy but it should work (and yes I know it would have looked better in black tape but no one will really see this and at least this way y'all can see what I have going on).

 

There is a Toyota factory option for this that may save some time and effort if interested. Almost 100% guaranteed to be sealed.

https://www.toyota.com/4runner/

 

Ok so that is about as much as I can do for the caps and rail for now... Let's talk about other areas... For the drain holes in the front of the bed I will probably find some sort of removeable plug.. that way if water or spills do happen I can pop them out and clean and drain... The tailgate I will tackle once the cab is on... So that just leaves the "cubby" by the power outlet. My Taco is a 20 and only has the small cubby on the one side. I have seen that there are 3d printed boxes to cover the holes that the lid uses for the prongs and the lock and figured I could make some.

First step was to remove the whole unit to see what I was working with... 6 more t30 torx (and guess what all stuck just like the front rail... more cleanup and anti-seize) the plug is easy enough to remove. It amazed me that this just sits there above the exhaust... no guard or encasement... just open to road spray.


I measured the 3 cuts / holes on the cubby (which seem hand cut they are so rough) and figured out what size I need to make the little boxes not only to clear the door parts but also the hole the entire pannel has to go in. I had some scrap 1/4 in pvc sheet lying around so I quickly measured out the parts needed for each of the little boxes. I used PVC glue like you would use on plumbing to weld it all together.



Now came attaching it to the cubby... after cleaning it really well I scuffed up the area around the holes for better adhesion. To attach the boxes I used a 2 part epoxy (pictured above). While I was at it I also filled the 2 drain holes with some silicon.



To make things look a little nicer and protect them just a bit more I sprayed the boxes with a couple coats of flat black enamel I had lying around. Now while I am only picturing the bottom two for the door tabs I also did the same for the longer top hole where the lock goes.



Final step was to reinstall it... Some Bed-it tape around the edged and some freshy de rusted torx bolts with coat of anti-seize and reinstall like it came out.


This will do it for now until I get the Alu-Cab on this Friday. Then we will take a pass at the tailgate and see if all this work paid off. I will try and keep this updated as I go. Again hopefully this helps a few folks out.

 

My neighbor thought sealing his attic was a great idea. Little did he realize the moisture problems he would have from his not so great idea. I'm guessing you might find yourself with some serious rust issues down the road with your sealing effort now. Nothing good ever comes from any project that includes 'JB Weld'.

Unless of course this is your ultimate goal. In that case, seal on!

 

As my Grandad used to say... there is one in every crowd When we were looking for an overland rig we really did debate hard between the Tacoma and the 4Runner. We went with the Tacoma because we were originally thinking of putting a full Alu-Cab system in the back or possibly doing a bed replacement.. We may still at some point down the road. That and the cargo space while still having 4 seats isn't even close. I am not under the illusion that this will ever be completely dust and water proof.. just trying to mitigate as much as I can

 

Proving it can be done and working on the project is half the fun anyway!

 

You do realize there is a whole slew of JB Weld products and not just the classic JB Weld that most of us grew up with... as it is a brand name. The stuff I am using is basically automotive silicone caulking. I have used it before on various projects and nothing I have done here aside from the epoxy used to attach the small plastic boxes is permanent and / or not easily undoable. The butyl tape is the same. Not sure where you think I am going to have serious rust issues.. but to each their own...

 

I know the products well, and almost every bad idea start with "try 'JB Weld'. This one is probably not going to be any different. Obviously the plastic won't rust, but you are going to be trapping water anywhere you try to seal metal. When you trap water, you get rust.

 

Sorry that JB Weld is not your favorite brand. I have used various Automotive 100% silicon products from 3M to this and they are all fairly similar.. so how using a simple brand is akin to all bad ideas start with this is beyond me. I understand how rust works so no need to explain it. All areas that I have "sealed" are not actually sealed and will allow water to exit the way it came in or will hold no more water than it would have as designed by Toyota from what I can see. The only exception being the back of the cap by the tailgate where I had the tape forming a u as wind would blow water into that corner (which I did end up removing for that very reason). Thanks for you input.

 

JB Weld is a phenomenal product, and as remarked upthread there are different variations for material used on. It’s saved me from repairs that would’ve been costly without it.

 

I can see by the quality of your work that you are pretty experienced.

 

For the tailagate.

$36 ESI ROK BLOCK Tailgate Gap Cover 4.25" width

https://www.amazon.com/BLOCK-Tailga...gid=pla-493008252131&ref=&adgrpid=75066162214
Also this

$29 ESI Ultimate Tailgate Seal with Taper Seal 10ft for use with Truck Caps and Tonneau Covers

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Tai...d06-44f5-96ec-55ea2f0fc7e7&pd_rd_i=B00IPQWXZQ

 

Never claimed to be experienced at sealing the bed caps... matter of fact I believe I suggested just the opposite in the original post. I have used a few different Automotive silicone products on a few different projects in my life time, All worked in a fairly similar manner and as expected. Not sure why any of this has caught your ire. I again appreciate your input on the matter but respectfully disagree. Hope you have a nice day.

Benny thanks for the Links