more robust bed tie-down points?

I recently bought an '06 to replace the '99 with 271k miles that Toyota bought back from me.. and while I'm impressed that nearly everything is improved, I don't believe the bed rail system will meet my needs.. I regularly move arcade machines which tend to have a high center of gravity and need to be strapped in as tight as possible. A 3" strap pulled taut would hold in damn near anything, I'd rip the rails off if I tried that on the new truck, and the D-hooks at the back of the bed don't seem that strong either..

Has anybody added in hooks in the place they were found on the 1gen trucks? the placement was ideal for what I need. Anything aftermarket available or any other good solutions?

first time poster, but this has been a great resource I've searched through for many years.. thanks!

 

Welcome!

dang thats some heavy duty stuff right there
Get the TSB done first and then we will talk D-rings

 

^Exactly. Then you can steal all the video games you want without a problem.

 

Obviously, my first thought was the D-rings.. but even at 800 lbs WL I'd probably stress them too much with a 3" strap and they would be the weak link. They'd probably work fine for most things, but I can't chance it and I need something heavier than that..

I want the get the TSB done, but I'm under the impression it has to be under warranty for that? I'm at 55k miles so I'm still under powertrain, but not B-to-B. Any idea on cost outside of warranty?

On the old taco I cracked leaf springs twice.. I went with heavier springs after the first time and one still cracked a year later.. a normal load isn't any more than 600lbs or so usually, but every now and then I'll get something like that first pic above, that game weighs about 1k lbs.

My first truck was an '86 1 ton long bed (7.5') with a 22RE. Couldn't really tow anything with that but it could haul anything. Long bed sure would be nice on a Taco, I think they phased it out in '97 or so?

 

What he's talking about is installing the D rings into the bed bolts. You simply won't find a stronger tie down point than that.

You could probably go with an AAL instead of the TSB. Someone more knowledgable on this will chime in, I'm sure.

 

If those are the cheap ones, where do we find better ones?

I'd like to have the strongest ones possible. I believe I just ordered the rings you posted, but I'd like to know about stronger ones.

 

Thanks.. I'm interested to hear what my options are for the springs as well..

I'm aware of exactly what he's talking about, though. I don't need the D-rings at the rear of the bed (I assume this is standard-issue?) so I could relocate them to the front, but if there is anything heavier out there I need to go that route. The D-rings will likely stretch and the flange will probably bend over time using heavy straps. The bolts themselves are surely solid enough.

I realize I'm in a minority here as most people don't actually use tacos for heavy lifting .. moving a couple bikes or a fridge isn't going to warrant any undue stress on the rail system.

If there is nothing heavier readily available out there I'll probably look into getting a couple rings fabbed up from plate steel that I can attach to the bed bolts, it'll probably only cost a few bucks and could be laser/water cut in a minute and then bent in the middle, or something along those lines..

 

Yeah, that's what I ordered and plan to do. I also see that you can cut, remove or place the washer under the d-ring...I plan to cut. It provides more base for the head of the bolt.

In the picture above, he uses the washer under the d-ring. This probably looks better than cutting (depending on how cleanly I can use my angle grinder).

 

The size of the strap does not have anything to do with how much force is applied to the D ring. The strap has a hook on it that is less than 3 inches, doesn't it?

If the D rings on the 1st gen Taco were strong enough look for one in a junkyard and install them on the front bed bolts. Personally, I think an 800 lb working load rating would be entirely adequate for your use. The 1000 lb unit you refer to has its weight being pulled down by gravity. The enire 1000 lbs is not applied to a rearward vector and you would have the load split between two rings providing a 1,600 lb working capability.

 

Bed bolt d rings or similar heavier duty thing using bed bolts, make sure you don't have the magic folding tailgate ( not sure how much of those machines ever hit it) tsb for that too but only up to 36k. There is a reinforcement thread. I'm doing Toytec 1.5 AAL that works with the tsb leafs & timbrens for load handling without bottoming.

 

I need you to drop the Blitz game off at my house if thats not a problem...