Anyone else’s bed cracking here?

You are right for sure, let others be warned. Did you feel top heavy in handling on or off road?

 

You felt it but I didn’t push it considering I knew the setup. Still drifted corners and messed around without worry. Now with 35’s and no rtt it’s going to be very different.

 

No offense but I think the topper was overloaded with the rtt etc. I have always been leery of adding roof racks etc to my past toppers though I always wanted that option especially for long out of state hunting trips.

I've seen more bed walls flex when the tailgate is down especially when those aftermarket net tailgates were in style. Older American trucks had bolt on bed sides with one weld in each lower rear corner. I've replaced a few when I worked in the auto body industry.

When I bought my new ARE topper with yakima tracks I asked how much weight can the roof support? The dealer replied up to 300lbs. With that in mind I will keep the loads on the roof under 250lbs to be safe and be mindful of any excessive bed wall stress.

 

Could of been overloaded, but I was still within the dynamic load limit of my cap. I was under the impression my cap would fail before my bed. Not the case.


I think the issue is the fact we have to be concerned. You figure two people sitting on your bedside is an issue. The fact that a caps dynamic load limit is beyond what you think the rails can hold is kinda concerning for a truck.

Regardless of my scenario your concerns do show that there is an issue and that people should be careful how they load their trucks because of the potential of damage.

 

Just checked mine this morning and sho nuff. Only the left side. I have bed slide and a leer topper. Never had any weight on the topper. Kind of shocked with all of these little issues with the truck, just took it in for front end vibes and now they told me I’m getting a whole new front diff???? Any threads on that? Or any body else have the issue?

 

There's a TSB or two about the vibes. The new diff is one of the fixes, but in reality, it just needs with the upgraded needle bearing or the ECGS bushing. The whole diff is a bit overkill, but good for you.

 

Right on. Yeah I’m not going to argue. But does the new diff have a bushing or needle bearing?? I guess I’ll find out.

 

It will have an upgraded needle bearing. The bushing is only an aftermarket item (East Coast Gear Supply).

I've had vibes since new with the stock suspension. When I get bored enough, I will swap in the ECGS bushing. If I happen to come into some $$$, I will do the free hub mod at the same time.

 

It'll fail later but gets you some more time.

 

So you’re saying he should get a diff drop?

 

Was that meant to be sarcastic?

It is generally thought that diff drops are bad bananas?

 

Oh completely sarcastic. Matt and I have a long relationship regarding diff drops and their effectiveness

 

Cool!

 

that is ALWAYS my recommendation!

 

So you’re recommending a diff drop for a 2.5 leveling kit.

 

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. My professional internet opinion is the DD suck and are pointless on anything but a 1st gen.

 

It seems like Toyota engineering was aware of a stress riser problem in that area since they radius-ed the corner there. This looks like the area that needs reinforcement. They took away so much metal there with the radius punched in. I also see that some trucks, like yours, have a larger gap between that upright and the steel cross beam below it. Mine is almost flush with the cross beam.

 

I'm conflicted. The skeptic in me sez that they were just making clearence for the composite bed to sit tight to the stanchion. The cup-half-full in me sez that they made a half hearted attempt at stress relief.

In the end, I can't really come up with a better solution other than thicker metal, possibly welding the connection, or tying the stanchion into the composite?

 

Just my $0.02, but cutting the bed sides for a high clearance bumper (if I see the photo correctly) is at least part of the problem here. Our rear fenders are cosmetic skins and unless you figure out a way to transfer the weight of a topper to the cargo rails and into the composite box the fenders are destined to fail, especially when you compromise them by cutting them up and that bracket behind the rear tires.

 

If they're just skins, why would cutting them off matter?