Tailgate / Bedside gap getting worse

Hey guys. Have done lots of searches on the matter. I have a camper shell and total chaos bed stiffeners on my 3rd gen taco but the gap keeps widening. It opened up quite a bit on my last offroad trip. Is there any way to fix this? I feel like the bed stiffeners have done nothing.

 

Can’t tell what’s going on from that photo brother...be nice to see the gap along the vertical length of the tailgate both sides.

 

Hmmmm. How much does that cap weigh?

Was just looking at this picture, seems like there isn't as much support for that built into these beds:

 

Does the design of the cap make any difference? I would have guessed that the rigid fiberglass of the cap structure would help with the rigidity of the bedsides, not spread them apart. There's definitely nothing happening like this with my cap.

 

Have you been rear ended? From here your right bedside looks like your truck took a hit . Seems like I see a buckle just behind the character line of the wheelhouse .

 

I would think so too, although it probably depends on how the cap is clamped down.

The other thing is that the farther it opens up, the faster it's going to get worse.

I'm thinking op needs to yank the cap, bend the bedsides back, and then reinforce them internally.

 

No, haven't been rear ended. The rh panel fender is damaged from offroading but has nothing to do with the problem. Its been splitting before the fender was damaged. Just wondering if and how it can be fixed.

 

Cap weighs 160lbs. Yes. The bed is weak and made of a composite material. Any tips on how to close the gap?

 

Any tips on bending the bed sides back?

 

I would take it to a body shop and get their opinion, they deal with these kinds problems all the time.

My other suggestion would be a ratchet strap to pull it back together, but I doubt it would be fixed.

 

You can put a good ratchet strap across the back nice and tight especially when off road .

 

When offroading ratchet strapfrom bed stiffener to the other . To straighten one side ratchet strap from D-ring in bed to the bed rail system and ratchet it straight . If it wont work with a larger strap buy a cheap come-a-long from home depot . Pretty easy really. I'm a bodyman/collision tech and we use a frame machine and just pull it with one of the towers but a come-a-long will work just go slow and keep checking against your tailgate. It wont fix the design but will straighten it. Afterwards keep a ratchet strap on there..

 

@doubletap ‘s shell looks like its on top of the bedside rail so it does not support the bedside much, nor has much support from it. My ARE shell is very heavy too, plus has a rack, but it overlaps the rail and supports the bedside horizontally, as well as being firmly mounted to it by the front and very rear of the rail. There is no way the bedsides can bend outwards opposite of each other with it, but they can bend in the same direction if I park on a steep side hill.

Doubletap - were your bedsides ever under the lip of the shell and now they’ve slipped out?

 

Just a guess but you never know. Loosen the clamps and see if it pops back in. When the bed flexes, it may be enough force to momentarily overcome the clamping force, then when it relaxes, the clamp is holding it there.

 

Funny, i’m having the opposite issue, the gap is getting smaller and i’m starting to lose paint. The tailgate can actually move a fair amount laterally btw

 

You all are making me paranoid about getting my cap put on in a couple weeks. Already put the stiffeners on from Chaos, and I don't think I'll be doing any heavy off-roading, but it's killing me seeing these posts. I'm putting a storage box on the inside with some drawers and fridge and I'm thinking about making it stronger so I can use it to pull the bed sides in. haha

Don

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Don, be sure your box and other heavy items either bolt to the floor, or to the front of the bed and the sides instead of to just the sides.

I drove a Forest Service Dakota that had a toolbox bolted to just the sides and it tore the bedsides because it wasn't also bolted to the front.

 

Im really interested in this method. Found a come along tool at Home Depot for around $25 dollars. So to confirm your method. Put one side of the come along tool on the D ring on the opposite side and the other side on hooked into the bed rail and give it a couple yanks with the come along tool? Wondering if pulling on the bed rail would bring it back together?

 

I have got TC Bed stiffeners and it still split. These beds are just weak.

 

That's the plan. I'm going to build it out of 80/20 material and put some plates under the T-55 bed bolts to hold things down. Hopefully that will work well enough.

Careful with that... You'll pull the hooks off or break things pretty easy with a come-along. I think a big ratchet strap may be better and give a little bit finer adjustment.

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