Bed Mat Alternative???

regarding bullet point 5, I got mine for sixty bucks. Probably the second-cheapest thing I've done to the truck.

numbers 1-4 are made up problems. They are either one-in-a-million low probabilities and/or a 30 second inconvenience.


But I wont knock you for the grip tape. Thats pretty innovative.

 

Not a bad idea at all OP. But some interesting points have been made by others:

I don't see hosing out the bed as an issue with a mat - you just take the thing out (unless you're really lazy).

 

Roger that.

This post was never intended to sway those who now have mats or those who are going to get mats. This is simply an alternative to the mat. For owners like myself who have a Diamondback or other bed cover I’m never up in the bed on my knees.

Durability to me is a non-issue. If ever it needs replacing I won’t be fretting over it.

I’d love to do a comparison video of how well each system keeps items in place. Calling anyone in New England with a bed mat who wants to participate in a controlled test we can video the test for all to see. Bet many will still dispute the results, lol.

Take a minute to feel the love guys. Sending a virtual hug to anyone who is saddened there could be a different choice {HUG} Nobody is going to suggest to give up your mat.

 

This is a clever idea and I think it will work well for you. I've been calling around to my area dealers trying to get a good price on the rubber mat though. I really want the added cushioning as well as the no-slide advantages. I have a trifold-soft-tonneau so I'm not worried about it floating out on the highway or in the carwash.

Fi anyone has a great online source for the genuine Toyota bed mat, please hit me up. I find cheap sell prices but the shipping costs kills it every time.

 

You're on - where are you in New England?

 

Jump up in there to do some work and crawl around. You will be begging for a bed mat. Good idea but bed mats are no brainers.

 

Mystic area

 

Lol, at 60 I don’t jump or crawl around much anymore.

 

Great contribution OP. As you have now experienced, some people get defensive when an alternative is proposed as they take it as a personal attack on their choice to get a bed mat. Just human nature I suppose.

 

I'm 58 and still do. Mats also keep you from gouging the composite bed floor with, say, a log, which is what I loaded in my truck this weekend. Nice piece of 6' cedar about 18" in diameter. Bed mat saved the floor as it was pushed in with a skid steer. A few weeks ago I had a pallet of rocks weighing about 700 lbs set into the truck and then the forks pushed the pallet back enough so the tailgate would shut.
Hmmm, maybe we use our trucks differently. For me it's not always a few plastic bags of groceries or a bag of mulch.

 

Great idea until you have to slide something wood in there and it sands it down for you.

 

Hmmm, maybe so as some of us are moving heavy things into the truck by hand without the assistance of a skid steer or forklifts.

..I'm joking of course. I'm not going to accuse someone of only lifting/hauling organic groceries or a handbag in their truck.

 

Great idea if it works for how one uses the bed.

Since I actually have to slide heavy boxes in the bed several times a year, I actually have to remove the mat I have to do so.

Wouldn't work out well for me those days.

 

Yep. What I do is lay 2 2x4’s in the bed to act as rails and then just slide them right in there.

 

Sure but do you have two new hips like me?!

 

no new hips lol but I could use a left knee! Doc says I still have 10 years. I don't believe him.

 

I'd love a tape that is slippier than the bed mat but grippier than the bed. I'd tape up the bed under my bed mat. Then I could just pull the bed mat out on the days I'm trying to slide things in and out, and the bed mat is just too grippy.

 

Wait till you turn 68, thats when you really feel it. When you really active for many years getting those joints punished to oblivion week after week...parts wear out. I can tell you i get around a lot slower now.

 

Here’s my “Q-Tip” with regards to joint replacement. Don’t wait until you can’t stand it any longer. For me, they told me it was my back for years. My range of motion went down to essentially ZERO and so many muscles atrophy. I had both my hips replaced at the same time and what doctors don’t even consider is the rehab. Had I replaced one at a time I wouldn’t be able to rehab anything until they were both done. Surgery si a breeze. It’s the rehab that I dreaded.

They were so bad that had I not had them replaced I for sure would have passed away by now. I couldn’t have sat on a motorcycle even if they harnessed me and tried to lift up onto it.

I share this with any of you who might need a replacement not as a rant but rather how GREAT it is to be fixed. Thank God for our medical caretakers. Btw, I run into so many people who limp around and comment that they have a back issue. I suggest to them to get a hip X-ray and they normally don’t. Fast forward a year or two and they tell me they are getting a hip replacement, lol.

the sooner you replace a joint the easier rehab will be.

 

This is for sure my kind of guy - someone that thinks out of the box. Great idea !!! I made a mat and hate when I pull it out to see the water that collects under it. GENIUS !!!