Bed stiffeners - Rago, etc. - pros and cons?

I just installed a set of the Rago stiffeners on my 2019 TRD ORLB 4x4. They're well made and very beefy - stainless steel with a high quality finish. They come with 1/2-inch Grade 8 hardware - 3 bolts per side. The bolts are overkill, in my view. Anyway, I installed them. Fairly simple installation. Showed my wife, the rocket scientist (seriously). She points out the stiffeners are adding strength, but the holes I drilled (0.5 inch!) are reducing some strength, too. Something to consider.

 

Right on...

 

I went with the All Pro Bed Stiffeners about six months ago, partially to add strength but more so that I would have strong, additional tie-down points at the rear of the bed.

I wouldn’t loose any sleep over the additional holes.

 

May reduce a minimal amount since drilling is involved, but also improve overall integrity of the composite bed. And additional tie down points is always a plus.

I have the Total Choas bed stiffeners and I am very pleased with the fit and finish of them.

Always padding that message count

 

@TOTAL CHAOS bed stiffeners 10/10

 

Total Chaos bed stiffeners would be my choice if I decide to install. Question... What if anything did you apply to the newly drilled holes to guard against rust or corrosion? I'm a noob and drilling holes in my Tacoma is scary!

 

Anyone installed the set from GreenLane Offroad? Like that they're west coast based, but they seem fairly new on the block. <link>

 

I used cosmoline

 

This ^

I also think YotaMafia has a great set of stiffeners. Check them out here.

if you want a good deal on solid stiffeners and don’t want to pay TC prices I also recommend SOS Concepts. These ones are on sale.

 

Your wife is a very smart woman. And she makes a valid point. This is one reason why I have held off. My idea on the horizontal drill hole section is, that I am going to ditch the spacers and cut a piece of flat stock with drilled holes matching the brace and will use that as an inside backing plate to add strength to the plastic sandwich I am creating. I would rather not drill holes into the structure of the bed, but there are no other options. Not putting the drilled screws probably puts much more stress on the existing bolts and that is not good. I need to pull off a tail light to see if my idea is even possible.

 

Large washers were my answer. Because the part you drill through is steel.

 

So there is an internal steel bed stiffener there?

 

As I recall (it’s been over a year since my install, lots of sleeps since then), it’s not the composite bed there. That’s why the stiffeners are installed where they are. Keeps that corner rigid.

 

This video at 7:30 makes it sound like there is no bracing plate in that area and you are definitely drilling into composite on the front. Once the tail light is off, it will be obvious whether it's steel or plastic

 

It's steel

 

I installed the TC stiffeners about 3 years ago, i cant remember drilling through metal. I need to check again and cosmoline and holes in the metal

 

It's definitely steel, not composite. To answer an earlier question, I spray painted the bare steel holes with some black spray paint that I use when I scuff up my sliders and other underside stuff. I think it's Krylon Rust Tough paint.

 

@At The Helm have excellent stiffeners and were the first to have a bottle opener on each side, FTW!

 

No room for error there. Lol. Thanks.

 

Sorry meant to post video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbYanL1pP70