Bed stiffeners

I’ve had side mount tool boxes with 100-200 lbs of gear inside each of them for 304k miles & my bed sides are good as new. The front mounting holes for my bed actually partially collapsed from the weight I carry in addition to my side boxes.

Maybe if you’re doing some extreme crawling they’d be beneficial but I don’t see the need for most owners.

 

Part of me is terrified of the drilling. It makes me nervous. Haha. My buddy is finishing up his brand new workshop/garage (remodelling), and when he's done, I'll take it over there and I'll let him give me the courage to put a few new holes in the truck. I was a B student in shop classes. It's always been a crapshoot for me whether or not my holes are where I planned them

edit: stop being children. Double entendres were unavoidable

 

@Taco_Craig

I was a bit nervous to drill holes on the bottom of the hood when I installed my hood struts (QuickLift Elites). The engine bay drilling wasn't too bad...but I definitely did not want to poke a hole through the hood!

 

just drill the holes, super easy lol

 

I love the DRT fabrications Stiffeners. its a little nerve wracking to drill into your bed frame but definitely seems more rigid with the alucab set up.

 

I will answer this in depth tomorrow. I'll find my old posts about this topic and combine it into one post here.

 

I'm looking forward to that discussion.

Just by looking at the design, the Total Chaos (TC) ones seem to extend the highest to the bed rails...there may be another that does as well.

My opinion/logic thinking is, the higher the extension to the bed rails, the better. Again, just my opinion.

The TC seem to be the most expensive too. It doesn't stop me from buying them and everyone has a budget.

 

https://www.4wheelparts.com/sku/4 Wheel Parts/standard/61748W.pdf

.

 

ideally, a design like the ford raptor versions would be best for bed stiffness. but worst for bed usefulness


the 4wp demonstrates that the upwards extension doesn't matter so much, as long as the corner is triangulated by a few inches at most. the rigidity of any design is really only in hitting the first 3" horizontally and vertically of the corner. if outward expansion is the concern, the 4wp design does it better than the tc design. stiffening the corner on the outside vs the inside

though i'd be curious to see some destructive testing...

 

I think the main thing going against the 4wp version is that it doesn’t tie into frame like the rest. If someone is willing to sacrifice rigidity for less impact on bed space, 4wp has my vote.

 

Very true

 

I also am someone coming from cali raised to 4wp for that very reason.

 

What part of the frame are you referring to? The truck steel frame or the composite bed framework?

 

I am getting ready to add a Alu-cab Contour Canopy and a Gen 3 tent with all the gear suspended from the canopy i.e. cubby with gear, ammo box slide, table mount with table to the ceiling and whatever else I am tossing in the canopy. I plan on getting total chaos bed stiffeners as they will work with my goose gear bed plate. I see a lot of weight pushing down on a potential weak point. Under corrugations this will no doubt effect the strength of a composite bed and any help I can give it will give me more peace of mind. Plus it will give me more places to tie down more gear.

 

I'm interested in this answer too @tacotroy17 - are you talking about the large tie down and T55 Torx screws in the bottom of the bed tying to a rear frame crossmember?

I thought the 4WP tied into a frame crossmember at the bottom of the bed and looks like they've got a larger cross-section than the TC ones to resist the top edges of the bed leaning out. I've got a set sitting in the garage still boxed up. I've heard multiple issues with 4WP quality so I need to get on inspecting those.

 

For light duty or cap installed, I like the low profile bed rail bars. Usually use just the most aft mounted one. If properly installed and shimmed/spaced will lower bed flexing for the average user

 

From install instructions

 

That is correct. The large torx. From what I saw in installation, all points that I drilled trough were just sheet metal panels.

I think the quality of the stiffeners is great though. The finish was good and they are beefier than I expected.

 

Looks like that is in fact the cross member in step 14. A sturdier mounting point than I thought when I was down there.

 

I was in a similar position until I found chipping near the top of the insides of my bed that could only have come from the rear end flexing during offroading. I am stock weighted with an empty bed, but have upgraded suspension. After noticing the chips I threw on the Total Chaos stiffeners. Time will show if they corrected the problem, but they damn sure won't hurt. If you have extra weight in the rear or wheel your truck, I would recommend getting a quality set. Additional tie down points back there also don't hurt. I chose TC since they go all the way to the top of the bed and look the most finished.