Bed stiffeners/suspension?

Hello TW- newbie here. Just got my first Tacoma (OR DCLB) and about to get a shell (either ARE Mx or Leer 180). What's the consensus on bed stiffeners? I've looked through various TW forums and I know lots of people add them- but trying to gauge whether they're a necessity. I plan on light off road (fire/BLM roads, gravel, snow) but no crawling or major rocks. Appreciate your rec's and advice!

 

Necessary with added weight (camper shell)
Total chaos makes a good kit.

 

+1

I have an ARE MX and I have the bed stiffeners from Total Chaos which work great

 

If for no other reason, the extra tie down points are super handy.

 

+1

Especially necessary if off-roading with camper shell/topper.
I have the Total Chaos kit. It's spendy but very well made. IMO offers the best strength with least amount of interference with space.

 

Be aware that bed stiffeners may cause issues with sliding things in and out of the bed since they protrude into that area.
There's a thread going here regarding the revival of internal bed stiffeners which don't have this problem.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4-wheel-parts-bed-stiffener-install.780812/page-8#post-29974243

 

I've always had a cap on my 2015. By the time I put them on (about 25k miles), I had a really tough time installing the driver side bracket. The bed's bottom to sidewall angle was no longer square. These two surface are separate structures of dissimilar materials and the design is inherently weak. My 93 and 01 with welded steel beds never had this issue. I had caps on them both, too. The 93 had 30k miles on it when I bought it, 214k when a tree totaled it. My 01 had about 160k miles on it.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. @BamBeds I'm assuming you meant revival "of" internal stiffeners? Or is there a brand called Revival? I'm aware of the internal stiffeners from 4WP but they're still on backorder and I'm looking to get it sorted asap and get the shell put on. If I install say Total Chaos version and then decide to go internal when they become available, any issue with that?

 

of*

 

+1 for total chaos. Added benefit of the tie down points. Hasn’t caused an issue for sliding things in and out of the bed.

 

the added weight you plan for (camper shell) is sitting on the side of the bed, and the bed is open in the rear, so it naturally create a splaying force at the rear bed walls, and bed stiffener helps to limit that. At least that is how I understand it.

 

I just came from the thread where @Kwikvette and @outershell are doing some prototyping on small batch manufacturing of the now discontinued 4WP internal stiffeners. In fact I thought this thread might be the one he was starting to keep track of it. IMHO if you think you may want hidden or interior stiffeners, it may be worth watching this space rather than dropping cash on something that interferes with using the full width of the bed.

 

I run an ARE topper and went with the

$53 NORTHYUN Tacoma Bed Channel Stiffener Rear Bed Channel Support Bracket Compatible with 2005-2023 Toyota Tacoma

amazon bed brackets. For what I bought it for, just a gusset for stiffening the bed and a great securing point for gear, it's works fine and arguably as well as most of them being sold of which many are overpriced for what your buying IMO.

 

If you're set on internal stiffeners then I would wait. Otherwise you'll have holes you'll have to plug from the previous installation.

Unless you run a slide out platform that is the entire width of the bed most stiffeners wont interfere as they don't go past the width of the wheel wells. I'd suggest looking at the different brands and designs and seeing what would work for you. The hidden stiffeners like the 4WP are nice but they don't offer as much as far as tie downs compared to others.

 

Aside from the benefits mentioned above, it also provides one peace of mind.

 

I am also from the thread on internal stiffeners, and am planning on waiting for those. I am a bit nervous though because I do have a rack & RTT on there now w/o any stiffeners

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/internal-bed-stiffeners.837114/

 

Internal bed stiffeners, solid dude.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/internal-bed-stiffeners.837114/

 

you’ll be fine, the stiffeners will get to you “kwik”

 

This makes sense- thanks. Planning to build a platform with slide-out drawers so if the TC's won't interfere with anything inside of the wheelwells it sounds like they'll work just fine.