2nd gen bed

Are the beds just plastic? Or is there metal between the plastic? I'm designing a bed rack so I can haul more than just my dog's kennel in the back. I want to put 4-8 bolts in the bottom of the bed to hold this thing up. What problems am I going to run into with this if any?

 

Anyone really quick before I take off to go to the fab shop?

 

I've got d-rings that I added in the rain water drain holes in the front of the bed. I drilled them larger and put in some d-rings. They've held up great supporting the motorcycle.

To directly answer your question, it's a composite. I'm not 100% sure what it is but it is magnetic (at least the back posts inside the rear tail lights are because you can get a good electrical ground there).

Depending on the stress you think this thing will see, put a plate washer on the bottom side and you'll be good to go.

 

But how would I get to there from the bed?

 

It might help if we knew what you were attempting and where you intend to mount it. The bed is fairly strong and you can drill it and use thru-bolts. Use a backer plate or a washer if you can, it'll only make it less likely to fail. You can crawl under the truck and stick a washer and nut on whatever you're bolting to the bottom of the bed.

 

When I added extra d-rings I backed them with 4" x 4" x 1/8" stainless from beneath to spread out the stress points.

Drill a pilot hole and then go larger.

 

Its just a composite bed, no metal.

 

but to answer your question Yes it is some kind of High strength composite plastic

 

I don't really know how to explain it well, but its a basket rack that will have for legs. The four legs will be bolted to the bed through flat pieces that welded to the bottom of each leg. I'll either do 1 to 2 bolts for flat piece that holds the legs. I don't know if that makes sense or not but the guy said in about a week or so it'll be done. I'm not sure which size bolts I will use but I know there is going to be a big washer and lock washer underneath the bed. Sorry if this doesn't make a lot of sense. But hopefully you get the idea

 

I'd put flat plates (same size as the ones welded to the legs or even a little larger) also under the bed and sandwich the bed between those plates. I'd assume one thru bolt in each plate would be plenty. Depending how big these 'plates' are I wouldn't want holes in the composite too close to each other.

 

Sorry to thread jack .. Where did you get the D-rings from? I would love to add 2 more to the front of the bed.

 

I did this as well.

 

I bought a set from Toyota. The same ones that are mounted in the rear of the bed. There are other other aftermarket options that work well, I belive military surplus is a popular choice and strong as hell!

 

Someone has a thread on this forum that they have a source for the D rings and they are much cheaper than Toyota D rings.