Tie down options?

I recently bought a 2009 double cab long bed, having previously owned a Honda Civic for the past 10 years. Being new to pickup trucks, I'm not sure what my best options are for tie downs. The things that I would most likely be transporting (not all at the same time) would include lawnmowers, mattresses, baby strollers, random boxes, and if it could fit then a riding mower (years down the line). Can anyone recommend specific products to meet these applications? Thanks!

 

You can use the D rings and the factory bed cleats plus some rope or ratchet straps for all the things you mentioned

 

any tie downs will work...
i'd get another set of the sliding holder rings, to spread them around in the bed and have more options, another product is the front floor rings...

 

I keep a variety of tie downs behind the seats for various applications. I have a set of bungees, all different lengths, ratchet straps and regular pull straps. Ratchet straps are good for things that are squishy, like a matress. You have to be careful with ratchet straps because it's easy to over tighten. I use regular pull straps to secure motorcycles, lawnmowers, etc. Bungess are good for securing random loose, lightweight items and keeping them from sliding around the bed like strollers, random boxes, etc. Bungee nets are good if you have a lot of loose items that can't be tied down individually. I do not use bungees on anything where, if it got loose, could cause damage or is overly heavy. It's kind of a judgement call as far as what to use and when.

Welcome to TW from another Masshole!

 

How about specific brands and types? What about cargo nets?

Glad to see another Masshole and another DCLB!

 

I would add the additional D-rings in the front of the bed
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/90069-new-d-rings-available.html

Adding the additional D-rings was the best thing I have done and I use them all the time.

And really any rachet strap will work just fine. I have Bungie cords, motorcycle straps and ratchet straps in the bed pockets.

 

by "over tighten" do you mean you could easily damage the thing you're strapping in or damage the D-rings or rail cleats?

 

Any and all of the above. You could easily rip the stock plastic cleats out of the rail with a ratchet strap or risk damaging the bed if you get too crazy with them on the factory d-rings. You'd have to be trying pretty hard to mess up the bed and have them extremely over tight but it's possible and I've seen people do some pretty dumb things. If you're tying down a motorcycle, you could end up bending the handlebars or frame if you're not careful. Something about them, you don't look at what you're doing and just keep cranking and things can get broken. The pull straps you can only tighten as hard as you can pull, which usually isn't enough to break anything but is plenty tight enough to hold it in place.

For ratchet straps (or most other tie downs for that matter), you can find them at Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart or some auto parts stores. For most anything you're going to tie into the bed of the truck, the 1-2" wide straps are more than enough.

 

As above , be careful when cinching off rope or straps to the factory cleats , it's easy to put a lot of leverage on the T bolt head in the bed rail

 

http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/