Installed D-Rings in the Bed (Pics)

I've got a couple (somewhere )

Hmmm you could be right.... I can always start with a small one and see how it does and if it is that bad, I'll go with a square hole.

Post pics when you are done.

 

It went pretty well. The bed mat material is tougher than expected and did a job on my 18v cordless batteries. To my surprise I don't have a corded drill; another excuse to buy a tool!

I'll be hauling motorcycle(s) so I know the general direction I need the rings to point for good tie down. A 3" hole through the mat works for this but if you think you're going to need to rotate the rings, you'll want something bigger and you can center the hole on the bolt. I centered on the ring. But this will work for me and I can always drill a larger hole to encompass this one later.

I felt for the center of the ring, lifted the mat and punched a hole with one of those spring loaded indentation thingies. Lowered the mat to check alignment, then pulled the mat back and layed it over a smallish carboard box so I could drill while on the truck without worry about going into the bed.

In hindsight, it might be better to remove the mat from the bed so you're drilling on a more solid surface. I'll try that once my drill batteries recharge.

Hole saw I used:
http://www.homedepot.com/Milwaukee/...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

As mentioned you'll also need a large size Milwaukee arbor and that's about $15.

update: Tried a new technique for boring the holes. Left the mat in the bed and marked the hole, started the guide hole from the center drill bit and a bit of a groove from the hole saw on top of my "drill box". Then removed the drill bit from the arbor (very easy, it's a quick release arbor so didn't even need to remove the hole saw part), then replace the box with a piece of plywood under the mat. Finished drilling the hole with hole saw alone (no center bit). Worked like a champ and did the remaining three holes on one battery pack.

 

I thought the same thing, using a holesaw. Lets see how it looks when finished.

 

The army surplus warehouse link is broken.... :-(

 

Hey everyone!

I'm looking forward to do this little, but useful mod! The problem is that I live in Mexico City, and the dealer sells the D-rings per piece and they cost aprox. 40 dlls, each!! they are nuts!!!

Well, I arrived today to San Antonio and I'm going to stay until Friday morning... does anybody know where can I buy a set of these rings here??

Thank u guys!!!

 

It's working now....

http://www.armysurpluswarehouse.com/military-issue-vehicle-cargo-tie-down.html

 

I also live in San Antonio and I looked around and did not find these D-rings so I just ordered from the army surplus link posted early on this thread.

 

I know, I've been looking for them, but haven't found them yet... the problem is that I live in Mexico City, but I came for business and I wanted to take those back home... I think that next time, Ill order them before I arrive...

Thanks!!

 

Awesome job!

sub'd

 

It has been working since that day 2 weeks ago, it was only down for an hour...

 

D-rings are in transit, new torque wrench has been purchased, set of Torx sockets on sale at Sears was acquired, I am all ready to go!

Thanks to all who did this before and wrote so extensively about it!

 

Just wanted to mention a quick tip for anyone having a hard time getting their bolts out. I bought these rings a month ago, tried to get my bolts out but could only get them half an inch before they just got too stiff. This time around I took my dremel with a tire wheel and cleaned up the bottom 2 inches of the bolts that stuck out of the bottom of the frame. Probably wouldn't hurt to grease them from that side either, but after that they came out much easier. I'm sure the PB Blaster I sprayed in there a month ago helped as well. Unfortunately you can only get to the front bolts with the dremel, the middle bolts I just had to force out. They were 3 times as much work, but I knew if I didn't do them all at once, I'd never go back for them. I put on an Access cover last week and completely lost use of my rails, so I knew I had to make the D-rings work.

Next project will be trying to come up with a way to easily mount a wheel chock in the bed without actually bolting it to the bed. The front rail of the bed cover gets in the way of the wheel actually resting against the front of the bed. I'll have to try to come up with something like this for myself....

 

Ordered mine, Extra tie downs will definitely help with hauling wood or cabinets

 

D-rings arrived and installed. Most useful mod for the money! Already using them to secure lumber to the bed. Thanks to all who wrote about this, it was a great help!

 

just ordered mine. just a heads up, it looks like the smaller ones are 5 for $5 like others have mentioned but the bigger ones are 2.99/ea so still pretty cheap. at first i thought they may be sold in pairs but didn't see anything that said this so i'm assuming they're in eaches. i ordered 4 with standard ground shipping to RI and it was 22 bucks.

 

Yep, they're $2.99 each, so you'll get four for $22 and you'll love them!

 

Sorry I didn't see this post sooner. I just used a piece of plywood and cut it to the shape of the bed in front of the wheel wells and then bolted the PitBull chock to it and painted it black with rattlecan. Nothing fancy. I used mine all summer and Fall for taking my bike to the track. Not sure I really need the chock in there to be honest. If you want mine, I'll probably be willing to sell it.

 

I looked in the back of one of the 2012's on the local lot and saw some rings mounted on the vertical side walls at the front of the bed. But is wasn't on all of the 2012's.

 

So if I got the toyota d rings (which I did, from my wife for xmas) Do I still have to dremel the washer off the bolts? Also, what is that all about? what exactly am I dremeling? I'm confused. Cant the d ring just go under the washer?

 

There is a small ridge preventing the washer to slide down the bolt. You have to sand it down a bit so the washer can slide out. Then, once you get the washer off, you can put that D-ring in between the washer and bolt head.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/166866-d-ring-installation-problem.html#post3436048