How to remove pickup bed

Anyone removed the bed before and know what needs to be done. I need to move the bed out a little to get to the bolts so that I can remove the side panel. I know I have to drill out the rivots for the gas filler and door, but I am not sure what else needs to be done. I am sure that someone has done the side panel removal before.

 

bump. I bumped a thread on this a while back because I am also interested but I never got a response.

 

remove bed bolts, remove filler neck, remove wiring connectors for tails lights, remove bed.

 

And on a related note....

Anyone familiar with any trucks whose beds match our POS plastics? I'm toying with the idea of putting in a REAL bed from a JY.

 

x2. i've put mine through hell and back and nothing is wrong with the liner only a few scratches.

 

Build a flat bed.

What makes you think the Tacoma bed is a POS, have you managed to crack or break the bed somehow? Also, PSU Taco is right, it's not plastic...

 

Not to mention doesn't rust or need heavy bedliner coatings.

 

Really the only negative with our beds in the light weight- other then that it is alot stronger then needed for our trucks. No dents, paint scratches, etc. that lead to rust to deal with. If its not broken why fix it? First, try to get the "POS Plastic" bed to fail for you. Its actually not plastic, but I bet you would have a hard time getting this bed to fail.

 

Speak for yourself. If you do nothing but haul beer coolers and sleeping bags in it, then yeah, it's pretty good.
But if you haul tools, supplies, equipment, anything needing to be tied down substantially, or anything heavy, then sorry, but the bed is going to be an issue.
These plastic beds have only been around for what, six years? Not enough time to determine what effect UV has on them. I don't care what the material is- unless it's metal, there is going to be some kind of UV degradation over time. I just sold my old minitruck that my Taco replaced, and it was 18 years old and going stronger than ever. Sure, the bed looked like it had seen 18 years of heavy use. But despite scratches and dents and gouges, there were no holes I didn't purposely drill, and no rust, and no breakage. And I beat the living shit out of it, including torquing things down to the point I snapped more than a couple of quality ratchet straps.
There is a fundamental difference between metal and anything plastic, plastic-based, "composite," fiber, or anything else. Metal may deform a bit when put under tremendous stress, but that deformation will occur long after any "composite" material would practically explode.
Oh, and plastic vs. composite? Composite is just a phancy plastic with a bit more strength. It's plastic with fiber mixed in. But you know what? It's still plastic. If it looks like plastic, contains mostly plastic, acts like plastic, why would I call it anything but plastic (unless I'm in marketing, of course)?
Now for the flamers about to get on my case about "Oh, you should have bought a full-size truck, if that's what you're doing with it!" Why? So I can have a bigger truck? It's still a truck, isn't it? My old truck was a Mitsubishi Mighty Max, nearly half the size of the Taco that replaced it. But damned if that didn't do everything I wanted it to (except hold more than two people), and still asked for more. 3,500# of bricks? Yup- from San Diego to OC. All my tools? Yup- all over SoCal. Back-country adventures farther than most people with 4wd ever get? Yup- all over CA and AZ. Ever have a problem with the bed, or concern it couldn't handle what I threw at it? Nope. Cuz it was made of metal.
Metal > Plastic, or Composite, or whatever. Every single time. Unless your only criteria is weight.

 

So... I'm going to take that whole rant as no, you haven't managed to break the composite bed yet... How about you just let us know if you do actually manage to break it and can back up your claims

You're not the only one that uses his truck like a truck and the rest of us have not had a problem with the composite bed so far.

If you're breaking 'quality' ratchet straps because you're overtightening, you shouldn't be allowed to tie things down. Overtightening is dangerous and if you've tightened to the point the strap is failing, you risk losing the load.

Lastly, get your facts straight... composite is not just plastic with little fiberglass mixed in.

 

Okay past all the rant bs......who has done this?? I need to pull it to rebuild the cross brace. Is this ^ everything? Or am i missing something?

 

Did a composite bed mess with your old lady somewhere down the line? damn...i could feel the hate.

 

I removed the side panel without taking the bed loose... I used a universal joint on my 1/4" ratchet and about 12" of extension to get the top three bolts out, then went underneath to get the last 2 or 3. Had to remove the tailgate and rear lamp assy to get the plastic off to get to the couple of bolts under there. Otherwise I left the bumper on and removed and replaced the bed panel. (don't forget the fuel filler assy).

NOTE: Tape up the corner of the cab to avoid scratching...

Feel free to ask questions... took me about 1 1/2 hrs to take it off and about 45min to put the new one back on.

 

lol

 

As one of the gals I work with would say... "He's angry on the inside... and it's leaking out..."

 

There is nothing wrong with the composite bed, I bet that it will inspire other truck manufactures at some point to put it in their trucks as well, not to mention it would cut down production costs in half probably. Go ahead and try to break it, good luck!

 

Try these composites on for size ... but I guess Naval Aviation uses POS as well:

http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14018/css/14018_593.htm

 

^ that's totally a myth. Composite is about as strong as a plastic milk jug.