Bed tie down cleat mod

There are many different ways of replacing the sliding cleats on the bedrails with stronger ones that wont bend when stressed.

I found the corner mount idea to be the strongest , but didnt like the ones on the market with aluminum threads so made my own

Started with making a cardboard template of what i liked , and a few pieces of 10 gauge steel plate.

For me it was easier to make each cleat out of 3 pieces of steel , and weld them together, rather than try to bend 10 gauge steel.

-cut two pieces to go against the rail , and drilled two 5/16" holes in each for the bolt to fit threw

-used the template to make the top piece, cut and smoothed to shape , and drilled two 7/16" holes for the tie down hooks to be able to go threw

-squared the pieces up and welded them together

-last , i made pieces to slide inside the bedrail for the cleat to be able to bolt to. I used 4 pieces of 3/8" steel , approx 1" x 1-1/4" and drilled and tapped them on center line for 5/16-18 thread.



Mig welded the underside , then tig welded the crack on the other side smooth without using filler rod

Smoothed all edges and sandblasted

Powder coated black

Mounted using grade 8 , 5/16-18 X 1" bolts with lockwashers

 

Nice job!

 

I dont know about others but i have no aluminum on mine. All steel with T slot nuts in the bed rails and
3/8th ss hardware

 

It all sounds very good and I think it helps securing staff that isn't to heavy. In my opinion the bed rails aren't very strong secured to the plastic bed. The floor rings are
stronger. I may suggest a lower profile bracket that will not take so much space from the "square" of that corner space.

 

I agree, its only as strong as its weakest point, and the rails def. are not the strongest design. Thanks for the suggestion, i dont mind the space it occupies seeing the wheel well is right below it taking up the lower space. but i am really impressed when strapping stuff down b/c it has hardly any give. I mainly like it mounted on top , becuase i put two dirtbike in the bed alot, and it works better up higher when crossing straps

 

Nice.