Installed D-Rings in the Bed (Pics)

I just ordered my D Rings from Army Surplus.

I built a sleeping platform in the bed of my truck. I have a camper shell. Besides sleeping back there I can haul scuba gear on the above platform and the tanks down below.

I'm going to add extra d rings by drilling holes into the bed floor and use these to secure the tanks to the bed. This way I can go down to Monterey in the morning and go diving and hit up the trails in Hollister OHV with out the tanks moving around. They weigh around 35-40 pounds each so I want them super secure.

 

Great Idea!!!

 

I want to do this mod but am hoping someone can offer some insight.

I am going to add the DRings the the side of the box which is where they intend. I am also going to add them to the box floor utilizing the frame bolt per the OP.

What is the torque spec of bolt that goes into the frame that everyone is removing and dremeling?

I was thinking of installing the DRing through a cleanly drilled whole of the bed mat that would be in line of the bolt that goes into the frame. This way they are over the bed mat and look good without having to cut the bed mat out. I really don't want to cut the bed mat because it looks so good! This would also act somewhat as a deterrent from someone stealing the bed mat or possibly it come flying out of by box since it is fastened down as well.

Would having 1/2" less engaged threads into the bed frame be detrimental? The bed mat is 1/2" so I would lose that in thread engagement.

Has anyone tried what I am thinking? Any success or pictures?

Thanks

 

sub'd for later....good write up.

 

Before I did the D-ring mod I PM'd a lot of folk to see how they liked their setups; many thanks to blunt, BrettBretterson, JKD, and Primersinmyshoe for their valuable feedback, you guys rock.

I put Army Surplus Warehouse Rope rings behind all the #T30 torx that hold the side bed rails. I managed to strip one of the torx 'cause I'm brilliant like that. Though I couldn't find another torx, a button-head phillips bolt with 6mm-1.0 threads was an adequate replacement.

I shoved some used string trimmer line into the D-Rings to keep the noise and movement down, it worked surprisingly well. Two strands of line and the rings won't fall, even over some bumpy roads.

I only put rings on the middle set of bed bolts since my taco already had floor tie-downs in the corners. I backed out all of the bed bolts and hit them with stove paint. Hopefully the paint holds up, the hardware in the bed looks a lot better black.

blunt's D-rings high on the bed corners near the tailgate looked good to me so I copied him. I read that the Toyota cargo net comes with hardware to utilize those same bolts so I'm confident that it's a solid mounting point.

All told I added 14 new tie down points to the taco, I'm actually looking forward to helping my friends move next weekend. Thanks to everyone who posts here, it's really nice to be able to research mods.

 

Way to go! You took it to the next level.

 

Sub'ed for a nice weekend project

 

You guys won't regret doing this mod.
We did ours last summer. Installed 4 additional tie-downs in the bed using the military surplus d-rings. Back & middle, both sides. We also cut cute little squares in our bed mat to accommodate...

These last couple months, we've been ripping carpet/pad out of the upstairs and my mother-in-laws house. These extra tie-downs have been awesome to to haul all the carpet. One of the best mods ever!!

 

I use my extra d rings to secure scuba tanks. I have enough rings for 8 tanks. This is great piece of mind when you have to come to a quick stop and don't have to worry about the tank valves getting slammed by other tanks.

I lay them down in pairs. The tanks go under a platform that the rest of the gear sits on. The platform is great for sleeping on too.

 

http://www.etrailer.com/Cargo-Tie-Downs/Yakima/Y07011.html

I helped my friends move today and got a chance to use my new d-ring set-up. Everything worked really well and I'm quite pleased.

The link above is to a Yakima bungee cargo net. My friends gave me an old one, circa 1995, today for help moving. I have the "long" 6.1' bed and this net works very well.

Frankly, I always thought that I would want a web cargo net but I was really impressed w/ this net and since it was free to me the price was right

 

Great write up. Thank you.

Shortly after buying my truck I was hauling some materials and wishing I had d-rings up front. I was excited when I found this simple mod. I wanted to stay with the stock d-rings, felt it was more uniform. Jorge at Camelback parts here on the forums hooked me up. Got them last night and got to modding.

D-rings installed.

 

A belated thank you. I'm finally gonna do this!

 

I wish I would have taken a pic of it when I seen it. I took my truck in for service a month or 3 back and Chuck Hutton Toyota had a red Baja inside on the showroom floor. This Baja had 2 extra d rings already installed cept they were installed on the side of the fend well like half way up the flat surface. It was straight even with the front bolts that most of you are changing out. Hell seems hard to explain but I know that Toyota does put extra d rings in some trucks, was just wondering if anyone else had seen something like this.


I found pics!





Well hell, this is the only way I know how to post pics here and in the first pic its not big enough for yall to tell where they put the front D rings. The 2nd pic gives an idea of how to measure and mount to the side.

 

Hey Bobbb, just wanted to thank you for the info there. I just finished installing these as well as per your writeup. Fitment is great, and the Dodge D-rings are way beefier, I am very happy with it. I did want to point out one thing however, you mentioned using a 1 1/16" socket, however I purchased one and it didn't fit. I don't know if they changed it on the 2013 model (which I have) however I had to exchange it for a 1 1/8" socket which fit perfectly. Other than that, got the Dodge rings for $4.20 each at my local dealer (special ordered them, got them in one day) and it literally took me 10 minutes to do the whole job, although I would recommend having someone to hold the D-ring with a wrench in it when tightening it to 55 ft. lbs (I followed your instructions on the torque, I hope it was correct, lol) otherwise the D-ring will spin as you tighten.

 

I imagine a 12 pt vs 6 pt socket could make a difference here

 

Glad you could use the info! I chose 55 lbs of torque because, at the time I did this mod, there didn't seem to be any solid consensus on what it should be. I was also unable to get any info from my dealer either (no surprise there). Since then there seems to be an opinion of 60 lbs roaming around so that may be the deal. I've had no issues whatsoever with these since doing them at 55.

Possibly. I'm pretty sure the 1-1/16" socket I used was a 12-point.

 

Glad to hear that, I was concerned about the 55lbs because I had no way of confirming it, but it's pretty darn tight at 55lbs. That would make sense if the socket was a 12-point, I only was able to get a 6-point, so that would explain the fact that the 1-1/16" didn't fit in this case. Either way, greatly appreciated. Might do the back two as well soon just for fun because it was so easy.

 

I've been wanting to do this mod for a while. Great write up and look forward to doing this mod soon.

 

I went back and edited my original post to clarify the 6-pt/12-pt issue. Thanks for shedding some light on this!

 

Just a few observations.
I compared various d-rings (toyota,army,home depot,etc.). By far the best for our application was the reco by bob (post #306) for the dodge rings. They are beefier the toyota, & dont need to be drilled out like toyota & home depot. They do not rattle like surplus. Finish is great.

Best location & mounting is thru bed bolts. Spray bolts from underside for a week with liquid wrench. Use breaker bar to remove bolts. No issue using bolt to mount. A file or grinder must be used to remove ridges on bolt to slide washer off. Not a big deal. U just need to lessen ridges.

Before re-installing , paint bolt & washer with rustoleum flat black. Use anti-seize on all threads. Re-install with d-ring mount on top of washer.

If u have a bedmat, cut the way you like.
Enjoy!