frame strengthening plates, do or don't??

i have a 2004 Tacoma dc, I wheel it regularly on diffuculy rocky, flexy trails, including moab trails and Ouray. I don't carry much extra weight in the bed just my camping gear maby 100 pounds at the most. should I worry about the frame bending in the rear? should I install frame plates ? or are they only needed when adding a heavy bumper or pulling lots of weight? thanks for the help.

 

having it and not needing it is way better than needing it and not having it

Id get them

im planning on getting them, and im 85% sure i wont need it

 

ya, I just don't want to realize I need it when its to late and I have a bent frame on my hands. I will wheel the truck to its limits but not with a lot of weight in the bed so idk if ill need it or not . .

 

do I have to remove the bed to weld em on or can I manage it with just removing the tire?

 

There are two types of reinforcement plates, the ones welded flush on the out side (see Demello and CBI) or inside the frame rails (basically making our C-shaped rear section of the frame a boxed frame.
See pics below.

My CBI reinforcement plate

Boxed frame
Do you need to remove the bed - - no, just make sure you add a welding blanket over stuff, so nothing get's burned.

 

thanks for the help, I agree its eighty dollars for a good piece of mind. I think ill go with the frame reinforcement plates that weld to the outside, it seems like a pretty easy mod, I have a buddy that is a good welder maby ill do all the prep work and have him weld them on one day after work or something. how long does this mod take? any personal experience doing it?

 

The longest part is going to be the welding, Depending on how good your buddies welding skills are it'll still take an hour to weld it all, probably more. Prep work should only take 30 minutes. No you don't need to remove the bed.

 

when it gets welded should welds be done maby say 2 inches apart ? or fully weld around the entire plate ? either way I would seal them up really good so water doesn't get behind the plate some how

 

I'd do 5" stitch at a time. Follow this link here and you'll be all set. http://www.tacomaworld.com/out.php?...com/forum/showpost.php?p=1249163&postcount=13

 

Has anyone broken a Tacoma frame from flexing on trails? Jumping too aggressively in the desert can do it, but I've never seen pictures or reports of broken frames from low-speed rock-crawling, unless it's a major accident like a rollover.

 

Tacoma frames are very weak. They will bend and if you wheel a lot, I bet part of your frame is already bent. Personally I would just box it instead of adding the outside frame plates. Trail Gear sells a kit for $119. You'd be way better off doing this.
Tacoma Rear Frame Box Kit

http://www.trail-gear.com/tacoma-frame-gussets

 

Subd

 

well I just bought the truck and installed the lift and tires, I havnt wheeled it to hard yet being its only 2 months old (to me) but I know the previous owner didn't wheel it at all so im hoping the frame is not bent at all yet. I know I will be doing tough trails as I did them in my old 01 xtcab taco. I never bought the frame plates on my old Tacoma but that's bc I didn't know better. so hopefully I can catch it before it bends at all. I see al lot of people on this sight that wheel pretty hard such as box rocket that didn't install the plates until about mid way through his build after a few moab trips and he didn't seem to have any problems so I guess im just debating if its truly necessary. you hear some people act like their frames are made of paper and some people wheel them pretty hard and have had no problems whithout weight on the bumper or bed of course. I will probably do it any ways just to ease my mind tho.

 

also while im thinking about it wouldn't a class 3 hitch or aftermarket bumper strengthen the frame and resist twisting as well? not as much as the plates but better than a stock setup right?

 

Adding a hitch or tube bumper might help a little with twisting and torque but overall the frame is very thin and weak. My frame is a little bent but it's not that big of a deal.

It also really depend on the type of trails you run. If you're truck is going to experience a lot of articulation and flexing then you definitely want to box the frame.

Also, Ballistic Fab make box kits too but they don't have them on their website. I believe they sell them for around $80 but you'll have to give them a call.

 

I might look into that. does boxing the frame offer a lot greater strength over the plate strengthening kit?

 

Read this, specifically post #2. Boxing the frame makes it way stronger. Thing about it. What shape is going to collapse and/or bend? A C channel or a solid rectangle?

] or []

 

Look at the picture of my frame. Center of the picture, top of the frame, you can see where it is bent up. I have no idea how that happened but an outside frame support would not have helped. Had I boxed the frame that would've never happened. Fortunately it's not that bad and when I remove the bed I can pound it back into place.

 

thanks for the help guys, and great thread johnnie, I went ahead and ordered the frame plates and will see how they do, if I ever add a swing out tire bumper on the rear I will probably box the frame.

 

so I was walking through the city market parking lot and looked at 4 completely stock first gen Tacoma frames and all four had the bulge at the top of the frame right begind the bump stop plate. my guess is that they all have that bend. this has me questioning if the frame reinforcement plate is really needed. I think this is a part of Toyotas design with these frames. and come to think about it I have yet to read a post or article about a Tacoma frame failing.