Installed D-Rings in the Bed (Pics)

Sub'd

 

Put my rings in today.
I got these from Amazon...4 for 10 bucks

$15 DC Cargo V-Ring Tie-Down Anchors |4 Pack | 2" Diameter Steel Bolt-on D-Rings for Cargo on Trucks, Pickups, Trailers |Flush Mount Tie-Down Anchor, Replacement for D-Ring Tie-Down w/Plastic Pan Fitting

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CGXSNC0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did put weed whacker line inside the bracket next to the ring so that it does not bounce as much and ring...melted the ends of the line to hold it in there.
Bolts were slightly dremeled to get the washers off, easy, then spray painted to seal the damage i just did
Hangers for the DRings (more like triangles - A Rings? V Rings?) were redrilled to 1/2" and then sprayed as well to protect the fresh metal.
Washers were sprayed as well, cuz, I have an orangish truck with grey bolts and washers? ugh...
Assembled with washers on bottom, then D/A/V Ring hanger tightened down with bolt....super easy....
After installation I taped up the areas and coated the bolts and hangers visible with spray on plasti-dip. Black to hide a bit more.....i figure that if it starts to scrape off it will be easy to see, and then to reapply.....bolt heads are filled with plastidip too for a carriage head look to them now..
I do have to tape off and plasti-dip spray the last set of bed bolts to match......

pix once dry....

Next up I need a bed mat..........................

 

This may be one of my next cheaper mods to do... I hate those bed cleats that go into the railing. Stupid Toyota.

 

For later

 

I bought the stock ones but I think they need a different bolt to be able to swivel , I haven’t taken it apart yet to see

 

You can always use a shouldered steel bushing and turn the shoulder down to the floor of the bed and grind the d-ring to fit and make sure that you cut the bushing down just enough to get good thread engagement but still allow the ring to swivel.

 

Yea that’s a good idea , I think you’d probably have to to remove the plastic spacer on the inside of the hole of the stock d rings to fit that maybe ? I’ll have to goto the hardware store and look what they got

 

THIS is what I need to do to maintain swiveling, great idea.

Where can I get this bushing?

 

Nice

 

Ace Hardware, but measure the bolt diameter and Google shouldered steel bushing and something will pop up. I think McMaster-Carr or MSC, Motion Industries or any commercial suppliers can provide them.

I recently had a similar situation with a boat and that was the solution I came up with. Except I had to have mine made from stainless steel since I never could find the exact size I needed.

 

Ok, I was bound and determined to do this, so I combed the depths of the internet for the right part. Here is the approx data for the "ideal bushing" using the OEM bed bolts and D-ring hole dimensions (3rd gen Tacoma):

ID = ~11.9mm
OD = ~16.4mm
Height= ~4.86mm

I found this data for suppliers and "flanged sleeve bushings" that fit the OEM Tacoma bed bolts and Dring to enable swiveling, with little to no modification. Here is a raw copy/paste from excel. Messy I know, but the data is all there.

Maker model ID (mm, IN, Fraction) OD (mm, IN, Fraction) Height (mm, IN, Fraction) Total Flange Diamter -total width (mm, IN, Fraction) Flange Thickness (mm, IN, Fraction) Price

Fastenal 435211 12.75/.502/ 1/2 15.9/.627 6.35/.25 22/.875/ 7/8 1.6/.0630 thick $5 for 5 pack
grainger 12r665 12.7/.5/ 1/2 15.875/.625 9.525/.375 22/.875/ 7/8 3.175/.125/ 1/8" thick 4.35 for 3 pack
Mcmaster SAE 7815k28 12.7/.5005/ 1/2 15.92/.627 9.5/.375 22/.875/ 7/8 3.175/.125/ 1/8" thick 3.23 for 1 pack
McMaster Metric 5448t8 12mm/.472/ less than 1/2! 15.05/.59 8mm/.314 18/.70/ less then 7/8! 1.5/.059 4.19 for 1 pack

I ordered this since I can pick up locally, best price and best size:

https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/0435211

Here were the other condenders, albeit more expensive:

https://www.grainger.com/category/s...atalog/N-171cZ1z0o061Z1yzin7kZ1z0o427Z1z0o060

https://www.mcmaster.com/#7815K28

https://www.mcmaster.com/#5448T8

They all look something like this.



Per suggestion above, I will flip this with shoulder/flange downward, replace the OEM plastic bushing in the D-ring, keep OEM bed bolt washer underneath and finally be able to torque the bed bolt to spec WHILE KEEPING SWIVEL!!! Fingers are crossed it'll work. I'll try to report back.

 

FYI, I'm doing this because I cut my OEM bed mat with a large hole saw with a big diameter that would allow swiveling of the Drings 360 degrees. To my dismay, after torqueing the bolts down on top of the Dring, the OEM plastic bushing/bearing was CRUSHED under the torque spec and did NOT allow swiveling due to the plastic compressing so far.

Since I spent so much damn time cutting beautiful holes and following up with beveling the edges with a dremel, I was pissed they didn't swivel.





TL;DR - I cut big holes in my bed mat (to allow 360 swivel), they didn't swivel after being torqued down and am on a quest to get these to swivel

 

Pic for reference...

This is the plastic bushing/bearing in the OEM Toyota swiveling D-rings I'm referring to:

 

i think you want the flange up , so that it is underneith the head of the fastener if I’m not mistaken . I don’t think it goes the other way, I could be wrong thou. That’s some good info thou as far as what might work and where to get it , thanks !

 

It’s not the bushing that allows it the swivel it’s the bolt , the “step” on the bolt allows the d ring to swivel and not crush the plastic insert on the d ring

 

I figured I would turn it down to allow the head of the bolt to apply pressure on the "unflanged" side of the bearing and have the flanged side down to more evenly distribute the pressure over the OEM bed bolt washer.

Is my thinking sound?

 

Are you referring to the OEM bed bolts used for this mod, or the smaller bolts included with the Toyota OEM D-rings kit?

 

I don’t think that’s the right way , I think it’s the other way around

The ones included with the D Ring kit , they are stepped and allow the ring to swivel

 

1) Ok, I can see benefits of both sides. Once the part is ready for pickup next week, I'll try both ways and see what seems to fit and function best. I'm no engineer, so am just winging this.

2) To be honest, I rushed through this project very quickly and didn't even look at those included bolts! I had my mind set on using my new harbor Freight hole saw set to cut nice symmetrical holes in the bed mat and envisioned this 360 swiveling working right off the bat. Pays to take your time and examine what's going on! I will take a closer look at those included d ring bolts to see what you're talking about. However, I still think this may be the best course given that we have to scrap those included dring bolts and work with the big ol' plain OEM bed bolts.

 

Anyone here install their own rings without using excising holes?