Bed stiffeners...yay or nay??

Thanks!!

 

That is a lot of load on that one weld as compared to the caliraised which has a complete metal fixture.

 

IMHO I just don't think "its a lot of load" on that inner corner. There is plenty enough material for the Victories to do their job (which is to help reduce the flex). Remember as it is, the bed sides are vertical and by themselves "normally" don't exert much side to side force anyways. Throw a roof top tent and rack up top, then yes, we start to get some flex. But is the force of that flex greater than what the steel Victory bracket can handle -- nope, they'll be just fine. Plus there are two brackets spreading the load a tad and helping in that regard. If my tent "shifts" passenger side, both bed sides flex that way due to my crossbars connecting them together, so both brackets engage and help minimize the flex from both sides of the bed.

Just my opinion. I like talking these things out, offering my thoughts, and hearing all of yours.

 

Cheers! We all get a free vote here.

 

My thoughts as well. While I'm no engineer and I have no numbers, I doubt I'll need the extra security of the full-size TC stiffeners for my purposes. There is such a thing as diminishing returns and I'm fine with "good enough". As of right now, I am in no hurry to get stiffeners. If my bed ever breaks with having a 180lb RTT and 50lb bed bars, I'll be sure to post up.

 

It is not the static weights. It is that 230lb being 4ft away from the corners under a dynamic load.

My best example is making a diamond with your index fingers and thumbs touching. Where they touch is your bed rails. If you push or wiggle, you see that flex between your finger and thumb. The bed rail interface is basically a pivot no matter how stout the connections appear. All those moment loads are resisted in the corners of the bed where Toyota left an odd weak point.

I am actually a structural engineer. But, I certainly do not know everything and have found many great points and ideas from folks who are not engineers. Mostly while just chatting.

 

Would think not having bed stiffeners on the bedsides, would have the same similar forces as a bed rack.

 

Yessir! Very good example.

 

As I implied

Question for you; would bed bars/non-bolt-together bed racks (IE: not like KBVooDoo in the video) not apply a clamping force to alleviate/redirect some of the force? I know the bolt and rail interface would be a weakpoint, but that's less joints than with a bolt-together set up.

I guess the real question should be what is the point of failure for the bed corner? Anybody up to test?

 

One piece bars are certainly stronger, but getting any significant load resistance at the bed corner is really diminishing returns. Even if you have a perfectly rigid rack system (or canopy), the load swaying side to side has less resistance than there should be.

The failures that I have seen are at the stress relief undercut that you can see at the bottom of the sheet metal stanchion. It does what it is not supposed to do and cracks out. There are pics of this around TW. A few showing the TG closed and tapering gaps. Heck, there are pics from hardcore wheelers with the bed front corners torn out. There is a solution for that also.

 

i hate that kbvoodoo video - the bolts are clearly not tight enough lol. i mean, that video is not an example of anything except how to not put your new rack together properly.

I get out there and do some wheeling and a ton of driving with a shit load of weight and i see very little flex around my bed. I do see the bed move around when i'm on the trail... however, i also understand how the weight can greatly affect the structural integrity as it shifts around.
I'll be getting stiffeners after i get my clutch in. but that video is bunk.

Edit: i tracked down the origins of this video...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/claimed-kbvoodoo-rack-parts.539755/

shit was in fact broken. But i don't see how?!

 

So on that need for stiffeners, I would say, yep!

I didn't have the most helpful help loading these and they were not light, esp the upper ones with glass on the upper side.

Going down a short highway, the load was so lopsided that the steering was out of whack and pulling to one side.







Good job, @CaliRaisedLed .

 

Where did you get the net gizmo?

 

I was like you and concerned with bed access inhibition. I use my Taco for work and tools and materials are going in and out all day, so I didn't want to have to deal with metal flanges. I ended up going with Total Chaos, and I really like them, although they are a bit spend-y. I got them because they were available locally via SDHQ.

I installed them after some spirited driving in the mud down a clay road resulted in some noticeable bedside flexing.

 

I load my 06 to the max payload on a regular basis. I have no problems with sagging. Only thing I don't like about the bed is how impossibly slippery it gets if it even thinks about getting wet!

 

It was the rear net out of my wife's Forester. She hasn't noticed the theft yet.

 

So after the install and @b3itz 's concerns, what are your feelings there?

 

You can always make your own bed stiffeners.

 

This was when I knew I had been putting them off. I no longer have inequal gaps between the tail light and tail gate after installing the stiffeners.

The drivers side had flexed and had allowed a lot of mud into the bed area. I had to fill that with silicone in the hopes of further preventing more ingress.

 

That sucks. Hopefully you forestalled the worst of it.

Although, I was mainly asking about reaching into the bed to access stuff. I know it is a non-issue for me, but both of you guys had that concern going in.