Dirt King Rear Frame Brace Kit 2nd & 3rd gen

Looking for some feedback. They look pretty stout. Dustin (Dirt King) says they work for the long bed.

Anyone have experience with this rear frame plate kit for the 2nd and 3rd gen?


The Tacomas have c-channel frames from the cab back allowing the frame to twist and bend. Our rear frame plate kit boxes in the frame dramatically increasing strength. The kit includes 1/8" thick plates to box in the entire rear section of the frame.

My mechanic says, "the bed is going to come off for the work". It looks like the gas tank will need to come off too...

https://dirtkingfabrication.com/collections/19-tacoma/products/rear-frame-plate-kit-dk-811851

 

Pretty quiet Ryan. I've been thinking about having these installed but would have to find someone to install these. You have any suggestions? I'm thinking we'll be in the LA/SFO area in the spring.

Thanks!

 

It's possible you might have Dirt King install them for you, and I'm sure some members in the Regional thread can offer suggestions. Or, the long travel thread may have recommendations as they do a lot of fab work, and these frame plate kits seem to be directed towards that use.

As another option, there's also DMZ fab frame boxing kit found here, and they're located in Riverside County. GL!

 

Not sure what the question is here...

They are from the looks of they are 1/8" CNC cut plate steel I'm sure it's A36 mild steel as I imagine the truck frame is also. You would definitely have to pull the bed and the gas tank to safely and effectively weld them in place.

Ultimately though their strength and durability and rigidity is going to come down to the quality of the welder and their welds.

Beyond that...

I would like to reinforce my own frame.

 

My ultimate question is whether it makes sense, in both monetary and piece of mind, to do this considering our weight and the long bumpy adventure we’re planning on driving. I also have to consider that I’d need to find the Right Someone who has the time, skills, camper jacks, can safely store our house (the camper) take off the flatbed and our aftermarket fuel tank. And do this all while we’re staying in a VIRBO.

Im definitely not a good enough welder

 

thanks Ryan! I’ll reach out to those threads for a recommendation. I see that there’s a four wheel camper dealer in LA so I’ll reach out to them about removing the camper

 

There are several great welders that have threads in the SoCal forum that could take care of this for you. For my truck it took two days with the bed off to get everything welded up using the DMZ kit.

 

Great info! I’ll check it out!

 

Resurrecting.

I just had this done about 2 months ago and have spent enough time off pavement to notice the differences before and after.

I wish I could do something like this myself, but I cannot weld. Fortunately, I have a great fabricator local to me who has helped with multiple projects including cam tab gussets, spindle gussets, and frame horn reinforcement and gusseting with new grade 8 1/2 inch bolts welded in place of the stock M10 bolts that I stripped the first time I used my winch.

I have been on a continuous quest to improve the rear end ride quality starting with a Deaver U402 Stage 1 leaf pack, then Archive Garage HH, HC cross tube and U-bolt flip, then King 2.5 extended shocks from Accutune set to +300# over stock on rear axle, to finally having the C-channel plated.

All of these updates combined took away the rear end jitters. The ride is firm, but not harsh and there is no sway and no more looking in the rear view mirror to see the bed shaking like a fat hooker on a cold night.

I also put in the Kaizen bed brace which does limit bed access, but was worth the compromise for me.

 

Did you happen to try it before and after the bed brace? Looks good!

 

Thanks! Actually just the first shakedown run was sans bed brace (I put it in about 2 weeks after the frame plating). I did not notice any difference, but when I looked at standard bed stiffeners and the design of the Kaizen brace, I felt like it was worth giving a try to have a one piece design that connects both sides and is reinforced with 3/16 plates behind the taillights.