What are bed stiffeners for......thanks

I was just wondering about what these bed stiffeners were for as well before stumbling on this post. I've had heavy duty camper shells on my last 2nd gen and my prior 1st gen and never noticed any issue without bed stiffeners. Guess it's better safe than sorry? Or a symptom of groupthink...

 

The problem is real enough, whether the stiffeners can solve it is open to conjecture. There are plenty of similar issues that not all encounter such as cracked core supports and uneven body/wheel offsets. This is one where a viable countermeasure is inexpensive, easy to do, and offers the added benefit of more tie down points.

 

If you're going to spend the money on stiffeners, find one that at least has decent and functional tie-off points. I have the TC stiffeners and they have nice accessible tie points since they TC's vertical support is tall, taller than most. I use the tie points every week and much more solid than anything else.

I carry a lot of load on my bed racks and off-road frequently with weight on the racks, swaying side to side. I'm pretty sure I would've ripped my bed by now without the stiffeners.

The one downside to most of the stiffeners out there is that they rust. I've had to clean off rust, treat, and repaint several times.

 

Learn something new everyday

 

That’s the idea. I’ve seen it on other trucks along with other kinds of bed failures for decades but this is my first truck with just a shell and not a welded lumber rack and the first solution I’ve come across that looked viable. The composite bed seems resilient enough and doesn’t rust but it still flexes.

 

I picked some up made by a member here - @Tttacodan - and am quite pleased with the quality and price. Shoot him a message.

 

i was wondering if it might be group think as well so I made a thread asking if they were worth it before I bought my TC bed stiffeners and a few people reported having their beds bow outward from shells and the stiffeners fixed their issue so that was enough for me to buy then and now I am loving the new tie down spots too

 

Ugh........um...............OK Faithful woman is a good find.

I also have the Total Chaos stiffeners. My bed was not at a perfect 90° to start, particularly the right side - but it certainly was not noticeable (very slight). The stiffener squared it it up nicely, it's been a couple years now.

 

I dis see one guy tore his inner bedside wall above the bed stiffener so there is that, i think it was one of the Mobtown dudes

 

Holy poopsickle. Skill.

 

The bedsides will still bow out with a heavy ass load even with stiffeners. I have At The Helm ones and a heavy canopy and do wheel my truck. My bedsides are still bowing out, need to find a better solution (or just remove the canopy)

 

Maybe put a cable with a tensioner in the back when you’re wheeling.

 

Yeah I put a heavy duty ratchet strap between and it helps. I need a bed stiffeners on the inside and outside of the bed and sandwich it all together.

 

The bed stiffeners will reduce bed flex whether you have a cap or not. I could tell the difference once I bolted some on. I have the AllPro ones that go all the way to the top. I'm not sure if they would clear a cap, I guess it depends if you remove the bedside top rails or not.

 

I was thinking of getting those front corner reinforcements too, i think Rago fab is the one who makes them

edit: its ATH not Rago
https://athfab.com/product/bed-corner-tie-downs-for-05-15-toyota-tacoma/

 

A while back I made some of these that would work in tandem with the traditional rear of the bed supports. I eventually sold them all, but they never really took off. (I was probably asking way too money for them) Maybe I should try again at a better price point?

 

Those look nice! The only part for me that wouldn't work is how much space it would take up for things I put into the bed. I'm usually stuffing my large cooler back there. My 5' bed is short enough.
Perhaps shorter brackets at the corners?

 

I'm not tied to that specific design. My thought was to be able to hold the bed width at exactly the 56.5" to mitigate any stress on it as much as possible, and if needed pull the bed back into alignment.

I've built several different versions over the years. Most of them before I had access to a laser and cnc press brake.

This was the first version I made that gave me the idea.

I've made several sets over the years of brackets similar to this for friends. But these days I could make a much cleaner version that wouldn't cost all that much.

 

Put HiLift or pioneer kit mounts underneath one of those, maybe.

 

Bolt on High-lift mount was definitely on the drawing board had they sold better