Composite bed observations

I’ve had a forklift gently drop a pallet of floor tile into my bed and not a scratch. Then again, they did it nice and slow and there weren’t any pieces of wood on the pallet sticking out like shown.

 

...in other words, like a professional!

 

I'm guessing here, but I think it has to do with manufacturing and cultural perspective. It's probably more complex to setup the manufacturing for a composite bed than it is to stamp and press the steel. Also, trucks are used differently in other countries, they're seen as and used as utility vehicles to the max so they take an incredible level of abuse.

Here, Tacoma's are utility and capable status symbols.

 

Like this:

 

Dent? This kinda damage would be a hole in the steel too. Bed sheet metal is thin.

I’ve never actually seen a composite bed damaged like this unless it’s been in a nasty accident.
Oh well. Bed replacements easy. Take the panels off and bolt them onto the new bed and you’re good to go.

 

Cost is why we get the composite.. it costs more than stamping some steel out for a bed.


As for the bedsides I think they keep them metal just because massive hunks of plastic body work will always have slightly off paint from the metal panels. More noticeable on colors like white

 

Idk if you drop a pallet stacked with bricks or whatever is loaded on that pallet, yes its going to cause damage. What was the weight of the load, this is dumb... the beds aren't made of Adamantium.

 

Ya, a lot of very good points and after watching the toolbox drop I don't think the steel bed would have done better in my situation. I really like the composite bed especially when I'm sliding stuff around to get it tied down. I wouldn't try that with a steel bed because it would scratch the crap out of the bed and/or damage what I'm sliding around.

Malvolio, that's correct about how it happened. It looks like the pallet was initially dropped on top of the wheel well and then slid down to where the end pierced the side. All of this happened in about 20 seconds while I turned to get the paperwork from the other fellow who was with the forklift operator, but I didn't see it until I got home.

One other thing about this incident is that there is a 3 month lead time on the beds, so I'm very (very) glad that the damage was not structural or did not need to be fixed immediately in order for my truck to be usable.

 

Keep the old bed and stack it over the new bed… 2 layers might take that abuse better…

 

"Dynamically loaded" indeed.

High school part timer + Home Depot's finest forklift = shitshow shenanigans.

 

This would be a no fault accident. Your premium should not go up. I have had a couple of no fault accidents. Mine never did. If it does I would look elsewhere for insurance.

 

Something learned after decades around forklifts -- the forklift always wins.

An incompetent operator can do tremendous damage in seconds.

 

I really don’t get this, a steel or ally bed would have to be completely replaced to fix it correctly. You could do a crappy patch fix on steel or ally bed just as well as you could on composite. All have similar drawbacks but paying for it yourself vs insurance would be where that conversation come in.
That damage on a steel or ally bed the manufacturer would absolutely say replace don’t fix, just like Toyota did. So with all due respect your argument on this and original post seems very uninformed IMO.

 

If it poked a hole in the composite bed, the same force would have seriously damaged a steel bed.

 

Thanks, I just confirmed this with my insurance agent so the stress level has dissipated significantly.

 

And I agree with you wholeheartedly. I've never had a truck damaged like this so I had nothing to go by until now.

 

the good thing about composite is it can easily be patched

 

It's glass reinforced plastic. Boat guys would be able to fix this with no problem.

 

Funny story.

I was picking up a large item at HomeDepot that was pretty heavy but could be lifted by the person there and me. The kid asked if he could get into the bed to help lift it in. I asked if that was a serious question. He said: Yeah. Some folks freak out about it.


I've had a few large pallets loaded by fork lift. Those guys always went slow and didn't just drop the load.

 

You should get a steel bed liner.