DIY How To: Weatherproofing the bed cubbies

Tape applied "flat" over the hole would get in the way of the tabs that go into those holes from the door piece - thus the need for something that "wraps around" those tabs. ie. the loom.

In my (seemingly never-ending) attempts to fully weather-proof the bed, I plan to take out the cubbies again and apply weatherproofing on the edges where they meet the bed, to prevent any dirt from getting in through there.

I also noticed that I apparently have dirt coming in from under the bed rails. Look at the vertical streaking on both sides:





I guess these too have to come off for some weatherstripping. God damn, Toyota, would it be so hard to do this shit properly at the factory?

 

Sub'd

 

Flexseal, yo. Billy Swift made a goddamn boat out of it!!

 

Haven't heard of flexseal before, but just looked it up and it seems great. Thanks for the tip.

My cubbies are still 100% dry, so my weatherproofing job seems to be holding up well. Some other parts of the bed are leaking like waterfalls though.

 

Thank you for posting these photos! I was wondering how the truck caps are secured to the bed.

My A.R.E. MX canopy arrives in 5-8 weeks; that gives me plenty of time to remove the side and front bed rails, and water seal underneath.

I need to figure out what to use; suggestions & recommendations are wanted, and are greatly appreciated. I want this to be a "one & done" and to never have to do again.

 

Resurrecting an old thread, but wanted to say thanks to the OP for the idea. I recently installed a blue sea sub fuse panel into my small cubby to facilitate some new lights and needed a way to keep the elements out. I used some spare wire loom and plastic epoxy to seal up the tab holes.

The only thing I did different was I cut the loom a good inch longer on each side compared to the hole I needed to cover up. Then I heated up that excess on either side and pressed it down to give me a nice, flat surface to adhere to with epoxy between the loom and cubby. Made for a clean seal all around but still gave the tabs room to fit.

Appreciate the idea! Last step is some 1/8" weather stripping to enclose the cubby door...

 

Did the same several months ago. Excellent mod to help keep dust out of the bed

 

So I just went out to my garage and gave this a go, I was able to plug up the drain holes (because those are easy). But the loom was a pain in the butt! I added more hardener to my epoxy to make it cure faster and even that didn't do it. The loom kept curving upward, and even when i got that done, i couldn't build up enough to cap off the ends of the loom to really seal it off-the epoxy was too fluid. Any tips?

 

More hardener will not accelerate the curing - too much will cause a mess as the mix will not cure... (the mix ratio should not be changed)
Runny epoxy can be thickened with a thickening agent (Cabosil, etc.)...

Good luck!

 

Hello,

Love this idea and I'm going to be doing the same in terms of adding switched to the cubby. You were very helpful ! Just one question, what size weather stripping did you use? I see 1/8" but is that the width or thickness? Do you happen to have pictures of the weather stripping also? Thank you!!

 

Lockbox | Truck Bed | Toyota Tacoma
Tuffy lock box
Tiffy products.com

Lockbox | Truck Bed | Toyota Tacoma
SKU: 161

 

I've been meaning to come back & update my earlier post; "one & done" became "three and (hopefully) done."

I actually did manage to plug every hole, cranny, gap, crevice, separation, void, crack, space and spot which would allow water to enter the bed area. What I failed to consider was the ass-hat canopy installer who used a 1/8" thick strip of open-cell foam (the type used with a window A/C) between the bed rail and canopy--even though I gave them a roll of the ESI EPDM cap seal!

As anyone who is familiar with water leaks knows that finding the exact point where water is intruding is incredibly difficult & time consuming. I used a lot of butyl tape while trying to hunt down the water leaks. In desperation, I lifted the canopy (not an easy task with 120 lbs. of solar panels & racking on top) --but I immediately saw the problem!

~3 years later, I finally have a bone-dry bed area.

Lesson: I should have watched the entire installation to make sure they did it right.