BED WINCH

Hello Tacoma World (HUNTERS!)

I’m coming for hear some ideas for us tacoma owning hunters. I have a tacoma with an oem tonneau cover, but i want to install a bed winch without a headache rack. I also don’t want to part with the bed cover. So the question is, what can i do to mount a bracket inside the bed to also mount a winch to load animals and what not, any ideas are appreciated!!

 

The only place I would mount it would be the floor of the bed. Run a piece of channel to the frame rails and weld a piece of plate to mount the winch to. This way you are pulling on the frame and not the plastic bed.

 

this previous thread has most of the current crop of idea's on the market--buying pre-made, as well as options to build.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bed-mounted-winch-lightweight-pulling.777826/

fair warning, all of them have the winch above the line of the tonneau cover, so i know they're not suited for your situation, but are at least a starting point for the ideas.


also, if you're only using it for deer season, and don't need it any other time of year, could also consider something like this receiver-mount crane

$320 MAXXHAUL 70238 Receiver Hitch Mounted Hydraulic Swivel Pickup Truck Crane - 1000 lbs. Capacity With 3 Boom Capacities of 500 lbs, 750 lbs and 1000 lbs.

https://www.amazon.com/MaxxHaul-70238-Receiver-Hitch-Mounted/dp/B008CE0WCW

$236 ZeHuoGe Receiver Hitch Mounted Hydraulic Swivel Pickup Truck Crane, 1000 lbs Capacity with 3 Boom Capacities of 500 lbs, 750 lbs and 1000 lbs.

https://www.amazon.com/Receiver-Mounted-Hydraulic-Capacity-Capacities/dp/B0DJ6XPBQN


there's also the redneck engineering method. i don't know how well it would work with our composite beds though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gYgVTxYLc64


if you really want the winch idea, and it's only temporary, another option using only lumber, you could set up a 2x6 board that goes across the front wheel well hump(or front notch if you've got a 6' bed), and mount the winch onto that board.

then cut 4 additional bracing boards. two would be short, and would go between the main board and the bottom edge of the accessory rail, to keep the main board from lifting up. and two would be longer, and would go from the rear of the main board on each side and attach via a bolt or similar to a set of bed stiffeners just inside the tailgate area. the area the bed stiffeners mount is all steel, meaning that it has more strength than the front d-rings in our composite beds, which are just riv-nutted through the composite material.

fancier setups could be built with metal, but the main considerations to deal with is that only metal support structure anywhere in the bed 'tub' is at the very rear around the tailgate, and on the underside, where the bolts pass through it down to the frame to attach it.


the composite bed will take a good deal of loading when properly distributed across the surface, but we don't officially know any of the specifications for what or how much loading any part of the bed can withstand before the anchors pull away and cause irreparable damage.