Anyone else’s bed cracking here?

Upvote for Rago Fabrication. Check out my Build if you got any questions or pics on them. They are hands down the best quality on the market.

 

2nd and 3rd gens have composite beds. No need to line it. A lot of places will tell you its not even possible to spray on a bed liner. If you find a place that will do it, they have to scuff up the surface to get it to adhere

 

I think your caps lock key is having a seizure. Anyway my point is that IT IS going to scratch, thats not strange at all. Don't worry about it, it'll hold up just fine. It's not going to cave in, I promise. I've hauled tons of crap with my truck and I feel confident that the bed will continue serving it's purpose until the day the truck ends up in the scrapyard, hopefully 300k+ miles from now.

I've felt no need to line a composite bed, there's no paint to worry about scratching. Rubber bed mat works well enough. The sides and inside of the tailgate will get scratched, but that should be expected

 

Oh shoot so it's not a metal bed?
I'll have to closely look at one. Never paid attention. So essentially the actual bed is a composite. Makes sense for no bed liner. Interesting though it always feel good to "protect" the bulk material . You know, paint protection, seat protection, bed protection etc.

 

"Composite"

Fiberglass. But aside from the lack of structure at the corners by the tailgate, Tacoma beds are tough as hell. I used to haul baskets of rigging chain when I was working up in Alaska and there was never any damage. Plus they'll never rust.

 

It's composite. But yes, there is definitely some fiberglass in it. And agreed... tough as hell

 

Fiberglass IS a composite.

 

Mostly correct. Fiberglass + resin (or some other polymer) = composite. It is essentially a fiberglass reinforced plastic. Your initial comment implied that the bed is fiberglass, and not a composite. Which is not true.

 

Awaiting link to study where all bed stiffeners on the market were tested in a controlled environment.

Oh, they're the one's you have and only one's you've ever used. Well shoot that's all I need!

 

If there's structural fatigue already being seen this early I'd hate to see how bad these composite beds will look like in 10 -15 years with the trucks having 70k miles or more on them !!!!!

 

Just another reason why first gens are that much better

 

Maybe on the second or third frame?

 

lmao! Hey hey we all got our issues
Luckily CA is good to my frame.

 

Lifetime guarantee on rust, Lifetime warranty on the product itself, and construction from 3/16 Stainless... For me that is the best on the market after research.No need to be pissy when someone gives an opinion. Would think it's a good thing I don't need to try others on the market since the goal is doing it right the first time through.

 

I wonder how many of the bed uprights are cracking because the owners may be transporting or loading mounded materials like gravel, soil/sand, firewood and the like with the tailgate down. A few of those loads will spread the sides very easily. A tree guy I knew destroyed several truck beds of various brands doing that. That resulted from bending the tailgate to the point it would no longer close. He would hold the bed sides together with a come along. These beds are not as stiff as those all steel ones were. They seem to flex from having anything of mass mounted to them like spare tires and with the tailgate removed or down it's worse. There may be enough slop in the tailgate latches to allow the flex even when closed. I've seen guys on here with bedside spreading from caps too.The bed stiffeners help but make it hard to shovel out /sweep out material from the bed.

 

What kind of weight are we talking for this cracking to start? I've only loaded groceries and water / snow sports gear back there. Maybe furniture moves here or there in the future.

 

Same here the frame looks brand new even though I only have 70k miles on the odometer !!

 

Here’s what a 10 year old taco that’s been beat since new looks like.

 

I think it’s more from off-roading and vibrations then having a load in the truck. But I’m sure putting stress on the bed rails tying stuff down doesn’t help.

 

You definitely have a valid point about sweeping out the bed with the stiffeners.
After removing the bed mat, I used a broom and then a garden hose with nozzle the other day.

The shop vac has also been used to clean out the corners during winter.

This is with a canopy on since October 2018 and a few thousand miles of driving with the tailgate down carrying long lumber, conduit, moulding, remodeling material, tools, ladders, king and twin box springs, etc. in rain and on graveled snow.