Bed Cleats...ok, I’m stumped.

OEM stock bed rail tie downs. How the heck do these things move? I’ve unscrewed, twisted, done yoga with them...and I’m a relitively smart guy. Totally stumped.

 

Unscrew>push screw down> slide or rotate entire cleat to pull off.

 

Ok ok. I’ll try that. Swear I did that lol

 

They slid 1000 times easier on the 2nd gen. These are way trickier. Not sure what changed because they look the same. I think the rails may be a little narrower, but they are using the same cleats from the 2nd gen.

 

What he said. They're pretty simple to work!

 

Unscrew it more. You want to see a good bit of the spring that is under the knob.

 

Thx. As I was initially trying I was worried the damn thing would go BOOOIIIINGGGGG across the driveway if I backed it off too much lol

 

No. The knob has a stop at the end of the travel. It won't come apart easily.

 

Thx brother!

 

No problem! Glad to help.

 

I curse at it and somehow it works.

 

You would think Toyota would have switched to something sturdier and more uniform size by now. Nissan totally beat them on the utiltrack, and it still gripes me. MORANS!

 

I agree that the Utilitrack is better, but it isn't far off from aircraft seat track crowns:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal..._qt8s1fBoY8Npy8i8Pr3eVm3p0Sx1FvQaAt2nEALw_wcB

Quick install anchors with a killer load rating:

https://www.cargosystems.com/shop/78101/

If our bed bolts were all in a line at the bottom of one of the ribs, this would be a simple mod. This could also be swapped in place of the accessory rails, which would probably stiffen the side of the bed itself. There are a lot of different anchors available (all the ones with springs):

https://www.cargosystems.com/product-category/hardware/cargo-rings/

I'd be a bit risky trying to install the crowns in a rib and not anchored to the frame. Big bummer there.