Bed stiffener apparently not enough.Okay I need some problem solvers.

Okay I need some problem solvers.

So I have a camper on my 1st gen Tacoma. Weighs around 380lbs. About a month into owning it, I noticed that the driver side of my bed was starting to shift outward. I installed a stiffener on that side and was able to pull it in a bit and hold it. Visually it was still off but for a year it hadn't moved. Recently I started feeling the latch start to catch on the bed, alerting me that it had moved a little again. I took the stiffener out and got some of the strongest bolts I could and tried to pull it back in, but to no avail. Upon looking, it seems like the innermost bolt on the bottom of the stiffener has started to pull the bed up a little as opposed to pulling the side in. So essentially the stiffener needs stiffening. Also worried about the integrity of the side of the bed and wondered how much I should be worried about this.

I'm thinking about installing a stiffener on the other side, and on the underside of the bed getting a piece of steel and bolting to the underside of each of the stiffeners, essentially sandwiching the bed. That's the only solution I've been able to think of, but would love to hear other ideas and if anyone is keen to help, also would be into that.

A is the passenger side that is good.
B is driver side that you can tell has a wider gap.
C is the stiffener and the now slightly uneven bottom of it.
D is the latch that is now touching where it normally doesn't.

 

Check the bottom corners at the back of the bed for cracks.

 

I like your idea to connect the bottom leg of both stiffeners under the bed. It puts the load on the metal piece connecting the stiffeners, as opposed to the flimsy bed.

 

There are really only two solutions to this problem (or maybe one solution when you've gotten to the point you're at).

1. Less weight on the bed rails. (This may not be an option for you, or make all that much of a difference now that your bed has already shifted).

2. Pull the bed rails back in at/near the top. While bed stiffeners are nice and can work with lighter rail loads, when you have a lot of weight up there, you really need something that works "at the top" to keep the bed from splitting. A good solution is a ratchet strap between the two rear tie downs. This can be a little inconvenient since you now have a ratchet that you need to release whenever you get in/out of the camper, but it will do a reasonably good job of pulling the side back together and keeping them together.

With the stiffeners, it's only a matter of time before they rip through the sheet metal of the bed.

Oh, and you should check the front corners of your bed as well. You'll need to take the camper and bed off to do that, but it's highly likely that you're getting some fatigue up there as well. (Here's what happened to mine.)

Here are a couple photos of what will (eventually) happen to the rear corners of your bed, even with stiffeners, and the ratchet-strap solution. (Note: not my truck, but a buddies truck that I snuck a couple photos of).

 

Torn bed rail has happened to me as well, but I’ve avoided the bed spread issue The rack that holds my tent keeps the bed from spreading but resulted in the crack. Lots of weight and lots of movement from driving in rough terrain creates fatigue, and the beds on these trucks just aren’t that strong.

The underside of the bed corners are all that keeps the bed from spreading and there isn’t a lot of strength there.
You could possibly try to alleviate it by bracing that somehow but it’d require some fabrication. You’d have to work around the bumper where it connects to the frame for instance

 

Short term with your bed stiffeners use a strap across the highest slots or better yet fab a metal bar with bolts on ends to remove to unload cargo when required.
Long term fixes above plus buy a used bed at wrecking yard and install. Then make sure your load in strapped down to floor so less side pressure.
All plastic/composite will stress crack/break with age and loads. Wonder what the outback guys do to their rigs - put a utility bed on.

 

1st gen beds aren’t composite

 

I put some Rango fab bed stiffeners on, then found there was some cracking at the front of the bed. Welding that up straightened it a bit more. I think running straps across when the shell has a load on it, or hitting rough trails would alleviate this a touch.

 

#1 that camper looks like it's barely hanging on
#2 those stiffeners should have continued the perpendicular flange past the far bolt

Not exactly sure what I'd do. Maybe use the ratchet straps to pull the bad back together with no weight on it, then weld the stiffeners in all the way. Weld another plate under the bed where the pull-up is happening

 

I like this idea! To little to late??

Myself I was going so far as tie bolts front and rear through the bed up top.

Pulling things back into place as much as a 4"x4" bearing surface on the outside

The bed side rails are not designed for supporting that kind of weight long term.

Good luck!

 

I installed a piece of unistrut below the bed that I bolted my stiffeners directly into. When I was first looking at installing the stiffeners it was obvious they would just start pulling the bed floor up because of how thin it is.

 

Well I guess you have all now subscribed to my hellish nightmare haha. Thanks for the responses. My followup is filled with nothing but complications.

First off, my bed is spray coated so I cant see any cracks from the inside. Additionally I have some insulation on it, which I'm happy to rip out as I don't think it really does much, but again just not a lot of visibility.

What sort of longevity and risk am I looking at here? If I strengthen where the stiffeners bolt in and connect them with some steel on the underside, I'm hoping that will at least help a bit. I don't do much real offroading. Very very rarely locked or in 4 low. Mostly do what the Australians would call touring. Graded county and BLM roads mostly. And way more highway than anything.

I'm going to run a ratchet between the two points in the front of the bed and have it there all the time to hopefully slow and mitigate any movement up there. I'm willing to do the same in the rear, but as you can see my build and fridge slide are slightly in the way and not practical to move or alter. Can I move the tie down points further back and higher on the bed walls? I'm not sure how they screw in, but seems possible to just relocate them with bolts? Or maybe use the hole at the top of the stiffeners?

I'm kind of stressing right now honestly. Not sure what to do. I waited more than 2 years for this camper and spent countless nights measuring and building it out. Have custom leafs to support it all. I can't just abandon it so not sure what my options are. I can't tell if all roads lead to some sort of dramatic failure or what.

If I were to go down the route of hiring someone to do some fab to add support, I'm not even sure what that would look like or what to tell them.

Again, any input is appreciated. Feeling a little helpless about it.

 

Frist off - nice setup! I totally get the "spent a lot of time on it, feeling helpless." It's a bummer feeling, but - at least from my looking at it - I don't think it's all that bad.

Looks to me like the ratchet in the back will be just fine. Given where the fridge is on the slide (a couple inches forward of the tailgate), I'd bet that the ratchet strap will barely contact it when it's connected. And, the "good news" is that you only need the ratchet strap connected when you're moving - you don't have to worry at all about when you're stationary/in camp.

That's because it's the momentum/additional forces when turning/bumping/etc. that are causing the bed spread issues, it's not the "stationary" weight when you're in camp.

Anyhow, I'd not move the tie downs, and I'd try to use them as-is. If those won't work for you, it looks like your bed stiffeners go up pretty high, so you could likely use a top hole in those (once you install the passenger side). However, at least on the driver side, it seems like the stiffener is further forward, so that would interfere with the fridge even more than the tie down. Though, I suppose you could weld on a tab to the stiffener to push the strap points back. Would need to be reinforced itself though, so you're not just bending the brackets/tab.

Good luck!

 

Reminds me of one of grand daddy's old sayings. Looks like you're trying to fit 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb sack. You need to take less "stuff" or you need a bigger truck. Everything else is a Band-Aid.

 

I agree with @turbodb , you’re not in that bad of shape and there are both short term and long term fixes. A ratchet strap across the back between the stock tie down points will immediately keep it from getting worse, and probably make it easier to close your tailgate. Slightly inconvenient if you get in and out of the back a lot, but quick and easy.

I would definitely sandwich the floor of the bed under the stiffener with a piece of 1/4” flat bar or even a piece of angle that spans between the two bolts. If it fits, I’d install the passenger side stiffener as well with the same flat bar underneath, just as preventative measures.

 

Get a Tundra(2021 or earlier)

 

i wish you would have lead with these pictures !!

This in not near as bad as what I pictured.

First thing try and remove as much weight as possible that is supported by the bed sides .

That weight is what causes the spreading of the bed while moving not so much the weight supported by the floor of the bed .

Reinforce under the bed the help hold the rear together. use the ratchet strap in the rear while driving.

Moving the tie down your going to need to reinforce the area of the new location behind the sheet metal with a very large bearing surface or pull the tie downs right out of the sheet metal.

This problem can be fixed it is not the end of the world.