For the composite bed crowd

Hi all. I'm over at the first get forum because that's what I own but I thought I'd share this with the composite crowd. The local welding supply shop bought a new (23) Tacoma and needed to be able to carry at the most 3 cylinders (S size) to a client on a once or twice a week basis. Here's what I put together for him. I used the bed bolts to my advantage. I also used the top of the bed head board existing screw holes where the aluminum tube runs across (which was out when I took the pics) just for a little extra support. The base plates that the bed bolts run through have fillers inbetween the ridges so there is full contact on all of the plate. When I torqued the bolts to 60 ft lbs I was really pleased with how strong this thing is. The gusset bars play a big part in this. Now let's just see how it plays out after being in service for a while. I told him I want it back in 6 weeks to check everything. Especially the bed bolt torque. If that's all good then in another 6 months. Time will tell.

 

Looks good!

 

nice work!

i'm interested to see pictures of how you tied it into the front rail if you have them

 

It looks great. Nice job

 

Thanks for the kind support everyone. @soundman98 I'll get you some pics tomorrow when I take it out for painting.

 

@soundman98 here's what the tabs are. Real simple. I had planned to span the whole length of the bed but there was so much strength in the base plate setup alone that I just put the two corner tabs in.

 

SPECTACULAR JOB !!!!!