Plastic bed pros/coms

I am really glad you posted this. you say it rubbed holes in the fenderwells? Well I have thought about cutting my fender wells off. not the whole things just a couple inches on each side so i can fit a four foot wide piece of drywall in between the fenders. did it seem to make your bed any weaker when the holes were rubbed in them? I thought id cover the opening with diamond plate to protect the inner wheel wells. i have a 2wd 4cyl auto with the very rare silver gray paint color.

 

There are no inner wheel wells.

The 2nd Gen bed is 100% composite. The only metal under the bed is the fenders, tailgate, and the truck's frame.

Trim the wheel wells and the drywall will be riding on your tires.

 

A 4 foot wide piece of drywall will fit in the bed on top of the wheel wells. Throw a 2X4 into the slots in front of and behind the wheel wells and the drywall will be supported properly.

 

This

 

So you have a second plastic cover over the plastic bed? And then what to line X the plastic bed as well?

I have hauled everything from wood to golf carts in the back of my bed, and don't have a problem with it at all. You can take a sledge hammer to the bed and it won't break. Trust me I have tried it lol

and yes a golf carts fits in the back

 

My nic name is Captain Drywall, so lets assume I have hauled many sheets of 4x8 in my tacoma. Lets also assume I have least a normal iq. So I dont need tips on how to put drywall on top of the fenderwells or where you can put the 2x4s. Further lets assume you guys have never looked under your 2wd tacoma and that you would be quit wrong if you think the without the fender wells the drywall would rub on the tires. The bottom of the bed is at least six inches above the tires. Thus no rub. Since I have looked under my tacoma I of course know there is no metal under there. The question was not "can you insult me" it was if cut will the composite bed still be strong enough?

 

Also if you have ever loaded a pickup you'd know its much easier to load the rock in the bed than 9 inches higher on top of the fender wells.

 

Somebody posted a picture in the "What have you done to your tacoma today" thread here in the 2nd gen section a couple days ago of tailgate blown out hauling drywall in the bed. SO assuming you cut the wheel wells out, and never run in to rubbing on the tires, your tailgate is probably doomed to implode without reinforcement.

Here you go:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/6499-what-have-you-done-your-tacoma-today-2142.html#post8067754

 

I wasn't crazy about the idea at first, but I have grown to like it and it has held up fairly well. I have punched a small hole in it with a set of hand trucks when I was unloading them. The blade caught part of the composite on the tailgate and cut straight through. It's small, only a quarter of an inch long or so.

 

thanks for the pic of the broken tailgate. In 1974 I blew my dad tailgate out on his gmc 3/4 ton. that tailgatewas metal on steel on iron or something. I stacked 30 4x12's in the bed left em hanging out, hit a bump hard and snap the straps broke. After that strips of wood over the bed and tailgate. thanks again.

 

wait a minute, that bed is not long enough or wide enough to have the drywall on the tailgate unless it was on the fender well and leaning down on the end of the tail gate. A recipe for disaster

 

Yeah if you have a 6 ft bed I'd assume load would be better distributed if riding flat on the bed.

 

Based on the nickname, and the assumption that you have a normal iq, the question then becomes why you chose a Tacoma...it would seem you probably needed a full sized truck in order to haul sheetrock, if in fact you do it for a living. Maybe you don't.

 

In my (and at least one other local who does what I do) experience, rough roads will "squish" the box mounts, resulting in a loose bed. If the bed bolts aren't immediately tightened down, the threads on them will be destroyed, and replacement bolts are almost $20 a pop. The first year, everything was ok, but after that, I have found they need to be tightened down every month or so, especially when Mother Nature hasn't paved the dirt roads with smooth snow.

 

pro:
much more dent resistance

cons:
none that i've seen...and i work my truck more than the people who complain about composite beds

 

I have had trucks all my life...for me the composite bed is great!!! I bought a bed mat right off, which I had in the metal beds before anyway!!! A win win...no dents, did not need to have the "Rhino" spray in??? Like some one else said I think it's warmer when I sleep in the back too...

 

Lulz

 

You should change your nickname to Captain Dickhole

 

I've never loaded a pickup , thanks for the help

 

I've put bananas in mine.

And of course, that's not the real reason I got the truck....