Tacoma Loose Bed design Flaw explanation

Late to the party. My UHMW pads are still going strong, noise hasn't returned and bed is still tight. In fact if I hadn't tripped across this thread I wouldn't have remembered, just never think about it.

 

Hi Guys My bed started rattling 3 days ago driving me crazy. The UHMW looks like cutting board material. Is it the same?

 

Never mind HDPE is a different molecular makeup.

 

I think cutting boards are usually polypropylene, those pads are polyethylene.

 

Thanks Dave

 

That's not to say polypropylene wouldn't work, just that cutting boards are too thick. I think it would be hard to make it durable in something that thin is all.

 

I would urge all of people with loose beds to start a case and get it on record. I called Toyota America and they said that there are no complaints about this situation. Funny there are plenty here!

 

Well, I just joined the loose bed club...22k miles. I stopped by Discount Tire and they let me sort through the take-off tires and pick what I wanted. I cut some sections from the sidewall and then used a 1/2" wood drill to drill the centers. The rubber sidewalls are great as they are not too thick and have reinforcement in the rubber. I did both sides. The best part is DT said they would take the tire back for free disposal once I was finished.

Oh, and I first loosened the center set of bolts located midway in the bed to help facilitate lifting the front of the bed to insert the rubber isolators. Funny thing, one of the metal sleeves there was also standing above the level of the bed so I put the rubber pads on both sides there too. So I now have four pads under the bed. Make sure you also check the center set of bolts as well as the fronts.

 

Dave I went to my dealer the other day. They want $125 to diagnose the loose bed. I installed your fix in about 20 minutes. FANTASTIC!!
If it is OK with I am going to make a short video for you tube so others may find and apply your fix. I will give you full credit as I will only be the messenger.

 

.125 thickness? Think that is what that says.

 

1/8 inch

 

I live on a rough dirt road about a mile off pavement. Bed rattle has been giving me headaches for a while now. Today I pulled the bolts and put in some UHMW. I test drove down to the highway and back. SO QUITE!

 

So this is inherent only to 2nd gens ? it means that 1st gen metal beds are tighten solid to frames?

 

\
Yes,
Composite beds on 2nd and 3rd generation truck only.

 

I started noticing this noise a few months ago after having some bodywork done. I had damaged the passenger side rear fender. The body shop replaced it. They told me would have to unbolt the bed and slide the whole thing back to install the new fender. I started noticing the noise the first week after I got it back. I assumed they hadn't installed correctly but I wanted to be sure before I went back to them. In checking bolts and pushing and pulling on things I finally replicated the noise by just lifting the whole fender. I soon realized the slack was at one of the bed anchor bolts. My first thought was just to tighten the bolt. It was already tight. I got online and found it was a common problem.

Looks like most people are making a fix from under the bed. I figured it would be easier to do from the top. I mainly needed some kind of spacer, something just to keep the bed from bouncing up. Whatever I used wouldn't need any compressive strength but would need to be durable and non-corrosive.

My first attempt was with a rubber plumbing cap. I just used my pocket knife to create kind of a split washer, so I wouldn't have to completely remove the bolt. It worked but the material was too squishy and deformed too much when I tightened the bolt down and the split washer didn't help with this. So I started trying to find something more dense but inexpensive.










Next I decided to try a piece of TPO roofing. This material is really tough and dense and we had samples around the office. So I got the heaviest sample I could find and used a compass to draw a washer and cut it out with scissors and an x-acto knife.










I just guessed at the size but it came out pretty good. I pulled the bolt out and put it back in with the new spacer / washer. Its been several weeks and it seems to be working well. The noise has stopped. Since the material is not under the bed and being compressed, this should last a long time. The only problem I see is if the composite bed changes shape again then I made need a second spacer.









This really is a goofy problem to have to deal with on a truck.

 

Yeah, it's why we love 'em though.

 

If you use a piece of sidewall cut from a tire like I did, or anything else that compresses, make sure you recheck the torque on the bolts after a few days and then again because the rubber settles.

 

What is the proper torque?

 

Rats, I knew someone was going to ask that. Don't know off the top of my head but I will dig and report back. I should have said tighten instead as the point is that rubber compresses and using pieces from a sidewall like I did the tightness needs to be checked a few times for a while.