TACOMA: 2005 Tacoma Front Bed Tie-Downs??

[lelandstanford]

Mounted 3 D-rings front of the floor.

Middle one sits in the middle drain hole. Of course, the hole has to be enlarged. Some washers may be needed to avoid ring hitting the bed rib.

2 side one sit next to the side drain holes. Simply drill each hole between the drain hole and side bed wall. When installing the backing plate make sure it does not block the factory drain hole.

[LN13]

So any more info on this subject??? I am getting ready to install these d rings this weekend and am still not sure if I am going to mount to bed bolts or to the instructions.

I feel safer doing to bed bolts, but I dont want any problems with Toyota later if I happen to have a cracked bed.

Also..I did not see in the instructions where it listed the amount of load they could handle? Where did people get this information of 400+ lbs per ring?

So any advice or problems with either mount would be appreciated!!

[brulow]

I was going to install the stock "D" rings but I wanted to use the existing holes, there isn't a frame section under the stock holes (pic 1) so I bought these (Pic 2) at Osh hardware for $10 for the pair.
Had to enlarge the holes from 1/4 to 3/8, after drilling I cleaned up the burrs and applied super glue to all newly exposed edges this keeps the material from fraying. I then cut some 2" dia. X 1/16 thick rubber washers to fit between the tie down and the bed, also cut a flat on some 2" metal washers to fit on bottom of bed to give a good bearing surface (Pic 1). also I cut the 3/8 studs down to about 1 1/8 in leanth and used lock nuts. These can be installed at any angle, and are removed/installed in about 5 min. total, helps to have a real long 3/8 extension. After reading some of these threads I think I will replace the washers with some 1/4 plate.

[roughidle]

I was wondering about this pic i took at the LA auto show this past january and it shows a tie down point at the drain hole? is this some hack job?

[TEFye]

Don't know if it's a hack job or not, but it appears to be mounted at one of the preexisting drain holes.

[Malkinator]

Hi Guys, I just bought myself a 2007 Tacoma a couple weeks ago and discovered all of the bed flaws this weekend. I race so I fill up the box with tool boxes, rubber made containers, jack and jack stands, compressed air tank etc! I had to stap everything towards the tail gate due to the lack of front tie down points. It seems like a really odd thing for Toyota to have overlooked! What a pain! The side tie downs are nice and fancy but really of no use to me since all of my stuff is relatively short and I just need to prevent it from sliding all over the place. Man is that plastic box ever slippery! It's like putting everything on ice! Yesterday I cut up some carpet as a temporary bed liner solution but I see that Toyota has a rubber mat which I'm going to price out. It was nice to be able to read all the stuff you guys discussed here. I think I'll get 4 D rings and install 2 in the locations recommended by the factory and two in the front factory bed bolts. I figure that leaving the drain holes as drail holes is probably a good idea. What would be really nice would be to have tie downs about half way up the box in all 4 corners. That's how it was on my old 95 toyota and it worked great! Anyone ever seen that duplicated on a new Tacoma? In my case I'm not dealing with a lot of weight but I would like a bunch of convenient anchor points to prevent everything from sliding around. Also, can anyone recommend the best Tonneau cover? Is there a carbon fiber one out there somewhere? I looked but didn't see any. Yes I mean real carbon fiber not just the decal look a likes. I figure it's a good thing to try and save weight on for both vehicle weight and the pain of carying it when it has to come off. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Malcolm