1. Welcome to Tundras.com!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tundra discussion topics
    • Transfer over your build thread from a different forum to this one
    • Communicate privately with other Tundra owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

Bed Rail Screws

Discussion in '2.5 Gen Tundras (2014-2021)' started by dwatts222, Apr 9, 2019.

  1. Apr 9, 2019 at 6:05 AM
    #1
    dwatts222

    dwatts222 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2018
    Member:
    #18814
    Messages:
    24
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Daniel
    I bent a bracket for my tonneau cover and the bracket slides in my bed rail. The bracket is long enough that it cannot simply slide off the end of the rail (i.e. it hits the spray in bed liner, where the liner bows out in the corners). Thus, the rail has to actually be removed to get the bracket off and put the new bracket on.

    It seems that the previous owner stripped a few of the torx screws that hold the bed rail in place. I did get a few screws out using a T25 socket wrench.

    Has anybody else run in to this issue and/or switched their bed rail screws to something less injury prone than the torx screws (I know there is an argument for torx; I have never been a fan though)? I anticipate that I will have to use a screw extractor to remove the damaged screws, but I am open to other ideas and wisdom.
     
  2. Apr 9, 2019 at 6:18 AM
    #2
    Boerseun

    Boerseun MGM XP-Series

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2014
    Member:
    #84
    Messages:
    2,867
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Ferdie
    Sarasota Florida
    Vehicle:
    2022 MGM XP-Series CrewMax 4x4
    I had to do the same thing; remove the rail to get my tonneau bracket in, and I stripped 2 of the heads, even though I tried to be very careful. I did not have a good quality screw driver that was slightly damaged. I had to go get a new driver and was able to remove and put it back, but I am sure one more removal and a slight slip of the driver will 'screw' it up for good. Screw extractor will be your best bet to remove it, and then try to find something with a different head to replace it. After my experience I was going to look for different screws, but then being out of sight, out of mind, I never got to it.
     
    dwatts222[OP] likes this.
  3. Apr 9, 2019 at 12:16 PM
    #3
    Geeoff

    Geeoff New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2018
    Member:
    #14501
    Messages:
    6
    Gender:
    Male
    NH
    Vehicle:
    2016 CrewMax SR5 TRD
    I noticed some of my bed rail screws were not all the way tightened after I got the Linex done. When I went to tighten them I noticed the same thing as you guys. I think they must have gotten some over spray in the threaded holes causing the screws to bind and strip out. I had to drill the heads off a couple of them, and then used vise grips to turn the rest of the screw out. I found these hex head replacements on Amazon. I also had to chase the threads with a tap to get them to turn in cleanly.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JDU1ON0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
     
    dwatts222[OP] and Boerseun like this.
  4. Apr 10, 2019 at 5:52 AM
    #4
    dwatts222

    dwatts222 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2018
    Member:
    #18814
    Messages:
    24
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Daniel
    Thank you @Boerseun and @Geeoff for the feedback. I will give the Amazon screws a try and save myself a future headache or two.
     
    Boerseun likes this.

Products Discussed in

To Top