Securing Gunner Kennel in bed

I have a medium gunner kennel for my Boykin Spaniel, I have strapped it in the center of the bed to the stock tie downs on all four corners. The only problem with this is it takes up the entire bed space and when duck hunting my bed is usually full with gear.

I am wondering what is the best way to secure it as far over to the driver side and close to the tailgate as possible for easy access and to free up bed space. I'm guessing I would have to drill holes and put some kind of tie down on the floor so the straps are not strung all the way to the bed sides. Just never done anything like that before so curious to see if anyone has any good ideas.

 

Bump

 

I have an idea....buy something like these below to secure the top edge of the kennel to your accessory rail.

$13 T Slot Nuts for Toyota Bed Deck Rail, 4 PCS Stainless Steel Nuts for Tacoma & Tundra Cleats, Tie Downs and Accessories 3/8"-16 Thread 304 Steel

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DXJ9QGF?_encoding=UTF8

Drill 2-3 holes along the top of the kennel. And pass some short bolts through to the rail lugs.

It won't be totally rigid, but it won't go anywhere.

 

Thanks for the idea. But I dont think tieing it to the top rail would be secure enough. And I am definitely not drilling holes in the kennel as its not designed to be tied down that way. And its very expensive to be drilling holes in.....

It is 5 star crash rated with special straps going through the pins the run the length of the kennel. Doing anything different you risking the kennel not staying in place during a collision. The cam buckles for the straps are rated at 2500lbs, the strap itself 4250lbs. They said other straps they used broke during testing. So there lies my hesitancy to use the top rail for a tie down point.

 

We secure them to the rail system. With hooks on the rails and ratchet straps. Don’t fool yourself thinking that strapped to the corners is any safer. The g forces generated in a rollover can be astonishing. Most straps won’t handle that. You’ve made a good choice in a kennel.

 

Since you have the bed rail system you can either fab something up or could use these. I have a set of these for my battery box and they work great.

 

Use the Gunner straps on 4 Corners if you are worried about a crash. It has been tested and numerous rollovers have been documented with it performing. Bolting one side to a rail will not keep it in place in a crash. Not even close.

 

I had no idea that kennels with crash ratings even existed. I didn't realize that was a constraint and I wasn't thinking about an accident. Obviously I don't transport animals.

Good luck with your project. Have you Googled for other ideas? This is not a tundra-specific challenge.

Edit: I just googled this kennel. Cool product. To me, it might warrant drilling the bed to install some sort of basket to provide tie down points.

 

If you haven't come up with anything yet try the L Track. You can get 4 foot sections and mount to the bed floor and move the eyes to wherever you need.

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/collections/Airline-Straps-Hardware

EDIT

There's also single point tie down options if you didn't want to use a rail

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/products/2-track-anchor-point-tie-down-kit-black

 

This looks like it may be a good option. Having the kennel position like i do in the picture, one of the tie downs would need to be on top of the fender well, or on the bed side? Any suggestions on the best mounting point there?

And there is no question I will be using the gunner straps on all four corner to the most secure point i can make. Especially since I will be on the highway.

 

I guess I misunderstood how this kennel is supposed to attach to a vehicle that is why I suggested the Rago brackets. Also because you would not have to drill any holes in the truck. Figured you could just bolt the kennel to the brackets using metal strips on the inside of the kennel. So if you are using some sort of proprietary strapping system you would have to drill into the truck, two holes per mount, and those cargo points would be the way I would do it, again if using the proprietary straps. Use big fender washers on the back side of the mounts.

 

Looking at this L- track and the different tie down point you can use i think I can make it work for what I need.

 

Yeah maybe use the factory tie down for one corner, the L-track for the side away from the bedside, and then the tie down single point for the corner close to the fender well. Is that what you are thinking? That would probably work well and you would have the L track available to tie other stuff down in the bed.

 

I'm thinking to move the kennel over enough to just have the track run on both sides. Be simpler.

Edit: actually I may be able to use the factory bed tie downs for the side closest to the besides then just have one L track on the other like you said. Need to see if the straps will reach.

 

Looks like it will work just fine with having L track on one side and using the factory point for the other. I can run a strip right down the middle of the bed, and it can be used for other stuff. Thanks everyone.

 

Bed stiffeners would provide you with extra tie downs plus the add additional rigidity to the rear part of your bed. I've got a set from Total Chaos that I really like.

 

I've seen those before. Probably be a good idea. Thanks