Bed Stiffiners

I’m adding a GFC camper next month and trying to decide if I need bed stiffiners or not. I’m seeing some mixed opinions on the Tundra FB page about them…. Figured this group would be more wise in the matter.

 

Not sure I've seen anyone that makes stiffeners for the 22's yet. Unless you found a company that does?

 

Rago Fab has one. I think there will be others on the market soon.

 

This is my first pickup. Someone educate me on pros vs cons...

 

Pretty sure I just saw that Victory 4x4 had an install video pop up for some.

 

The is for 2nd Gen but same principle
https://www.tundras.com/threads/bed-stiffeners-what-do-they-do-do-i-need-them.28369/

 

But is it necessary for a composite bed? I get it for the steel bed in the older gen, to prevent sheet metal channel cracking.

I do like it for the extra mounting points though.

 

i had a 16' tacoma with a yakima rack, if i put a bundle of 2x4's or pipe in the middle of the rack it would push the bed sides out and make the tailgate harder to close. I haven't looked at the new tundra's bed but if its made like the tacoma, the weak spot is right there where the stiffeners would go. After i installed the Total Chaos Stiffeners, i never had a problem after that. In fact when i installed them the bedsides were bent out without a load on the racks, the stiffeners brought the sides back into square.

 

https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VTUBST-22.html

Might be a good idea to get bed stiffeners for the composite bed. I have them on my tacoma along with a camper shell/rtt. It’s a lot of weight for that corner to be carrying and if you’re wheeling, that’ll put more stress. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Yes absolulty do them

 

If you have a Leitner ACS...then these wont work.

 

really wish leitner would release a bed stiffener for the Tundra thats compatible with their system. I have it and would really like to have some without having to hack into a new set...

 

Very interested to hear the opinions on this topic. I plan to install a slide in camper so I’m probably not the ideal use case for bed stiffeners. However, I could definitely see the value in your use case.

 

On another note. Not trying to bash this company but I want to share my experience since I attempted to use one of their products that ended up not working as they advertised it.
I had previously ordered and attempted to install the Freeland Co (Freeland industries? Not sure why they have multiple names) bed stiffeners. The product itself was a very high quality piece of metal fabrication and the powder coat on it was excellent.
When I went to install them, they did not fit. There was interference all over the place with the bedside, the bed ribs, and the mounting hole not lining up with the hole on the bed.
When I reached out to them, they stated I was the only person who had a problem with them not fitting. They told me to remove the bedliner, which did nothing. They recommended modifying them to chamfer the points of interference but this did not work bc the amount of metal I had to remove to make them fit rendered them useless and created weak points.
they offered to send a spacer (that would make them fit somehow?) and some free products for my troubles but at this point, I already attempted to machine them to fit better, so this wasn’t even a viable solution.
I ended up getting a full refund through my card company since I was getting a bit of a run around with a solution. Not saying this is what everyone will experience with them or with their bed stiffeners but this was my experience with them.

 

O man, that doesnt look too good

 

hey at least you got yours! I canceled my order after waiting 2 months and then had to call my cc company to get a refund!

 

Some cold start action before my coffee run.

https://youtube.com/shorts/IsXYe35Jcf8?feature=share