Busted tie down - alternatives?

[Krudo]

Not sure if correct part of site to post - I have a camper (scout yoho) ~1100lbs I use. Ranger handles it well. Been no issue for couple months now.

Today however I noticed one of the tie downs was loose - turns out one of the attachment points in the bed has popped out on one end - see shots.

now I’m wondering if I need to replace with a custom solution or simply replacing this with factory would be sufficient. Scout has tested on ranger and others with Tacoma seems to have no issues without the need for more robust tie down so .. a bit confused why this has happened.

anyone had their tie downs come loose like this? (It should be vertical. But is horizontal currently - one of the screws seems to have popped out)

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[Krudo]

Thinking this may have to do with the spray in bedliner

 

[jsphlynch]

Could you give a little more description of how the bolt "popped out"?

Did it strip the threading? Or simply unscrewed itself? If the latter, perhaps it was not torqued down sufficiently?

 

[Krudo]

Could you give a little more description of how the bolt "popped out"?

Did it strip the threading? Or simply unscrewed itself? If the latter, perhaps it was not torqued down sufficiently?

I can’t find the bolt must have flown out the back. Here’s a closer shot

 

[halligan1201]

I can't tell from photos if the tie down had another bolt threaded in or not but it's possible they left one out. Mine were put in before the spray liner because it's all over the tie down. Yours doesn't appear to have spray liner on it, which seems strange to me.

 

[jsphlynch]

Are you sure it was ever really there? Any chance the guys who did your bed liner lost one and didn't bother to tell you?

If the threading looks good on hole, I would just replace the bolt and probably put a little threadlocker on it. And check all the other tie-down bolts to make sure they aren't loose.

 

[Augie81]

It's the next step in Ranger tie downs. First there were 6 then they got rid of the middle ones. Now the 4 remaining are only temporary.

 

[Krudo]

Are you sure it was ever really there? Any chance the guys who did your bed liner lost one and didn't bother to tell you?

If the threading looks good on hole, I would just replace the bolt and probably put a little threadlocker on it. And check all the other tie-down bolts to make sure they aren't loose.

It’s definitely possible though I’d be surprised as it’s been solid (or I haven’t noticed when attaching the camper) for a couple months over several trips. Got a bolt on order, will see if it’s a simple reinstall.

 

[D Fresh]

It’s definitely possible though I’d be surprised as it’s been solid (or I haven’t noticed when attaching the camper) for a couple months over several trips. Got a bolt on order, will see if it’s a simple reinstall.

Why not just remove one of the other bolts and try it in the offending hole?

Then you would know instantly wether it stripped the threads or backed out.

That's a lot better than waiting.


Betting it backed out.

 

[JesseS]

Doesn't look like the guy who did the liner put it back, I used a knife the remove the liner around the hole and in the threads on mine. Yours looks like there was never a bolt screwed in as the liner is perfect without thread marks.

 

[puckdodger]

My truck has Linex or whatever it's called and when I put some tie downs in the middle of the box (where Ford should still be putting them!!!) I had to clean the threads with an M8 1.25" tap. The OE tie downs are covered in spray liner, that one looks like it was misassembled at some point after the liner spray.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Not sure if correct part of site to post - I have a camper (scout yoho) ~1100lbs I use. Ranger handles it well. Been no issue for couple months now.

Today however I noticed one of the tie downs was loose - turns out one of the attachment points in the bed has popped out on one end - see shots.

now I’m wondering if I need to replace with a custom solution or simply replacing this with factory would be sufficient. Scout has tested on ranger and others with Tacoma seems to have no issues without the need for more robust tie down so .. a bit confused why this has happened.

anyone had their tie downs come loose like this? (It should be vertical. But is horizontal currently - one of the screws seems to have popped out)

Hi Krudo,

Your pix are not head on into the hole but I suspect that the hole was not cleaned after the spray in liner and the bolt was a no go so left barely engaged in the first thread and dropped out... Bolts do not "pop out" without witness marks and you hole in the upper thread looks way to undamaged to be a bolt pop out....this is more than likely a post install screw up by a tech that did not care... JMO....

Btw, I have seen many fastener failures and this does not ring true on a pop out....

best,
Phil

 

[Frenchy]

My suggestion, go to the dealer and order the bolt. It's cheap enough to begin with and your factory tied out is perfect

 

[Krudo]

Appreciate the fast feedback all!

I agree and suspect the same - the metal of the tie down also does not appear bent significantly which I’d imagine it would be if the bolt got pulled/sheared out. Also doesn’t appear as though any of the bolt is still in there. Just an odd situation that it wasn’t noticed until recently. Perhaps it was simply loose and finally fell out.

Have bolt on order. Lesson learned - check the tie downs after a spray in is installed! Will update once the bolt comes in

 

[AutobotXJ]

Curiosity would be sated if you just tried removing the remaining bolt to see if it would at least thread into the hole.

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