Has anyone added additional strap loops in the bed?

[Chadnutz]

First of all it was ignorant to install rings only on the lower corners of the bed. It's like Chrysler forgot about RAM when building a truck. My wife's Silverado had loops on the upper and lower parts of each corner.

Has anyone installed additional loops on the top of the bed corners for additional strapping flexibility?

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[Camaroboi13]

I don’t know that I would pull them very tight if I did. The bed is pretty damn thin and any extra force would rip holes in the bed if you added more loops

 

[Volt0]

Heck, I would be interested in loops that were higher than 2” off the bottom. The way these loops are mounted, you can’t really even secure a 5ga bucket. Would love to see some options here, I’m sure I could install some rivnuts, but I feel like it wouldn’t be in anything real meaty.

edit: you might have to install your own frame/box, and then you could put some side load on it. At the end of the day, the physics get real weird in a car accident, in terms of inertia. There might be some mollie panel options out there. I would think twice about pulling one side of the bed towards the other.

 

[Toyfrog]

I’ve been thinking about add some L track in the bed. They make some that looks low enough profile that it would fit between the ridges in the bed and possibly not stick up. I want to order a small piece and see if it sticks up any.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I've had some straps pulled pretty tight on these. I added extra nutserts to give more strength.

 

[whiteglad]

There are four M6x1.0 threaded holes on each side near the top, and 4 across the front near the top. You may need to clean bed liner out of them if you have the factory spray-in liner. Amazon, etc. sell eyebolts with that thread; I got a box of 10 in 304 stainless.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

There are four M6x1.0 threaded holes on each side near the top, and 4 across the front near the top. You may need to clean bed liner out of them if you have the factory spray-in liner. Amazon, etc. sell eyebolts with that thread; I got a box of 10 in 304 stainless.

True - but then you are pulling on a really small part of the bed wall, on an individual nutsert rather than spreading the stress across multiple places.
I had looked into just something like that, but first time I pulled hard enough on a strap or the load shifted when hitting a bump, I could see pulling that insert clean out of that thin sheet metal wall.
I'd at least add a couple of extra inserts and spread the load over a couple of holes instead of one.

In the end - it's their call - how much stress or load is expected, if using ratchet straps or not, what their intended use or need is.

 

[Stuntman Mike]

My car has the factory installed rails with 2 adjustable lugs on each side.

That's a quite practical solution.

 

[PuddleJumper]

First of all it was ignorant to install rings only on the lower corners of the bed. It's like Chrysler forgot about RAM when building a truck. My wife's Silverado had loops on the upper and lower parts of each corner.

Has anyone installed additional loops on the top of the bed corners for additional strapping flexibility?

I added a couple to help hold down my jerry cans. despite how thin the sheet metal looks, it hasn't deformed at all from tightening or abuse. Now i wouldn't use em to strap down more than 150 lbs tho.

 

[TheOpa]

I've had some straps pulled pretty tight on these. I added extra nutserts to give more strength.

I have something similar to what @ShadowsPapa shows here. I prefer being able to move the rings along the track rather than static locations in the corner.

 

[bgott]

Trail rails will handle anything you should haul in these trucks. Stay away from ratchet straps, you can pull enough of a strain with those to bust stuff. Cam lock straps will hold a refrigerator upright in the wind. Well, let me qualify that. I' m a big guy, I can pull enough of a strain on a cam strap to hold stuff down, YMMV. I had those loops that expanded into the bed stake pockets in my Ram 2500 and I decided that I needed ratchet straps. I pulled those loops right out. Went back to the cam straps and had no problem controlling my loads and didn't pull out the expanding loops anymore, either.

 

[BearFootSam]

Heck, I would be interested in loops that were higher than 2” off the bottom. The way these loops are mounted, you can’t really even secure a 5ga bucket. Would love to see some options here, I’m sure I could install some rivnuts, but I feel like it wouldn’t be in anything real meaty.

edit: you might have to install your own frame/box, and then you could put some side load on it. At the end of the day, the physics get real weird in a car accident, in terms of inertia. There might be some mollie panel options out there. I would think twice about pulling one side of the bed towards the other.

For the bed divider slot I prepared a 2x12 with a 4x4 block on each side to prevent it from rotating fore/aft. Along the top of the 2x12 I installed tie down loops so that I can easily secure water jugs or gas cans from a point higher off the bed floor. Otherwise, using the factory tie down points which are too low, tall smooth sided cargos tend to tip-over.

The resulting pocket between the tailgate and the cross board is the perfect size for a variety of smaller loads.

The fit is quite tight so the D-rings I installed along the top of the divider are also helpful in getting the divider up and out of the bed-side pockets.

 

[Stuntman Mike]

Just a picture of the original Jeep solution.
I would have expected that the majority of Gladiators is equiped with it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Trail rails will handle anything you should haul in these trucks. Stay away from ratchet straps, you can pull enough of a strain with those to bust stuff. Cam lock straps will hold a refrigerator upright in the wind. Well, let me qualify that. I' m a big guy, I can pull enough of a strain on a cam strap to hold stuff down, YMMV. I had those loops that expanded into the bed stake pockets in my Ram 2500 and I decided that I needed ratchet straps. I pulled those loops right out. Went back to the cam straps and had no problem controlling my loads and didn't pull out the expanding loops anymore, either.

I've used ratchet straps on the rails I installed. Granted, I don't crank until the webbing stretches, but I've hauled really very long stuff (12 and 14 feet), even tall stuff, secured by ratchet straps. Just control your pull.
My problem with the cam lock type is that you have to really pull past tight to get them secure because they lock when you let loose and the strap tries to go back through the cam, pulling the cam down, so you lose a tad bit of tension.
I added extra mount points to my rails - I drilled holes and put in nutserts, going from 4 to 7 on each side. The load is spread across multiple anchor or attachment points to the bed, spread by the strength of the rail. Because of the length of the rail, it's not a straight out pull, it's a pull at an angle, so you'd have to pull the screws out sort of sideways, at an angle, not straight out.

Anyway, mine work and I've hauled some wild stuff in it. I'm the sort of 2 straps will do it, then 4 are needed. That also helps spread the load out.

 

[Volt0]

For the bed divider slot I prepared a 2x12 with a 4x4 block on each side to prevent it from rotating fore/aft. Along the top of the 2x12 I installed tie down loops so that I can easily secure water jugs or gas cans from a point higher off the bed floor. Otherwise, using the factory tie down points which are too low, tall smooth sided cargos tend to tip-over.

The resulting pocket between the tailgate and the cross board is the perfect size for a variety of smaller loads.

The fit is quite tight so the D-rings I installed along the top of the divider are also helpful in getting the divider up and out of the bed-side pockets.

Sounds like a good plan, do the 4x4 blocks get in the way? Pic?

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