Ya know those hooks on the outside of the bed?...

[Toni Rader]

Has anyone ever removed those big black tie-down hooks on the exterior of the bed? Do those bolts come out? Mine are all corroded and I want to replace them with fancy ones.

 

[JK II]

Yep Erik Larson is the guy who sells billet tie downs.. I'm not sure if he still makes them or not but I think he'll chime in.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

I think if you take both screws out, the back plate will fall where you can't get at it. Some have changed them out to billets, one screw at a time. Check in search.

 

[Toni Rader]

Thanx guys! I figured they had to come out one at a time. ummmm... mine make a kinda clicky noise as I turned them. Is that normal and they just have to break loose or is that bad?

 

[Terry Schultz]

Too small of a hex - click = almost fits



Ripped shirts ( stop hugging the ST ) = stand back, then move



Terry

 

[Don DeShasier]

can they be removed for appearance? And where does the backing plate fall to? Can it be reached to prevent the plates from rattling?:unsure:

 

[Frank Marano]

I removed the bolts in mine and repainted them yellow to match my truck. I used some outdoor rustolium type spray paint. Let them dry, then reinstalled.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

What part in corroded? If it is just the allen head bolts, then you can just replace them with Harley 5/16" allen hole plugs kit at your locat Harley Davidson dealer.

 

[Jason R]

What do "fancy hooks" look like? ANd where can I get them?!!

 

[Johnny O]

There is also a member project about cutting the caps off and reinstalling them with shorter bolts so they sit flush. That is on my to-do list next week when my son is here for Christmas.

 

[TomT]

I have never had problems with the backing plate falling off. Have removed mine several times. Picture shows first bolts I had. Later switched them out with stainless.



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Deleted deleted]

Does anyone use those hooks? I know mine were good for nothing but catching my shirt as I walked by the Trac in the garage. "Pop-up" hooks along the top of the bedrail would seem to be a much better idea.

 

[Frank Marano]

i use them if i have something in the bed that needs to be tied down......other then that, they just look cool, lol

 

[Johnny O]

I know mine were good for nothing but catching my shirt as I walked by the Trac in the garage.

Yeah, my garage is tight and I tore two jacket sleeves last year on them last year. Some boats have pop-up cleats, maybe those could be adapted.

 

[Fer Echegaray]

Does anyone use those hooks?

Yes, I used them once in a while, not very often, and I've been lucky so far no ripped sleeves...

 

[TomT]

Haven't missed mine a bit. There are tie downs inside the bed so it was kind of redundant to begin with. And if by chance I do need them, I can switch them out in about 5 minutes.

 

[Eric Pennal]

I followed this project by Ken Kojima to shorten the hooks.



If you have the OEM tonneau cover, and ever want to bungee one of the halves down so you can carry something too tall to fit under a closed lid, these hooks still have a purpose.

 

[Andrew Tollison 3]

I have used mine a few times when hauling mulch

 

[Jenn D]

I use mine all the time to bungee down fishing rods to the top of my tonneau.