This Toyota pickup bed has seen some hard work, but its labors are not done yet. It belongs to a friend of mine, who has created an “eco village” out of what started out as a couple of old houses on a several large lots. He’s built a number of new houses there, as well as renovated the old ones. And there’s lots of gardens and other projects. It’s not totally dissimilar to what I’ve done, except for the overt “eco” part.
And his old Toyota pickup has hauled it all; it’s been his only self-propelled vehicle he’s owned in decades. And I drop by once in a while to say hi and watch the continued battering of his pickup bed. I should have taken pictures all these years.
That’s one of the several new houses he built. And it looks like that pile of firewood was undoubtedly hauled by the Toyota, as his houses all have wood stoves (good from a renewable energy POV; not so good from an air quality POV).
The bed in my old Ford has probably hauled about as much. I’ve cringed many a time as a big loader dropped a yard or more of rocks into my bed. But it’s made of sterner stuff (thicker steel), and shows almost none of the symptoms that his bed does. It was one of the reasons I bought Ford of this vintage, compared to the wood beds of the Chevy and GM, which inevitably rot out.
Before anyone might be tempted to diss this Toyota because of its bed, keep in mind that the bed was made in the US by a supplier, and added after the chassis/cab was shipped from Japan, to avoid the 25% Chicken Tax. He’s very unlikely to buy a new truck, and the Toyota is probably good to go for another decade or two, but maybe he needs to find a replacement bed. It would be recycling, after all, which is right up his alley.
Dump the wellside and put a genuine Toyota alloy dropsider on the chassis, far more durable and would possibly out last the rest of it.
That would be great if such an item was available here.
Can I be first in line to point out how much rustier this would be, if it lived where I do? My Dad had a Toyota pickup (an 85) and it was dead-nuts reliable, but rusted to unusability in less than 10 years.
Is there a place by you that , I don’t know, re-lines beds?
Oh, and I’ve never seen a pickup without this type of bed, that was from the factory-here in the USA you only see tray-type beds that are home-made, or maybe one that’s been converted to a box truck or a camper.
Wow, not just reliable but “dead-nuts” reliable. That’s pretty reliable.
“Dead on balls accurate. It’s an industry term” – My Cousin Vinny.
At the risk of starting a range war, what’s everyone’s take on the Ford aluminum pickup bed? I have no dog
in this pickup in this fight but I am genuinely curious as to what the opinions are from people who actually use their trucks as trucks.In response, I’ll give you my take on Chevy’s ad about Ford’s aluminum pickup bed-
First, I’ll concede the Ford bed showed more damage than the Chevy bed. Having said that, I’d like to make the following points-
1) I would never drop a tool box into any pickup bed from 3 feet.
2) I would also never allow a front loader to drop a load a bricks into my pickup.
3) While nothing pierced the Chevy bed, it sure looked like crap once they were done.
Thanks for listening, and I’m glad to get that off my chest!
+1 to all of those. I try not to hate on Chevy, because they’ve never made a bad truck, but their literal Ford bashing is incredibly tiresome when they’ve made it clear that they’ll be going to aluminum as well for the next-gen Silverado.
“when they’ve made it clear that they’ll be going to aluminum as well for the next-gen Silverado.”
If that is the case, their marketers are even more short sighted than Chrysler’s marketers in the ’60s that proclaimed that Chrysler built no “junior editions” – While Oldsmobile’s Cutlass ate their lunch.
It’s more that the marketers and the engineers are miles apart (literally) and no one in either group cares enough to correspond with the other.
Yes, and those are exactly the types of things senior management is supposed to manage. GM deserves a Deadly Sin series on their advertising.
GM commercials are the absolute worst. From Chevy to GMC to Buick, all terrible.
I too thought of Ford’s current aluminum bed, and for that matter, the prior generation’s steel bed. Would either perform like Paul’s ’66?
I’m fairly sure the steel bed in my 2012 F-150 Supercrew would not. I bought a dealer demo that someone had hauled some brush and logs in, and even just a few uses produced some minor dents along with some scratches. Crawling in the bed produced some noise from flexing metal.
But, I did have the bed sprayed with Line-X. And wow, that stuff really stiffens and stabilizes the metal, not to mention deadens sounds as stuff is put in the bed. I’ve (almost) tried to abuse the bed when hauling appliances and such, and that stuff does not scratch and the bed does not dent.
I would not own a truck again without a spray in bed liner. The huge discount I got for the dealer demo / bed scratches covered the cost of the liner over 30 times, and the bed looked like new with it installed.
That bed looks like it emerged from the Mesolithic Age.
My only gripes with that bed are the busted taillights since one of my biggest pet peeves is vehicles lacking proper lighting. I had no idea these beds were not made by Toyota since I figured Toyota made them and shipped them over like their trucks.
At Sherwood Pick N’ Pull they use mostly Ranger beds to store items in.
I thought the same thing. It slips into the realm of neglecting safety.
If that truck was out an about in my state, it would have been pulled over and given repair order tickets pronto. There is no excuse for busted tail lights. It is a safety violation.
As for the bed, it is a pickup truck so the bed is going to beat up. A trip to the junk yard with another person can fix that. Unbolt the old bed and bolt in the new bed. With my Ranger it took a big 15 minutes to unbolt and remove the bed.
I was thinking that too. That POS shouldn’t be on the road. Period.
Not many Western states (if any) have vehicle safety inspections. As I get older and see extremely unsafe vehicles on the road (or ones with 5 degrees of camber, sometimes on purpose), I wish we did have a proper inspection.
Oh, and it would also cut down on these idiots putting HID kits in their cars which blind all oncoming traffic.
PhilL: You’re getting a bit strong with your words there about my friend’s truck. It’s not a POS. And strictly speaking, it’s not on the road.
Did you get triggered by the symbol on its door; or the word “eco”? Is it outside of your comfort/safe zone?
I need to warn you that disparaging comments like yours are not welcome. You may not like it, but there’s no reason to get nasty and finger-waggy.
Yes my words were a bit strong Paul, and if that offended you or others I apologize. But your personal accusations against me are awfully presumptuous, and frankly ridiculous, given that truck is clearly beat to hell and not in street legal condition as photographed.
My sole original impetus for Curbside Classic was to document the older cars still at work/sitting on the streets, not the pristine restored “garage queens”. We’ve expanded our coverage some since then, but my personal interest is still primarily the same.
Therefor this truck is a perfect representation of a CC. It’s still hard at work, and undoubtedly will be for another decade or two (or three), because it gets used very infrequently, only to haul something as needed. And its owner feels the same about his truck like I do about mine. It’s a keeper.
My shooting and documenting it is to show you and the others something a bit different. If this is outside your comfort zone, and only want pictures of pristine, new, or restored trucks, you’re at the wrong place. But if you’re here to also appreciate old veterans still at work, then please show them some respect.
The fact that it’s “beat to hell” is precisely why I shot and posted it. Is that so hard to grasp? It’s not your or my job to determine what is “street legal”. That’s not what we’re about either. Quite the opposite: we celebrate folks pushing the ever-encroaching boundaries of freedom. As long as it’s not hurting you (since you obviously don’t live in Eugene), why are you so concerned about a busted tail light?
I seem to have struck a nerve Paul. I haven’t been coming here for the past 4 years to look at new trucks or garage queens and very much appreciate the work you have done here. But the story you told led me to believe this truck was used commercially (building houses), and as such it struck a nerve with me as I have no patience for people ignoring safety laws to earn a profit. Perhaps that assumption was off, but my point was made, I stand by it, and I get what you are saying so I won’t comment on it further.
It’s most definitely not used commercially. And nothing I said implied that.
He’s a very idealistic former hippie who with his mom bought a big property with a couple of rundown old houses on it. He fixed them up, and built some new ones, and invited like-minded folks to live in them in a semi-commune. But that building ended over ten years ago. And he’s not a contractor, and neither am I. We just maintain our properties.
He’s a flaming eco-maniac who won’t drive unless he absolutely has to, in order to haul some materials for his gardens and such. He always rides a bike or walks everywhere. I’ve seen this truck immobile for months at a time.
And if he does use it, the garden supply centers and such are all like a half mile or two away. That’s as far as it ever goes.
I understand that this is all about different cultures. I lived in the Midwest and East Coast and I know how buttoned up almost everyone is, although I don’t know if that’s where you are from or not.
Eugene is…different. As is much of the PNW and CA. Which is why the rest of the country loves to diss the West Coast. I get it. But I don’t approve. Especially the finger wagging stuff. Maybe you never broke any laws. I have, and do. I’m judicious about it, and try to make sure it doesn’t affect anyone else, but I’ve done a lot of things, including with my truck, that was not strictly legal. Laws are there for a reason, because people often lack reason.
Anyway, here in Eugene we avoid finger wagging because lots of folks here make their living outside of the (federal) law, so maybe we’re hyper-sensitive about it.
But the next time I see him, I’ll make sure to tell him you’re concerned about his tail light. 🙂
The 2nd. gen.Tacoma debuted with a composite (plastic) outer bed claimed to be more resistant to impact damage than steel. At least it can’t rust. My second Tacoma is a 2011 and I can vouch for the bed’s stoutness. But what idiot doesn’t use an aftermarket bed liner at the very least?
Aftermarket slide in bed liners reduce the dimensions inside the bed. I took the bed liner out of my truck when I bought it because the bed length measured just under 8 feet with it in. That meant that the tailgate wouldn’t close hauling 8 foot lumber. Took out the bed liner and all is good. Those bed liners vibrate and wear the paint and trap moisture too. My truck was owned by a landscape company and there were globs of black wet grass clippings under the bed liner that probably blew under there one strand at a time. Rust was already eating holes everywhere that the grass piled up. The rest of the truck was clean so I bought it anyway. In this case the bed liner caused more harm than it prevented.
You ain’t kidding, drop-in liners are only good for dealers trying to cover up damage.
I think my next truck will have a Bed Rug mat. They seem to be much more durable and practical than I would have figured.
Bent, but still solid looking and I don’t see rust holes. The steel actually gets stronger when compressed down like this, like demo derby cars get after a few sessions. Those bashed in wheel wells must be getting pretty close to the rear tires. Truly a work truck that earns it’s title.
Yeah, I was thinking about that too, the wheel wells are there for a reason. There looks to be enough clearance in the photo, but the bed is empty.
It’s possible that not just the bed, but the entire truck, was built in the US (at the NUMMI Toyota-GM joint venture factory in Fremont, California that is now the Tesla factory. While many parts of that era Fremont-built Toyotas were imported from Japan (or elsewhere) I think most sheet metal was US-stamped, as were frames (Dana or AO Smith).
Have had several like this but turned into trailers. If the lights go I just buy tow dolly lights from Uhaul. When it passes all hope, I give them wooden beds. Have trailers that started life as a datsun and a ford courier. Another that started as two datsuns that I made a 4 wheel trailer from. Use it till it dies. Then use it some more.
Wow, wonder how much suspension travel in the rear allows before the tires hit the collapsed wheel wells.
Great trucks, I grew up on the hot vinyl seats of my mom’s 85, “with a long bed,” as she likes to remind me when I mention it.
Our first Toyota truck was a 1980 Long-Bed (It said so on the tailgate) with lever latches on either side, as well as exterior tie-downs. The bed was single-wall, so any dents showed through to the exterior. The bed was also painted a different shade than the cab.
A plumbing shop I worked at had an early 90s F150 that had a bed in similar condition. The shop owner was determined to see 500,000 miles out of it. It was his daily driver and in the 400k range at that time. It didn’t make it.
There’s no doubt that the steel in the bed of my ’66 is thicker than used in more recent generations.
Yup, no doubt. Ford pickup sheet metal got thinner in the 1980s sometime (maybe with the 1980 redesign, definitely 1987+). My 1990 F350 has noticeably thinner sheet metal than my 1979 Chevy K20 did.
According to various forums, either 1973 or 1980 was the year the steel got thin. Possibly both, but I’d bet more on 1980 with the emphasis on cutting weight at the time.
Our Falcon utes since 1999 have a plastic inner load bed instead of steel, if you take it out there’s only the bare frame underneath. They have stood up to abuse very well over the years. I have had crushed rock dumped by a loader in mine a few times and many loads of firewood. with no ill effects.
The one I’ve pictured isn’t mine, stolen off the web.
The paint job and bed is perfect. A non-pretentious truck. If I was in the market for a work truck, I would actually pay a premium to buy this Toyota (with the proviso of the taillights being fixed before possession). When I bought my 2011 Ranger new, I had this OCD about keeping the bed scratch free. I couldn’t stand the ridiculousness of this irrationality any longer so I covered it up with a good old Pendaliner — which inherently (and ironically) scratches it anyway. But I’d never see it, so problem solved… nice emotional loophole.
On the other hand, this Toyota screams total emotional freedom. It’s a breath of fresh air to even observe in pictures. And since it’s a Toyota, it will undoubtedly last a long while yet. If there ever was a meditative writing exercise, this would be it for me. Ahhh.
It’s a breath of fresh air to even observe in pictures.
I’m glad someone else gets it. I feel the same way. I love seeing things that show the wear and tear of life honestly. Which is why I’m not very keen on restorations generally. And it fundamentally explains my whole purpose in starting CC: it’s most of all about the honest beaters still working on the streets. And in some ways, this is one of the ultimate CCs.
While I doubt mine will ever reach that well worn state, I fully intend to put the Ranger I bought a few weeks ago to similar good use. It’s a pretty clean looking truck, but the bed is definitely in the perfect state of used where I will never feel bad about shoveling mulch out of it or resting lumber on the exposed metal tailgate lip. The feeling of liberation associated with driving a $1700 pickup truck is awesome. Never a worry about our Midwestern hail-carrying thunderstorms, parking lot dings, etc. And with a mere 125k on the clock, she’s got quite a few miles left in her (but in dire need of some catch-up maintenance and refurbishment).
My father got a free Line-X spray-in bedliner when he got his ’16. I can’t say enough how practical it is. And the installation job was very professional too–they even took out the tie-downs and replaced them after spraying. Honestly, I think all new trucks should come with a spray-in bedliner standard.
After discovering the benefits of my first spray in liner, I was a bit shocked the manufacturers don’t offer this more proactively as a factory option. I believe some may not be offering this, but it is still pretty rare. The aftermarket still has the bulk of this business, and my Line-X guys were also master installers. They even took out the bed bolts – presumably to avoid cracking of the finish if there is any flexing at these points.
That stuff is like rubberized asphalt after it goes on – I’d hate to see a botched job.
My guess is that it does add some measurable weight to the vehicle, I suppose the manufacturers may be leery of having the EPA determine that it is a standard feature and part of the calculation for CAFE.
I believe some MAY BE offering this. Talk about a dumb typo.
Outside of the risk of eventual tailgate failure, as long as there is no serious rust, that bed should Keep on Truckin’ a lot longer then the firewood gathering that created that frame rib exposing patina. The truck equivalent of hard work = washboard abs.
The mention of “eco” and large lots, home gardens and wood stoves brought me back to some childhood memories of the ’70s were folks wanted to build their own homes, heat them with wood, and be surrounded by their own gardens. It was a sort of counter-culture notion without the hard drugs and metal music. A few folks my parents age actually dropped out of suburban society, and did this, with bad haircuts and prairie dresses to boot.
It struck me that EVERYTHING truly changes. As desperately poor parts of the world have discovered, wood is not renewable fast enough, and a population can burn through everything to the point of clear-cutting for heating and cooking.
A geo-thermal system with pumps powered by solar and wind is the merger of tree-hugging and technology. America really needs to get busier with this – its still very rare in my Midwestern market.
Speaking of Truckin’ in the past……….
I remember that bumper sticker on the back of Dad’s ’79 F-250. He was never one for bumper stickers, but it had probably been on the truck for nearly 20 years by the time he got it. It’s about the only bumper sticker I’d ever think about if I ever have the privilege of owning a truck.
1994 Isuzu
Just one word: Plastics
I rather like composite beds like on the current Tacoma, Ridgeline, and the old Avalanche. I’ve heard some Tacoma owners complain it can crack with sharp impacts, but overall I think it works well. Honda’s seems to be pretty tough: