So have you addressed the mounting points?

 

Well that’s possibly an issue. The 1994 pickup uses uses 2 bolts per side directly behind the cab. The 1995 Tacoma only uses 1. I’ve only had the bed on once and it appears the front bolt doesn’t match up with either one.

 

I’m thinking if that’s the case I can just bridge my two factory mounts with a piece of maybe 1/4” steel and drill a hole in that for the bolt to pass thru. The next bolts near the crossmember appear to be the same distance apart so I’m under the impression these will bolt up and may determine where I drill the holes for the front mounts. The last two bolts at the back of the bed appear to be behind the end of the frame so we’ll see.

 

I ordered a tailgate and a rollpan this weekend. Planning on trying to fit these before taking the bed for Raptor lining. Also the header panel is bowed not sure about the repair for that.

 

Cut the hole in the passenger side of the bed for the fuel filler.

 

So the width of the 1995 front bed mounting holes measures 43 1/2” center to center. And it appears the mount will be located between the two existing 1994 bed mounts. So I’m bridging them, the key will be properly locating where to drill.

 

Instead of flat steel bar, I would use at least angle iron or, preferably, some C-channel steel; something with a vertical wall for rigidity. Flat steel us going to flex and possibly crack or cause the factory bed mounts to flex...

 

Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it. I could use angle I imagine as I'm going to have to put the 1" body/bed lift bushing on top of this bridging piece.

 

Bolted the bed on tonight, the mid mounts on the 1994 frame and the 1995 Tacoma bed lined up. I drilled the front holes in the bridge brackets and put in the 1” spacers in to match the body lift. Going to have to extend the fuel filler and vent hoses tomorrow to hook up the Jeep fuel filler.

 

Good job. Happy with the results?

It doesn’t look terrible, but not for me personally.

 

Meh, I’m not in love with it but I think once it’s sprayed to match it will blend better. The 94 and earlier beds are just not around here and as it was I ended getting the credit card company do a chargeback on the one I tried to buy online as it was a scam.

 

Props for making it work. it lines up right, the bottom trim line matches up along with the door, but the hip line is too curved IMHO for the rest off the truck. But hey, it's still badass and it works!

 

Thanks, drove it to the body shop yesterday to have the rollpan pan welded in and have the bed sprayed. The speedometer worked after I cleaned the circuit board and the truck is much quieter and tighter with the new door seals and the sound deadner in the doors and the back of the cab. Hopefully it will look decent, I’ve got a couple more things to do and just drive it for a while.

 

Just got it back from the body shop. Have to wire up the tail lights and tag light.

 

That came out nice and flush! Personally would've gone a little darker but this looks good.

 

Got the tail lights wired up today, used TYC lamps and pigtails from a member over at YotaTech who sells them on EBay. Correct color coding made it really simple to wire up. The only thing I don’t have wired up is the tag light. The roll pan I ordered on EBay came from China and didn’t include the LED light that it was supposed to. Contacted the seller and they gave me a credit and said they couldn’t provide the lamp.

 

Hey man, how heavy would you say the bed is for swapping? I'm assuming you had a helper to move it on/off? I've never taken the bed off a truck before and need to plan for it, because now I find myself looking for a replacement bed for my FILs 2003 Tacoma that he just wrecked the other day by sliding into a pole. I gotta say though, a good bed seems double the price here on the WCoast than the ones I looked at in your area.

 

Well they are not heavy but even with the tailgate off my wife couldn’t help me lift it but she is petite. My brother in law and I took it on and off several times when I was figuring out the mounts and it was no problem. $500 for the Tacoma bed here seems pretty common but I did replace the taillights and the tailgate but I could have reused them.