ADVNTURR
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2024
- Threads
- 6
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 105
- Location
- Cleveland, OH
- Vehicle(s)
- '24 Ranger XLT 2.7L, '16 VW Golf R, '11 Nissan GT-R, '05 Nissan 350Z
- Thread starter
- #1
Since our Rangers don't have a lot of storage space inside and no compartments in the bed I was at a bit of a loss for a place to keep my receiver shackle mount. I didn't want to leave it in my hitch because I don't expect to need it very often and I've had things rust-weld in hitches before (even though my mount is aluminum)
I decided to design a custom bracket and have it fabricated that replaces one of the tie-downs in the bed to keep the mount secure but out of the way when not needed.
I had already removed all of my factory tie-downs before having the bed liner sprayed in so it wasn't a big deal to remove one for my bracket. For anyone trying to remove them for the first time, make sure to have a good fitting T40 (ideally a Torx Plus) bit and some patience. If you have access to a heat gun and a focused tip it also helps a lot to heat the fasteners to try and break down the absurd amount of thread locker Ford used; I found that 800°F for ~30-60s worked really well.
Overall really happy with how it came out and all the bends/holes lined up almost perfect. I may add a piece of foam to make sure it doesn't rattle around but it's definitely not going anywhere. Added bonus, the locking hitch pin also blocks access to the fasteners.
I decided to design a custom bracket and have it fabricated that replaces one of the tie-downs in the bed to keep the mount secure but out of the way when not needed.
I had already removed all of my factory tie-downs before having the bed liner sprayed in so it wasn't a big deal to remove one for my bracket. For anyone trying to remove them for the first time, make sure to have a good fitting T40 (ideally a Torx Plus) bit and some patience. If you have access to a heat gun and a focused tip it also helps a lot to heat the fasteners to try and break down the absurd amount of thread locker Ford used; I found that 800°F for ~30-60s worked really well.
Overall really happy with how it came out and all the bends/holes lined up almost perfect. I may add a piece of foam to make sure it doesn't rattle around but it's definitely not going anywhere. Added bonus, the locking hitch pin also blocks access to the fasteners.
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. I wouldn't want to tie anything too heavy to it, the bracket is only aluminum, but you're absolutely right it's still work as a tie-down.
