GEN 1 Any Experience With Hidden Bedside Support System from SDHQ?

[bigrig]

I ordered the kit in steel. SDHQ gave me a nice deal once I told them I was a FRF member.

I received the kit last week and plan to install tomorrow. I will try to post a write up on the installation since I think the provided install instructions could be supplemented with better pictures.

Thanks everyone for the feedback on this kit!

 

[gryGhst17]

I don't completely understand what the issue that this is supposed to help with. Anyone care to enlighten me? TIA.


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[bigrig]

I don't completely understand what the issue that this is supposed to help with. Anyone care to enlighten me? TIA.


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It is my understanding that when we subject our trucks to some more significant impacts offroading, that some owners have reported a separation of the rear quarter panels/fenders from the bed. This brace adds structure to the rear to eliminate the flex that happens in the rear and keeps everything intact.

 

[t_j]

It is my understanding that when we subject our trucks to some more significant impacts offroading, that some owners have reported a separation of the rear quarter panels/fenders from the bed. This brace adds structure to the rear to eliminate the flex that happens in the rear and keeps everything intact.

Sort of. After a reasonable amount of time offroad, the rear of the bed starts to spread, the bedsides are not well supported around the tailgate and tend to start to spread away from vertical towards the outside of the truck. This can be seen when looking at the gap between the tailgate and bed side when the gate is closed, it should be a nice even parallel gap around 1/8" wide. If the top of the gap is wider than the bottom then you have this problem and should invest in some form or bed side support from one of the manufacturers (SDHQ/Rogue/SVC/GJ Motorsports/etc).

 

[bigrig]

OK gang, I got it installed. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped, mostly because I had a hard time getting the bolt holes drilled and lined up correctly.

Thank you t_j for the recommendation on the 90° drill. It did make the job easier.

As I mentioned before, I thought the SDHQ directions for this project could have been better.

Below are a few videos and pictures to illustrate how these braces go in and what they look like when they are installed. Hope this helps anyone looking to take on this project.

Here are the two 8mm bolts to remove to take out the tail lights.
Once the bolts are removed you can pull directly backwards on the
taillight and it should pop out:




I prefer to remove the light from the taillight rather than
disconnecting them. It was easier for me to do it that way
since the clips on my lights are a little worn. I used this time
to clean everything behind the taillight. Surprising how much
dirt you haul around




This video shows where the upper brace bolt goes (this should
be obvious, but I managed to get it wrong the first time).




This shows the orientation of the top bracket mount (this is looking
at the drivers side with the back of the truck to the right of the picture):




This shows the backing plate orientation.




Me complaining about how hard it was to get the backing
plate to line up with the pivot support plate:




Maybe finding a better way to do it:




Final look at it:

 

[AndysLog]

nice job. wasn't previously on my list but if my shit starts spreading ill have to consider.