Rope Hooks

              

      Not all that long ago, I was traveling at highway speeds with a box, among other items, in the back of the truck.  The box had items in it to weigh it down, but the wind resistance at higher speeds did cause nominal concern that it might get scooped out of the bed of the pickup.

                    

                                

      To solve the problem of relatively lightweight items in the bed and being able to make trips around town without a great deal of tie-down strap ingenuity, I decided on installing Rope Hooks such as the one seen above.

      

      The specific type of Rope Hook I decided on is packaged as shown left and sold by Harbor Freight Tools (Item #95039) for $7.99 plus tax each set of two.  I evolved my original plan of getting just one set and ultimately purchased three like sets.  Each time I used a readily obtainable coupon to save 10% or more.

      According the www.harborfreight.com, this item may have been discontinued.

                                       

      I installed each set by using the markings on the Tacoma bed liner pattern to make sure the Rope Hooks were symmetrical on both sides of the truck.  Using my Ryobi 18-volt Lithium drill, I made pilot holes for the 1/2" self-tapping screws that were provided with the Rope Hooks.

                     

      Unfortunately, I found that there was some distance between the Tacoma bed liner and the metal underneath and the supplied 1/2" self-tapping screws were not long enough.  I stopped by Lowe's and picked up 1 1/2" screws as shown at right which worked perfectly.  Each bag came with four screws, so I needed three bags to install all six Rope Hooks ($2.94 plus tax).

             

      There was no need to replace the provided screws with a self-tapping design since I was making pilot holes.

                       

      I think the final result (shown below) looks really nice.  The Rope Hooks are another excuse to add a little more of the polished metal look to the truck.

      

                               

      If it weren't for the need to go out and purchase longer screws, the entire installation would have probably taken less than 30 minutes.

      

      At the time of this posting, I have not yet opened and installed the Trailer Net (Item #93671) which I also purchased at Harbor Freight Tools.  It was on sale for less than $7 when I picked it up.  I expect that the net will be easy to loop around the Rope Hooks on both sides of the truck keeping virtually anything in the truck bed from being blown out during travel.

      

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