ATC & Aluminum F150 Bed

StephenDM

New Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2024
Messages
1
Location
Bellingham, WA
Hi all,

My wife and I are considering an ATC Ocelot for our '23 F150 with 6.5' bed. I touched base with ATC and they mentioned that they attach the tie-down bolts either directly to the frame or using reinforcement plates on the truck. I was wondering if anyone had experienced any issues with an ATC install on an F150 with an aluminum bed.

The best thread I've found on tie-down bolt issues is here: Rut roh, truck bed cracking at tie downs, and while it seems like the issue in that thread was potentially overtightened turnbuckles, I saw a few references to solutions like the Mule brackets (which I understand ATC does not use), or having custom plates welded after the install is complete. Has anyone found that they had a need for such supplemental methods of securing the tie-down bolts after an ATC install? Or am I in good company if I just assume the ATC install coupled with routine turnbuckle tightness checks are all that is necessary?

Thanks,
Stephen
 
Hi all,

My wife and I are considering an ATC Ocelot for our '23 F150 with 6.5' bed. I touched base with ATC and they mentioned that they attach the tie-down bolts either directly to the frame or using reinforcement plates on the truck. I was wondering if anyone had experienced any issues with an ATC install on an F150 with an aluminum bed.

The best thread I've found on tie-down bolt issues is here: Rut roh, truck bed cracking at tie downs, and while it seems like the issue in that thread was potentially overtightened turnbuckles, I saw a few references to solutions like the Mule brackets (which I understand ATC does not use), or having custom plates welded after the install is complete. Has anyone found that they had a need for such supplemental methods of securing the tie-down bolts after an ATC install? Or am I in good company if I just assume the ATC install coupled with routine turnbuckle tightness checks are all that is necessary?

Thanks,
Stephen
I'm not sure if you found a solution yet but I recently installed front Mule Brackets on my 2024 F150 (amazing) and installed large 1/4" aluminum backing plates (4"x10") on the rear. The rear backing plates overlap the flange of the bed crossmember.
IMG_2752.JPG
rear.JPG
 
I’ve checked the standard ATC turnbuckle install on my aluminum bed F250 routinely since my Panther purchase 4 years ago. The rear turnbuckles are backed by a large aluminum backing plate, probably 1/4”. The bed area around the turnbuckles shows no deformation after about 25,000 miles of use.
 
In the interest of overkill I had some large 1/4" aluminum backing plates cut for my Ford superduty that span front/back to overlap the flanges on the bed crossmembers. Figure that will stress the aluminum of the bed floor the least and distribute the load.
 
While not exactly the same, ATC installed plates like in Robco's second photo for our Tacoma's composite bed.
 

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