Sealing truck bed against dust?

[Martinjmpr]

Just wondering if anyone else has tried to seal their pickup bed to minimize the dust? I know dust can't be kept out completely but the fine layer of dust that covered everything in the back of my truck was downright annoying.

I know the bed has drain holes to let water out, and I presume the dust is getting in either through these drain holes, through gaps in the tailgate, or in between the shell and the bed.

What experiences have people had and what kind of success?

Incidentally, at this time I'm not interested in anything that would permanently modify the truck, so no rhino linings or similar. If it comes down to it, I might do that but I want to try the less drastic solutions first.

Actually, I guess I wouldn't object to permanently sealing up the existing drain holes as long as I could put in new drain holes - preferably something with a removable plug I could remove when I have the shell off.

 

[Rockcrawler]

When I had the roll top cover on my truck, the drain holes were sealed and the only dust I got in was around the tailgate. They make tailgate sealing kits (my cover actually came w/ one). I just never installed it since it didn't work w/ a drop in liner. Now that the liner is gone, I might see what it would take to install it as long as it doesn't interfere w/ the FWC. Good luck! I just was working on resealing around the door of the camper to cut down on the dust a bit.

Kyle

 

[ntsqd]

In both my '84 and my '86 yota beds the bed floor corrugations are open at the front. I've not noticed much dust coming in through those openings. Only way I can see to seal them would be something like expanding foam. As mentioned the tailgate area is the largest dust contributor.

Later model beds tend to be better baffled for aerodynamics (fuel mileage concerns). I would think that those might also work against dust. Have a look at the Trim-Lok options. They offer edge trim with attached sealing bulbs that could work well for sealing a tailgate.

 

[Rock-Wear]

Look under the bed rails. On the Tacoma (at least my 2002) under the bedrails are about a dozen oval holes that let in a ton of dust. I used campershell foam tape to seal them up, just because thats what I had handy.

I also used Trail-Seal to seal the gaps around the tailgate.

 

[4RunAmok]

Why not just pressurize it? I don't know the engineering involved, but Mr.S did it to his Tacoma. You might find some information about it over on www.4wdtrips.net.

When his truck is on the trails, dust can't get in because air is leaking out through the few remaining places he couldn't seal up.