Gm Tie-downs Vs. Bull Tie-downs

[blairlee]

I'd like to add some tie-down hooks to the stake pockets on my truck. The GM Accessories pieces look nice, and I like how they sit absolutely flush with the bed rail, but the actual hooks look kinda dainty and weak.

 

I found these while looking around my local Home Depot:

 

 

These things look great and feel solid. I'd be confident ratcheting just about anything to these things. However, they don't sit flush; the black plastic part fits over the stake hole, and there's no padding or insulation. (Oh, and if you're curious, that's definitely not a GMT900 in the pic. With the GM bed rail caps, the holes are large enough to leave a border of painted metal visible between the tie down and the cap. And I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like the stake hole covers that come with the caps would no longer be able to fit with these in place.)

 

I'm worried that the plastic will chew through the paint in the bed rails before long. Has anyone used these before? Any experiences, good or bad?

[scz71864]

i have those same ones on my truck, i love them, they work, and the push down when not needed, my dad has had a set on his for 5 years and no wear and tear, and he uses them all the time

*edit* i also had a rhino spay in bed liner under these, so i dont have a problem.

[rfh1030]

I ordered the oem side rails and when I went to put the Bull rings in and the cut outs were huge! What I did was took the oem stake hole covers and cut a hole in them to fit the bull rings. They look good IMO. They put a little pressure on the plastic covers, but I don't think they willl cause any problems. I gave the rings a few good pulls and the shook the truck, so no problems.

[=v8-only=]

i have bull rings no cutting is need you need to read slide them in at an angle then fasten together. I torque the tie downs all the time and no issues just make sure to put some anti seize on the screws incase you want to take them out a few years down the road.

[rfh1030]

i have bull rings no cutting is need you need to read slide them in at an angle then fasten together. I torque the tie downs all the time and no issues just make sure to put some anti seize on the screws incase you want to take them out a few years down the road.

 

Do you have the oem rail protectors? The ones I got have stake hole cut outs that are bigger than the bull rings and it leaves a lot of paint exposed and looks crappy. Unless you have a different model bull ring. I have the retractable ones that I got from autozone.

[blairlee]

I installed these last night. In order to avoid scratching the paint, I found some 3M double-sided molding tape at my local auto parts store. I basically made my own gasket by sticking the tape to the underside of the tie-down, then trimming it to size with scissors and a razor blade. After all of that, the tie-downs slipped into my stake holes in about 2 minutes each. The directions say to torque down to hand-tight; I did this after applying just a touch of anti-seize to each of the bolts. As I torqued them down, the tape compressed a little bit but stayed in place.

 

I'll try to grab a photo when it's lighter outside. I have the GM bed rail caps, and with these installed there's a small amount of the bed rail paint visible between edges of the tie-downs and the edges of the caps' stake holes. It's not perfect, but it's not ugly IMO. The stake hole covers that come with the bed rail caps can still be used, but there's a noticeable bulge and I feel like they'd pop off if I drove over a good bump. I think I'll leave them off for now. If I can find a spare set, I'd consider taking a Dremel to them and cutting out a space large enough for the tie-downs.

[WVMountaineer]

Anybody who has the GM tiedowns have an opinion? I like the looks of the GM ones, but don't know the poop on the tuffness of these.

[blairlee]

Here's a quick cell phone pic. Yes, there's a gap, but it's not so bad IMO. This close-up shot makes the double sided tape look much worse than it does in person. (And now that I've taken another look at it, there's a smudge of anti-seize on the plastic. That's what I get for installing them in the middle of the night!)

[blairlee]

Anybody who has the GM tiedowns have an opinion? I like the looks of the GM ones, but don't know the poop on the tuffness of these.

 

 

Supposedly they're rated for 400 lbs vs. 1000 for the Bull Rings. I agree, the GM tiedowns look really nice sitting flush on the bed rail. I just don't like the fact that they're hooks and not rings; I feel like ratchet straps or cords could slip off of them. Plus, the hooks seem really thin to me.

[j13smiley]

Here's a quick cell phone pic. Yes, there's a gap, but it's not so bad IMO. This close-up shot makes the double sided tape look much worse than it does in person. (And now that I've taken another look at it, there's a smudge of anti-seize on the plastic. That's what I get for installing them in the middle of the night!)

 

looks good.

 

i've got line-x over the rail and have been looking for a ring like this. i'll have to stop by home depot and check them out.

[scz71864]

heres mine

[blairlee]

I wouldnt hesitate to get these if I had Linex over the rails. No issues with gaps, no issues with scratching the paint. They look great sitting on top of the liner like that.

 

One thing I learned while shopping for these is that the packaging may have different brand names on it, but the rings themselves all look exactly the same. They're either textured black plastic with the logo on it, like the ones here, or they have a stainless steel plate on top. If you see something that looks like the Bull rings, just take a close look at them to make sure of what they are. The packaging will also have the Bull Accessories logo somewhere on it (or at least mention that they manufactured the rings).

[Mossyoakglock]

bclee,

 

Would you happen to have a picture of your bedrail protectors? I'm thinking about getting these but still undecided.

[blairlee]

Here you go, another quick and dirty cell phone pic. I installed them myself in about 20 minutes. They fit very well and look good IMO. The texture matches the tailgate piece and they come with caps to fill the stake holes. (I removed mine because of the tie-downs.)

[Mossyoakglock]

They look really good. I still can't decide if I want to put them on or not.

 

I've had my Pace-Edwards jackrabbit for 3 years and it has never opened as smooth as I like and just the other day I was able to tweak it and now it opens like a dream. I'd hate to have to remove it to put these protectors on and not get my cover back on the way it is now. I guess that's the only reason I have for not getting these yet.