Bed “drainage”

[Edogg1]

Help me figure this out. Every truck I’ve owned did not have drainage in the bed. The bed to sides are welded and sealed. The trucks I had that did not have covers would drain after the rain when I drove away, a waterfall would come out of the tailgate. That’s normal for all trucks, why is this one different?
What’s stopping me from sealing up the “linear drain” around the perimeter of the Bed? Ive need through a few snow and rain storms (and car washes too) and found water or snow in the bed where I’ve never had in previous trucks.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not think it’s supposed to be sealed 100% but this drainage is so different than any other truck I know of, and I don’t see a reason.

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[WesM]

I guess in the event of a tonneau cover leak, it would keep stuff dryer in the bed than if the water just accumulated. I could also see sitting water causing premature rust in the bed if there are scratches through the paint/bed liner. If you have a hard shell bed liner, its fairly well known that water can accumulate under the liner and cause beds to rust out. Letting the water drain would seem like a good idea.

 

[PortlandME]

Help me figure this out. Every truck I’ve owned did not have drainage in the bed. The bed to sides are welded and sealed. The trucks I had that did not have covers would drain after the rain when I drove away, a waterfall would come out of the tailgate. That’s normal for all trucks, why is this one different?
What’s stopping me from sealing up the “linear drain” around the perimeter of the Bed? Ive need through a few snow and rain storms (and car washes too) and found water or snow in the bed where I’ve never had in previous trucks.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not think it’s supposed to be sealed 100% but this drainage is so different than any other truck I know of, and I don’t see a reason.

What problem are you trying to solve? It seems like if you want less water in the bed sealing the drain would make it worse, or are you saying you think water/snow is entering the bed through the drain from underneath?

 

[Mark Rash]

It seems to me they've figured out that having the bed sealed all the way around wasn't the best option for minimizing the water in the bed and potential related damage down the line. Getting any water out as quickly as possible and not accumulating seems like a good thing to me.

 

[Edogg1]

“its fairly well known that water can accumulate under the liner and cause beds to rust out. Letting the water drain would seem like a good idea.”

I’ve never experienced rust or any corrosion under a drop inbed liner without a cover in over 200,000 miles on one truck.

“What problem are you trying to solve? It seems like if you want less water in the bed sealing the drain would make it worse, or are you saying you think water/snow is entering the bed through the drain from underneath?”

I’m not worried about water getting out, it will on its own through the tailgate if it’s excessive, I don’t have a liner or pad. The problem is the excessive water that comes into the bed through this gap under normal driving conditions in the rain or snow. No over truck bed is like this

 

[Aherpa]

Help me figure this out. Every truck I’ve owned did not have drainage in the bed. The bed to sides are welded and sealed. The trucks I had that did not have covers would drain after the rain when I drove away, a waterfall would come out of the tailgate. That’s normal for all trucks, why is this one different?
What’s stopping me from sealing up the “linear drain” around the perimeter of the Bed? Ive need through a few snow and rain storms (and car washes too) and found water or snow in the bed where I’ve never had in previous trucks.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not think it’s supposed to be sealed 100% but this drainage is so different than any other truck I know of, and I don’t see a reason.

Most trucks do have drain holes where the floor meets the front wall of the bed. The slats run all the way to the front wall to deliver water to the drains.
If the truck is parked slightly 'uphill' , water will not totally drain out of those slats. Also, most trucks are higher in the rear end than the front, partly to accommodate the cargo sag but also to allow water to drain toward the bed drain holes. Most water will drain out of the bed of the truck if it is parked so the front of the bed is lower than the rear.
In the Maverick at least some of the drains are located differently, maybe, because of the shared wall (front wall of the bed and the back wall of the cab). I'm not sure why you want to plug them, unless I have read your post incorrectly.
Thanks

 

[Shay]

#becauseitsaunibodytruck

 

[PortlandME]

“its fairly well known that water can accumulate under the liner and cause beds to rust out. Letting the water drain would seem like a good idea.”

I’ve never experienced rust or any corrosion under a drop inbed liner without a cover in over 200,000 miles on one truck.

“What problem are you trying to solve? It seems like if you want less water in the bed sealing the drain would make it worse, or are you saying you think water/snow is entering the bed through the drain from underneath?”

I’m not worried about water getting out, it will on its own through the tailgate if it’s excessive, I don’t have a liner or pad. The problem is the excessive water that comes into the bed through this gap under normal driving conditions in the rain or snow. No over truck bed is like this

Are you sure it’s entering the bed through the drainage gap? What cover do you have and do you think it’s watertight? My bed is covered and I’m pretty sure the small amount of water I get in the bed leaks in from around the cover and tailgate (I’ve also driven in plenty of snow and rain).

 

[clavicus]

I'm so confused. Got some pics to better illustrate what you mean?

 

[Edogg1]

I keep seeing mention of the cover, I’m not talking about the cover. I am fully aware that the covers are not water tight, nor would I expect them to be. I also am aware that there are small drains in truck beds toward the cabs. But the rest of the bed on other trucks is sealed. The issue is what’s coming in. I am certain it comes in through the bed/wall transition. It also comes in, slightly through gaps in the cover and the tailgate, I expect that. I have salty slush stains in the bed where the linear gap drains are from highway driving during a snowstorm.
I don’t see the harm in sealing up most, not 100%, of this gap, and leaving small gaps at the cab to be picked drains.

 

[WesM]

I keep seeing mention of the cover, I’m not talking about the cover. I am fully aware that the covers are not water tight, nor would I expect them to be. I also am aware that there are small drains in truck beds toward the cabs. But the rest of the bed on other trucks is sealed. The issue is what’s coming in. I am certain it comes in through the bed/wall transition. It also comes in, slightly through gaps in the cover and the tailgate, I expect that. I have salty slush stains in the bed where the linear gap drains are from highway driving during a snowstorm.
I don’t see the harm in sealing up most, not 100%, of this gap, and leaving small gaps at the cab to be picked drains.

Ohhh you are talking about the gap between the side wall and the floor of the bed? Sorry I missed that in the original post, thought you were talking about the actual drain holes.

Yea those sidewall gaps are part of it being a unibody truck I suspect? just a guess. It will be sealed up when I have the spray in liner put in on my truck.

 

[Big_T]

****
What’s stopping me from sealing up the “linear drain” around the perimeter of the Bed?
****

If you're not concerned with maintaining the 5-year rust warranty, and you feel more qualified on the subject than the engineers that designed it, nothing is stopping you. Have at it if you wish.

 

[Pickles]

“its fairly well known that water can accumulate under the liner and cause beds to rust out. Letting the water drain would seem like a good idea.”

I’ve never experienced rust or any corrosion under a drop inbed liner without a cover in over 200,000 miles on one truck.

“What problem are you trying to solve? It seems like if you want less water in the bed sealing the drain would make it worse, or are you saying you think water/snow is entering the bed through the drain from underneath?”

I’m not worried about water getting out, it will on its own through the tailgate if it’s excessive, I don’t have a liner or pad. The problem is the excessive water that comes into the bed through this gap under normal driving conditions in the rain or snow. No over truck bed is like this

If youre not worried about water getting out… why are you worried about it getting in?

 

[Edogg1]

One person replied mentioning unibody, I’m curious if the ridge line or Santa Cruz has the same feature. I guess I’m trying to compare typical separated truck beds to a unibody.
My concern with the water coming in from below is that it is salty and sandy slush kicked up from the road, why does that sound ok to let that in?
A leaky cover isn’t causing this

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