No one would love to see the bed of their truck get filled up with rainwater; no one. People who reside in rainy states would definitely want to know what will become of their truck beds when the rain begins — hence the question, Do Truck Beds Fill Up With Water When It Rains?

Do Truck Beds Fill Up With Water When It Rains?

The answer is NO. The truck beds are not 100% sealed. The manufacturers deliberately left small gaps from which water can be drained. If you park it pointing downhill and it rains, you can accumulate water close to the cab. There’s an exception: this can only happen when other materials block those small gaps made specifically for the draining of water.

This brings us to the section of this article where we tell you what to do if the bed of your truck begins to hold water.

What To Do If Your Truck Bed Holds Water

Most of the pickup truck you’ll find out there already come with a feature that allows for water drainage — some sort of holes. It could also be gaps pretty close to the cab side. The holes made for the purpose of water drainage are not that big, so the possibility of them getting clogged with materials — random materials — is on the high side. When these materials coincidentally become the reason why water stops flowing out of the bed, check the holes and get rid of that random stuff.

Furthermore, as we’ve pointed out the problem, we believe you must have figured out the solution. We know how smart you are. 🙂

Solution: you have to ensure that those areas are cleaned.

In order to keep this occurrence at arm’s length, it’s quite necessary that you — from time to time — inspect those spots. It would make more sense when the rainy days are fast approaching.

When the bed is lined

If the bed of your truck has, on it, a kind of coating or maybe a layer of plastic — in other words, we could simply say: either a spray-in or drop-in Bedliner — they may stand as a restriction, restricting water from passing through the stock drain holes. You have to note that this is not always true, if a skilled person was hired to install those materials, Bedliner. As for beds that have the spray-in coating, resolving this wouldn’t be a herculean task. All you have to do is, get a utility knife after you have located the stock holes — and with the help of the knife, open them back up.

Yeah, we won’t leave behind the drop-in bed liner: considering the drop-in, you have to go about the process carefully. The moment you successfully locate the drain slots and have made sure that those slots are uncovered, adopt the approach of plugging in grommets and sealing them. If you fail to do that, you can end up having the water trapped between the actual metal bed and the plastic liner. This, after some time, is much likely to result in corrosion.

Note: If the truck bed has a liner, any kind of rainwater could just remain inside the bed for a long period of time, considering the fact that there’s no form of contact with the truck’s original bed.

Make additional holes

Do you have the intention of helping the bed to quickly drain out stagnant water? Do you own a truck that does not have even a single drain hole? You would have to, yourself, carry out the process of cutting out either one hole or even two. For the inch of the holes, make them in a way that they are not larger than ¼ inch. Also, we’re sure you can foresee what drilling bigger drain holes will do for you: getting the job done in no time and not making it easy for the drain holes to blocked easily.

The key thing to note down is, don’t forget about using paint to mark the new drain spots. No one would want to have anything — they can get rid of — be the reason for the presence of rust. Let’s take for instance there’s a bed that had been sprayed by the owner using a Bedliner. In order to maintain the overall look around those drain spots areas, too, you can cover those spots with a single spray or, maybe, two of one product. A can of black paint can also do the job.

Tips On Getting Rid Of Actual Rainwater

Park the vehicle correctly

This way remains the best way to prevent any sort of water from dwelling inside the rear of a pickup truck. Make sure it’s properly parked in the right, appropriate position. In a case whereby you have already installed a Bedliner, there’ll be no need for you to uncover any one of the existing drain holes.

Look for any incline around and simply park your truck on it, so the water could easily find its way out of your truck bed through the tailgate’s bottom. If you discover that there’s no iota of effectiveness in this approach, allow the tailgate to remain open.

There are pickup trucks on which you’d find the drain slots located closer to the front. For those kinds of pickup trucks, apply the nosedive type of packing. That’s the leading reason for one of their features, versatility. If, at where you stay, you can’t find an area that allows your truck to take an inclined position, you can — at all times — employ the use of a pair of plastic ramps. The plastic ramps should help you in achieving the goal.

Leave the water there

Truck beds that have, installed, a liner are — to a large extent — resistant against any kind of water damage. This is the reason why leaving it there while you move your truck isn’t a bad idea. While you’re in motion, hitting breaks would help to speed up the process of draining the water on the truck bed. This, also, has a way of cleaning the bed of your truck, if it’s dirty in any way.

How Do You Prevent Rainwater From Filling Your Truck Bed?

One of the proven, working ways to provide coverage above the bed of your truck is by making use of a tonneau cover. Tonneau covers don’t come in just one style; they come in a variety of styles. In as much as they have numerous styles, they still serve the purpose of covering the bed of the truck, and protecting it from the elements. Most of the styles out there are, in a way, not that observable. On the other hand, others attract people’s attention like they’re screaming “I am here, I am here” repeatedly.

To add to this option, tonneau cover, the truck cargo bag can also stand as an alternative. One of the more cost-effective and simplest ways to ensure that your gear is protected and covered is by making use of a truck cargo bag. In the market has a variety of options and price points with varying waterproof protection, weather resistance and, of course, quality. You can find these bags in various sizes, ranging from the smaller ones that are made to fill a huge portion of your truck bed to the large ones that can accommodate your truck’s entire bed. If you’re enquiring about the big capacity, it varies from about 25 to 50 cubic feet for a 5.5′ bed, 25 to 58 cubic feet for a 6.5′ bed, and 25 to 75 cubic feet for an 8′ bed all depending on the particular size and type of the bag you decide to purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why Does My Truck Bed Hold Water?

If the bed of your truck has either a spray-in bedliner or drop-in Bedliner on it, the stock drain holes might end up being blocked by the material.

How Do I Protect My Truck Bed From Rain?

You can achieve this by simply placing up to two large tarps stacked on each other and ensure it’s laid flatly on the bed of the truck. Locate the center and put your luggage therein. After that, fold the first tarp to wrap around the payload. The next thing you’d have to do is to firmly secure the first tarp’s ends by making use of either a durable rope or a bungee cord. Then, after all these are done, take the pile and roll in right on the second tarp.

How Heavy Is A Truck Bed Full Of Water?

4,700 Pounds.

A bed that’s full of water weighs very much over 4,700 pounds. Its payload capacity can be surpassed even when it’s filled by half. It weighs approximately 2,368 pounds when it’s — by half — filled with water.

What Are The Holes In My Truck Bed For?

It’s an easy question. The holes are simply for the purpose of draining water.

Do Truck Beds Fill Up With Water When It Rains – Conclusion

To recap, and as a response to the question — Do Truck Beds Fill Up With Water When It Rains? — we said:

The answer is NO. The truck beds are not 100% sealed. The manufacturers deliberately left small gaps from which water can be drained. If you park it pointing downhill and it rains, you can accumulate water close to the cab. There’s an exception: this can only happen when other materials block those small gaps made specifically for the draining of water.

As maintaining the truck bed is one of the concerns of truck drivers, this question is likely to be heard from them — that’s why we took out time to find an answer.

Thanks for reading.