cruiseroutfit said:
Lots of reasons really...
They can be installed without removing the bed. They can be installed without removing the spare tire. They can be installed with out removing and re-routing brake, fuel, electrical, emissions and the LSPV. Additionally the shock mounts would need relocating.
I have reinforcement plates on the rear frame of my Tacoma, those outer reinforcements are doing EXACTLY the job I needed them to do.
Over a year ago I went to Moab. In Moab, on "Moab Rim Trail", my frame flexed, and just like every other Tacoma that's been wheeled hard - my bed hit & dented the back of my cab (& knocked paint off). I had talked to Adam at 4xInnovations - who has a degree in engineering & tons of Off-Road fab experience - about this as well, and he took measurements, and made a template, and laser cut the reinforcement plates out of 1/4" steel, and welded them up. He said that doing a solid plate would be stronger than the Demello type with holes...
Since doing this rear frame reinforcement mod, the rear of my truck no longer flexes, or hits my cab. Like cruiseroutfit said - I didn't have to completely disassemble and redesign and rebuild all the components of the rear of my Tacoma. (truck bed, gas tank, fuel lines, brake lines, shock mounts, electrical wires, etc)