How to clear bed drain holes?

[davecoon13]

The drain holes in my Baja bed keep getting clogged with acorns, sticks, leaves, flower petals, seed pods etc.

I used a shop vac and Phillips screwdriver to remove the crud that keeps accumulating. I normally have my Ozzbros cover over the bed, but on those occasions when I have to leave the bed uncovered while hauling a big load, my drain holes always seem to clog. Is there a secret to easily unclog them? What is the best way to keep them clear or unclog them?

What have other folks done?

Thanks,

Dave Coon
2003 Baja Sport 4EAT
36K miles

[Pow]

Best way to keep them clear? Keep 'em covered. To clean them out I've done pretty much the same as you, poke at them with a screwdriver. I've also used air or water under pressure to kick the debris back out, usually works best if loosened with aforementioned screwdriver first.

-Pow

[RickBaja06]

My drain holes were clogged from pine needles so I took the bed apart. I removed all of the plastic and found plenty of junk under the plastic bed liner.

Check out my Cardomain sight for pics.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2875013

[davecoon13]

My drain holes were clogged from pine needles so I took the bed apart. I removed all of the plastic and found plenty of junk under the plastic bed liner...

Awesome pix!

What Holds the plastic liner in--the Torx star bit? How does one remove the plastic liner?

[RickBaja06]

The plastic liner is 1st held in place by the torx bits, but then you must remove the side panels to lift the liner off the bed. It is also tucked under the front cover of the bed near the access door. I left that area alone as seen on my cardomain page, I just gently tugged and got it to come loose. It was difficult getting it back in, I had to fight with it to get it under the plastic trim under the access door.

It took 20 minutes to remove and well over an 1hr of fighting to get things back together. Only did it once and would not try it again.

It is not as bad as I make it sound but the effort it took to remove was not worth the 5 minutes of cleaning pine needles.

Rick

[davecoon13]

...the effort it took to remove was not worth the 5 minutes of cleaning pine needles.

OK, enough said. I will stick to my method of clearing the drain holes with a screwdriver and shop vac. I am not ready to struggle with the bed liner. My plastic is pretty brittle and I've already broken some of the clips on the outside of the liner, so I won't try to brave it.

[Alpha Wolf]

I have a nice large air compressor and use the HP tip and just blow them out.

I also keep our hard cover on it which usually prevents them from being clogged.