Does your tacoma have those plastic bed liners or is the bed spray lined? Probably easier if you have a spray on.
My truck is old school, no spray on liner but with a plastic bed liner. It makes accessing the tie down loops a total b******* because the bed liner is raised ABOVE the loops and...
Ah, makes total sense. Interesting. I've only owned Toyota trucks, a Tacoma and then a Tundra (30 years!) and have rarely used those tie down loops. Always used the sliding clamps on the side rails.