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DIY Truck Bed Storage

treegump

treegump

Romans 3:22-24
Messages
2,299
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983
Location
Martinsville, IN
Thinking of building something like this:

dwsp213_1cb_lg.jpg


But...since I have a gooseneck hitch, it'll be on either side. I'll have a cover for the middle and just use that for shovels, axes, etc. And I think I'm going to put a sheet of metal between the lid and an additional layer of plywood on top that'll slide out if I want to extend my bed... Either way, the protective top (whatever it will be) will be bolted so someone would have to struggle to get to my tools. It probably won't be this deep, but who knows.

Since I'll be taking some depth away from my bed by building this, I think I'll go ahead and build some bed sides, that'll stay in the bed till I need them. I'm planning on building my own headache rack, so the sides and rear will just be an addition to what I was already going to build. But, when I haul firewood, it'll be nice to get a full load in.

My 2 biggest concerns are weight capacity and weather-proofing. I don't think weather-proofing will be a huge problem, as long as I make sure I caulk the outer shell. And I don't think I'll have to worry about weight capacity either, because it'll be a box. Each drawer will probably only be 16"-20" wide, with a 2x? on end for the walls of the box. (4) 2x? with at least 1 layer of plywood on top, not suspended anywhere should be fine... I've never seen a 2x? flatten from any forces, especially if there isn't any suspended sections. I'd draw something, but it may have to wait till I actually build it. I need to find my deepest box to figure out how deep I want to make the storage...
 
Well, I still like the idea of an open bed because I will hopefully still be able to stack wood, etc. Not to mention I have a stack, and I somewhat enjoy it. So, it looks like it'll start about 12" away from the front of the bed to clear the stack and heat from the stack. And the drawers, from the tailgate to the front will be ~15" wide for ~2' and then narrow down to 13" or something like that because of my gooseneck hitch. No, I don't have a gooseneck trailer, but I don't want to delete the option for it, especially since I've got the hitch. So my drawers will be L's with a 10" pass in the middle for a gooseneck hitch to slide through. And I'm aiming for the total height to be 10.5-11", so the drawer depth probably be around 9" or so. I'll post pictures when I get a chance, but it'll be a little while before I do this project. I didn't realize that a treated 11/32" 4x8 was ~$25 and 2x10 x 8' was 7.30 each...
 
I was just planning on using treated plywood for the top covering and bottom connections/corners. I'm planning on using unsanded regular plywood for the drawers themselves, and maybe using small caster wheels or rollers to help them slide in and out.
 
just make sure you put a stop on the drawers. hate to have to pick them up off the ground if you forget and leave the tailgate down. I'm pretty bad at that especially since it's hard to see my tailgate over my toolbox
 
Since I don't have a locking tailgate, I've got a few thoughts on how to make it secure, including bifold doors with a latch in the middle. I've also got an idea on how to keep the drawers from sliding out all the way when pulling them out.
 
If I was gonna do that, I'd add a tailgate lock. A quick google search found a "Bully" brand for $30. Not gonna link, as I'm not sure if our vendors sell anything like it...
 
I realize I'm several months behind this, but I did end up building something similar to the original picture I posted. Problem was, there was little space left on top of the box, and because I cheaped out the shelves, things kept falling off and I had to dig them out from the front of the bed. Not to mention, when I built around the gooseneck hitch and the stack, it left the storage slender, shorter, and more awkard to store anything. I modified the box to get everything home from North Dakota, and just recently stole the sides of the box to build bed sides to haul 2-1/2 poplar trees.
 
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