What This Guy Built Is Brilliant, And Going To Make Truck Owners Very Jealous
October 17, 2014
If you love travelling and camping, this do-it-yourself truck bed is a must have! Redditor tylerthompson21 explains how he turned his ordinary pickup truck into an "adventure truck" with a slick roll-out storage system. Here is his crafty step-by-step photo gallery explaining how he did it:
The frame of the drawer system with ball bearings for the drawer slides installed.
The frame is bolted together with angle iron for easy removal. You can see the t-nuts I used to bolt the bearings in place.
I used old skateboard bearings for the drawer slides. They were free and can handle a lot of weight.
I used 1x1 square tubing for the drawer slide.
The drawer and the top sheet installed.
The drawer with dividers and a lockable handle (the handle is meant for truck boxes)
The right forward hatch where the second battery now resides.
The back left hatch. Perfect size for a tent or sleeping bags.
I had to route out the edges of the top sheet where the wheel-wells curved up.
The box lock from the back.
The latch from the bottom. A lot of custom cutting was necessary to make it fit properly.
I used a standard household strike plate with some custom cutting and bending to make the truck latch close easily.
The 'lock' underneath the table to secure the back so it can't be removed when the drawer is closed. The lock twists into a slot like the front side of the table.
The front part of the locking system for the table. I used a biscuit jointer to cut slots for both ends of the locks.
The frame after using Thompson's water seal.
The second coat of varnish on the hatch covers and drawer dividers.
I covered up the back of the lock with a scrap piece of sheet metal.
The battery (before hooking it up). The terminals stuck up past the hatch combing so i had to do some creative routing on the bottom side of the hatch.
A power inverter and usb ports hooked up to the second battery.
I installed two swiveling LED light bars on the canopy door. I added a handle to make it easier to close when you are inside.
I wired up speakers in the back (before mounting).
Soldered the switch for the speakers in the back to turn on and off. The wiring in the picture didn't work and I had to rewire it a few times.
Here is the switch mounted in my dash. Just to the left of the steering column.
The drawer pulled out and the table in place.
The finished product! Bed in place and ready for some adventures. A month of hard work.
Credit: tylerthompson21
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