Another "redneck" storage project for my tow vehicle

[working on it]

* Storage is my Achilles' heel... I'm never happy with what I've got, or where it's stored. This time, my project is on my tow vehicle, not the 4x8 trailer.

* I've previously posted about my compartmentalized truck bed storage scheme http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68912&hilit=+compartment#p1210246, which works OK, but since I now leave my gear and tools in the exposed bed in the uncovered driveway, year-round (tired of loading and unloading it), I have to cover the bed to limit the leaves and debris accumulating there; it's always parked beneath two huge oak trees, and the amount of leaves and oak pollen it can collect is staggering. I've been using a 6x8 tarp for the last year, and while it does the covering job well, it looks too "redneck" and unsightly for my wife, and we seldom use the '04 Chevy Silverado 2500HD anymore, between my camping trips. It has the least # of miles of any of our four vehicles, and is in top condition, so I'd like to use it more often around town...so I'll make a semi-hidden bed-cover that will not shame my wife anymore.

tarp is always on.JPG (153.36 KiB) Viewed 3731 times

*I just can't bring myself to purchase a factory-built cover, even a velcro-attachment type for $150, while the hard-cover types I like cost up to $1500. Plus, I won't remove my big cross-over toolbox to fit one in (no cover I saw exactly matches the size, and the alterations I must make to fit one in, with the truck crane that I'm keeping in the bed, too). I've envisioned a two-piece plywood cover that will sit in a channel just under the bed rail height, mostly hidden from view. I'll paint it black, like my truck box, and it will leave room for bull-ring attachment points on the rails, so I can still haul items strapped on top of the plywood covers. Larger, heavy items that need to be hauled will fit into my wife's highly modified-for-towing '98 GMC Sierra.

Bedcover Panels Plan.jpg (156.36 KiB) Viewed 3731 times

* I'm collecting the parts now, and only need the plywood, poly, and paint to start on it. I've been considering doing this for six months now, and am finally going to do it. I'm using the 12-gauge Superstrut from Home Depot, which will be mounted about an inch or so below rail height, all the way forward under an overhanging lip on the crossover toolbox. I'll mount the left channel first, before inserting the panels into the slot, then put the second channel over the opposite edges, and lower it down into position to insert the second set of carriage bolts into the holes already existing on the right side bed rail. I'll probably need a handle on each panel to help me slide them over each other, since together they're thicker than the slot they go in (there should be some give, and eventually they'll wear-in a groove to enable easier movement...better than too loose a fit to start with).

Superstrut channel.JPG (88.05 KiB) Viewed 3731 times

* First of all, I have to lower the Hi-lift jack I mounted awhile back to the right bed wall; it sticks up an inch too high. And I'll have to mount an upward-facing roller caster near the center of the existing inner compartment structure, to support the center of the interface of the two panels. After that, the panels will be cut and poly'd & painted, similar to the way I coated the trailer (using 1/2 the # of coats, though). If it turns out OK, then it's a good project...if it turns out "redneck"-engineered-looking, then it'll be a perfect match for my 4x8 trailer. Win-win all-around. I'll probably spend about $100 on this project, which seems to fall under my wife's radar. Wish me luck!

* EDIT, later same afternoon: I just had to test my preliminary measurements before it rains tonight, so I went to the truck and removed the tarp. I also removed the Hi-lift mounting bracket I made. Then, I sawed the Superstrut in half (5+5 feet) and mounted the left side as stated before. Good so far, but when I tried to stuff two pieces of scrap 15/32" plywood into the 7/8" slot, they wouldn't go. Even using a prybar and a BFH. So, everywhere I stated that I'd use a 15/32" thick panel, that's now downsized to 13/32". 13/32" x 2 = 26/32" which will fit into a 7/8"(or 28/32") slot. I should've bought the thinner 14 gauge Superstrut, but HD was out of them yesterday. Otherwise, it looks like my plan is feasible.

* EDIT #2, four days later: revised plans, again downsizing the thickness of the plywood. Going to try 11/32" thick, because my Home Depot doesn't stock 13/32", nor does the Lowe's. Their 11/32" is sometimes listed as 3/8", which is better/thicker, but I know they stock the 11/32". With intermittent rain for the last few days popping up, I haven't gotten the wood, yet, nor has there been a window of opportunity to use "the mix" to waterproof it (outside in the driveway), nor to paint over it after the poly goes on. I figure that I need a whole afternoon of sun to manage the coating applications, then only another hour to install the pieces. It always rains when I need it to be dry, it seems, or conversely.

[Cosmo]

Ahhh the organizational “system”. Looks good! I obsess over organization.
I no longer lose gear in the outdoors. Now I lose it in my organization system.

I am using plastic tubs which I can leave out in the rain if I need to. I only use tubs which are see thru when you buy them but cloud up when you walk out the store door so you barely get a hint of what is in there. I think this is so critters cant see whats inside them and get your stuff. I have heard many stories huddled around the beer ball about mice stealing garlic presses when they see them etc.

The organizational challenge is the same.

It all fits perfectly when I initially pack the tub space. Then when on the road I get “vacation mind” and things seem to get untidy. The thing I packed so efficiently gets stuffed in the tub and takes up more room. Sometimes I get “tub drift” where something will climb into the wrong tub, apparently by itself.

So a good percentage of my time is spent unpacking and repacking things over and over while I search for something. I never measured how much of my time is spent doing this because I cant seem to find the timer, which I thought I put in this tub right here. Let me spend the next 45 min dumping the rest of the tubs and see if I can find it.

As the trip progresses I tend to only remember where the essentials are. The other 97% of the stuff seem to provide psychological comfort such as knowing if a solar eclipse overtakes me by surprise I have the right glasses, or if there is an outbreak of chiggers in camp I have enough sulfur to fumigate the area.

You have probably already though this through but a reconfigurable compartment size for the storage space, allowing you to get the exact space you need for each trip might keep you as busy as me with my tubs for the duration of any trip.

=Cosmo

[working on it]

* Seems to me that you have the same symptoms of compulsive over-packing that I've had for a lifetime. It became worse when I started carrying spare supplies for my entire team at drag races, even supplying competitors, too. It just got worse when I switched to camping...I carry more each time, even after trying to cull following a trip. Last time out, I couldn't find my Benedryl, so I had to ask for some, and a serving spoon for the pot-luck, it was missing, too. I found both missing items immediately at home, though. So, I'm adding storage and sorting more methodically now...maybe I need labels, too. It never ends....

[Bill n Robi]

I have a check off list, print it out before each trip. One page is "from the house", one for personal items, dog, menu for the trip, vehicle and TD maint, and mnay other things.. Have not left anything at home yet... I'd love to pack the truck in an organized manner but it seems it has not been done the same way twice in 5 years....

[featherliteCT1]

Back in the 1970’s when I first started driving a vehicle, the vehicles were old and mechanical breakdowns were the norm. So, we always carried tools with us in the trunk. I still do that to this day (a bit irrational, but it gives me peace of mind).

When I take off with the trailer to go on a trip, I too have a typed list of items to take and have designated spots where certain things go.

However, as I walk through the house, the garage and two barns where things are stored, I see other things that might be useful on the trip in case of an “emergency”. I carry enough tools to rebuild the entire truck and trailer (at least it seems that way). I carry most of my electrical supplies and wire in case I need to crimp or solder, plus about 30 pounds of tie down straps, plus tarps, plus ropes, tents, cold weather gear, warm weather gear, rain gear, motorcycle maintenance stuff … multiple weeks of clean clothes … computer stuff, including a printer … stuffing things in wherever they fit.... as I now think about it, I do not stop until I run out of space and am packed to the gills. Takes me days to pack.

When I get back, and unpack, I routinely notice that I used very little of what I took. It is a form of insanity.

[Tom&Shelly]

Friend/former co-worker of mine started a business in Broomfield Colorado, and I was invited, at the last minute, to the opening buffet, along with other potential clients, associates etc. I had been up in the front range, so tooled in, my Jeep packed in my usual manner for tent camping. Perhaps I wasn't quite dressed in a suit like some of the others, but when the time came for the champagne to be opened, it turns out I was the only one with a cork screw.

The Boy Scouts taught me to be prepared, but the Swiss Army showed me how!

Tom

[working on it]

...but when the time came for the champagne to be opened, it turns out I was the only one with a cork screw. The Boy Scouts taught me to be prepared, but the Swiss Army showed me how!

Tom

* Nice way to be prepared, but it'd be more impressive if you pulled out a very large hunting/camping/survival knife and opened it that way. I did, once, 40 or so years ago, but my second attempt was a disaster, and I quit drinking 34 years ago, anyway. "Champagne Saber Time", YouTube video link https://youtu.be/qCp9-tEHa8U

[working on it]

* About a week has passed, since I formulated my new truck storage project, making hard-cover panels in lieu of using a tarp. Still waiting to get the plywood, so I can waterproof and paint them, before installation. I already have the poly & painting supplies, surreptitiously bought at Walmart while shopping with the wife, stuffed in the cart while she shopped. Though we've also been to Home Depot, I only bought a new front porch light (ours was broken by a thief that knocked out street-facing lights of the adjacent neighbors of the house that was robbed - next door- robbed of commercial building supplies he stores on his property, and they killed his watch dogs), and nothing else.

* I was home at the time, but in the back room with our dogs, and thought I heard something, but the dogs didn't, so I didn't look out for about 10 minutes that night. Only the neighbors stuff was targeted, while nobody was home...fortunately, because we all have a mutual protection pact, and we will come to the aid of each other.... My valuables are around back, locked away, and well-lit, and I have a good view thru my back-room window. I think it was an inside job, by the neighbor's estranged son. He very well knows about me and another neighbor, so he only broke our front lights, to obscure his actions, and went no further in his thievery.

* Anyway, I replaced the light, but bought no plywood. Rainy weather, and the fact that we've spent about $800 over my monthly project allowance this month (new picket fencing around the backyard garden, new T-post fencing to enlarge the garden space, new wheeled trimmer, lots of tree plantings and other veggies and flowers (my wife's deal, I just help her with it...if it was up to me, I'd pave over the whole property), has put a hold on my project for now. But, she's traveling up north in June, and that's my opportunity to finish.

* I've re-measured, and re-drawn my plans, changing from a two-panel to a three panel bed cover set-up. The previously mentioned 36" and 48" panels would've made access to my existing compartmentalized storage underneath too difficult, so I've changed the plan to using one 36" panel, and two 24" panels, instead. The side-to-side measurement remains 61.5", though. Now, I just need the wood, two pins, and the replacement bull-rings, and I can make it happen. While the wife's away....

front panel (blue) overlaps red, which overlaps green, to keep highway speeds from forcing debris/some rain between panels...panels are meant to limit debris inside truck bed

new schematic, triple panel plan.jpg (244.83 KiB) Viewed 3390 times

[working on it]

* Still waiting to buy the plywood panels, but I'm glad I waited. Constantly re-measuring and testing configurations, while the wife was out of town, made me re-think all permutations of the ways I've stored my stuff for years, and the way I can best retain that system...I really don't want to re-make my bed dividers, so the cover has to follow their lead.

* So, I've come up with a FINAl revision, that I'll stick with. It'll require more small parts (latching pins & hold-downs), and replacement stake pocket anchor points for my bed rails (the existing ones were destroyed in removal, so I could install the Superstrut channel in thru the pockets), plus another qt. of paint (the previously-bought can disappeared).

3-panel truck bed cover project, remaining parts list 5-27-2019.JPG (94.87 KiB) Viewed 3310 times

* This $95 shopping list, plus the two sheets of CDX plywood (about $40-45), added to the $65-75 I've already spent, will make this project's expenditures slightly more than what the cheaper vinyl bed-covers on Amazon cost. And yes, my wife will protest! But, I've never seen a cheap vinyl cover last very long, and considering the way I'd use one, surely would last even less time. So, I'm making my own substitute for a factory-made cover...it'll be good enough for what I need, and since my old '04 truck isn't new or fancy, it'll fit-in just right with my redneck-engineered projects, and should be durable and last for years.

* I removed the truck crane mast from the rear corner of the bed, since it was making the panel alignment a bit wonky (I needed the two rearmost panels to slide completely atop each other, but the 9"x 9" area, containing the mast & its' lateral support arm, precluded this). Without the crane (useful for strapping tall items to, but mostly unused for moving engines around anymore) in the way, then the back two cover panels (24" x 61.5" each), can be moved together, forward or rearward in the channel, as required. Another change, is that the front/top panel needs to be mounted on top of the strut channel, since my existing storage boxes in the bed are so long, the covering panel needs to be completely removable to open the longest box (38") while the other panels slide clear of it. Since this panel is the one that will see most wear, and possibly being stood upon, I can use 1/2" plywood (or even 3/4"), instead of the 11/32" ply that the strut channel opening dictated. Weight isn't a factor (my truck can carry/haul 12000 lbs.), but durability is.

final plan revisions, maybe.jpg (297.2 KiB) Viewed 3310 times

* Edit, next day: bought the plywood, in 11/32" and 19/32" versions, and cut them to size just now, when I got home. The 11/32" is pretty thin, so I got a larger support caster than I had intended to use, just for extra stability. The 19/32" is stout enough, that only edge support should suffice. I would've started coating them, but it's supposedly going to rain this evening, and much of the day tomorrow, so I'll wait for a whole clear day to poly & paint. The 11/32" I bought was BCX, because the other choice was some ratty RTD sheathing, but the 11/32" sheathing looked pretty good, so I bought it. Paid more for the 11/32" than the 19/32". Also bought Rustoleum aluminum oil-based paint, instead of black...it should keep the bed contents cooler in the summer sun.

panels for bed cover project.jpg (98.11 KiB) Viewed 3253 times

[working on it]

* Got closer to the finish line today, having completed the polyurethane & aluminum paint coatings on the three panels. I've had no shelter from inclement pop-up storms lately; there's no room inside the garage. or inside the workshop available, after the wife kept everything from the old house and stored the mess in our work spaces. So, I have to paint outside between storms, and finally, it's all over, after waiting many days for a window of opportunity.

* The plywood I bought is barely adequate, not as good as the 3/4" ply I used on my trailer, but I had good luck using the poly/thinner on that plywood, so I treated the panel plywood much the same as in the trailer build, using the "mix" to plasticize it and make it as water-resistant as I could, in lieu of using ground-contact plywood (unavailable in the thin sizes I used). I took less care with the underside of the panels, but made the topsides more rain & sun protected, by applying extra-poly, and an aluminum enamel topcoat.

truck bed cover panels poly'd & painted.jpg (209.07 KiB) Viewed 3224 times

* I also made a support post structure, with a soft caster wheel atop it, to keep the thinner rear two panels from sagging, and to aid in sliding them when access is needed. The front section, probably won't sag, being made from thicker plywood, but I can always find more scrap and leftover brackets to make another.

caster wheel post assembly.jpg (140.55 KiB) Viewed 3224 times

[featherliteCT1]

Wow! You have been pretty busy with boss lady gone … I look forward to seeing the various pieces installed.

[working on it]

Wow! You have been pretty busy with boss lady gone … I look forward to seeing the various pieces installed.

* Not really...in previous years, say a decade ago, I would've/could've resurrected my 10-second Chevelle drag car, and gone racing with lotsa new parts (or whatever it would take) in a very short time. Though the Chevelle was race-ready at the time I parked it in the garage 11 years ago, I haven't moved it in about 4-5 years, so I'm not sure that I could easily revive it in the paltry two weeks of my unsupervised freedom, while she's away! So my little project will have to act as a placebo for my redneck engineering disease.

* It's not that I really want to, anyhow. Racing was very expensive, time-consuming, and when coupled with my 60-70 hour workweek (and the 15+ hour average driving time to and from work), I was spending all my free time on car-building & racing activities & traveling to venues, and was always tired. I frankly couldn't do it anymore by the time I was 58, so I gave it up, though I was still winning. Now, at almost 69, with physical frailties that forced me to retire at 65.5, I certainly couldn't start where I left off. And, my fixed income won't allow me to throw cubic money into my car anymore. Guess I'll just stick to the occasional project, panaceas for my "infrequent camping/frequent trailer & tow vehicle modification" compulsion (the substitute for my "dragracing/musclecar addiction"), which I started after suffering a couple of years of racing withdrawals.

* As I type this, using my left brain, my right brain is busy modifying the bed cover before it has been assembled. I'm sure that the work (modifications) shall continue as usual, with or without the wife's approval (I have tons of miscellaneous hardware hidden away, for such a situation). Though I do admit that I prefer to buy new stuff, just to hear her complain...just like during the old drag racing days.

substituting one obsession for another.jpg (169.79 KiB) Viewed 3184 times

[working on it]

* After waiting for parts to arrive, and for the aluminum topcoat paint to dry (slow to do so, in a garage that retains humidity, with frequent rains here lately), I wasted two days, and since the weather never seems just right, I did a little work (2 hours) on the project, while I could. The paint was still slightly wet on the edges, but I went ahead anyway, as this afternoon might be my best chance for a couple of days.

* I started to test-fit and locate positions to drill mounting spots for the 4 hood-pins that will secure the front/top lift-off panel. My leftover bracket supply is sparse lately, so I used a piece of slotted angle to make a cross-member to locate hood-pin holes in, and that will also support the front edge of the panel. It is 9.25 inches to the rear of the cross-over toolbox, and located so that it will not impede any possible loading situations I may have. Then, I think I'll use a pair of hasps (leftover from my sidewall-storage boxes project) to allow the rear set of hood-pins to drop down, and out of the way, whenever the cover panels aren't in use, but I ran out of daylight before I installed them.

* Of course, I banged up the undried paint a bit, and drilled some holes in the plywood panels, so resealing and touch-ups will be needed. But, I think that this project might turn out OK, after I make a few tweaks here and there.

last line should've read: rear panel will also receive a locking pin (hitch-coupler adjustable length lock)

truck bed-cover panel progress as of 6-4-2019.jpg (323.7 KiB) Viewed 3129 times

[working on it]

* Another day with "iffy" weather, so I decided to clean out the truck bed, instead of working on the panels, in case of a sudden shower interrupting me. I hadn't removed the compartment divider boards for two years, so there hasn't been any cleanup there for as long. Since I only started covering the bed with a tarp about this time last year, whatever leaves, oak pollen debris, dirt and whatever else falls from the sky has accumulated in the truck bed, so I figure that I'd make a clean start.

* When the panels are installed, there will still be two openings for debris to enter: one is between the crossover toolbox and the rear window, and the other is the 5.5" space behind that box, where I carry my folding stepladders (it's hard for me to access the truck's toolbox or bed storage items without them (I can no longer use a tire to leap up into the back, anymore). I'll see if I have any conveyor belting leftover, and I'll make flaps to shield those gaps.

* In a previous photo, I mentioned that the divider boards needed painting, so I'll do that before re-assembling the compartments. and another thing, I'll need to get more 1/2" carriage bolts (like the ones I used to mount the strut channels to the sidewalls), because I cut the panels' width to fit inside the channels with the bolt heads inside the channel...when I put the panels in the slot, they tended to twist sideways inside the channels, as they went past the bolt heads (two bolts, front and rear on each side, with none for a 4-foot span between them), The middle panel tended to cock to one side and either stick inside an internal slot, or leave the channel on one side entirely (no problem with the rear panel, because it had bolt heads in its' portion of the channel). I found two more bolts, and they helped, but I'll need an additional several pairs to take the free-play out of the equation.

* I'll also need to re-mount my Hi-lift jack, since the covering panels required that I remove the home-made mount I had used. It also was locked to the truck crane mast, that's now removed also, so I'm going to mount it on the rearmost bed divider board, if the ice chests will still fit in that slot. I want it out-of-sight, as is my camp shovel (under/behind the stepladders), as not to tempt sticky-fingers at Home Depot or Walmart parking lots (prime theft opportunities, for the ethically-challenged shoppers).

* As you can see, each step of the bed-cover panel installation requires panel modifications, changes in peripheral equipment, added supplies ... more paint, more hardware, another set of 4 padlocks (this'll bring my total "at camp" # of padlocks to 26), etc. It's just like in drag racing...if you change one thing in your set-up, you'll likely have to change four more.

* Today's photo collage:

empty & clean truck bed, detail shots.jpg (146.1 KiB) Viewed 3094 times

* Edit, next day: compiled another shopping list of more parts & supplies needed, so add $35 to the cost of the project. Gonna make a trip to Home Depot, and the first supply to use is the black spray paint for the weathered dividers, so I can re-install them (having them in place makes positional references easier, as I still have brackets to mount, and holes to drill). It rained hard again this early a.m., so I'll not go out there until it dries a little, and perhaps the mosquitoes will dissipate around noon-ish, when the sun gets overhead. A nearby neighbor has a stagnant above-ground pool, so there is an abundance of the pests.

[working on it]

* Decided to wait on getting more parts for the project, so I've been trying to make do with what I've got, including tools. I scrounged around my wife's shop/junk catch-all building, and it took me two days to find a sander. There isn't three square feet of clear space in there, and of course, the sander was under a couch (which is under other stuff). I can't believe how few years it takes to completely fill so much space (we had everything nicely arranged in three sheds/shops, a 3-bay garage, and our house, only 10 years ago). I think I am as bad as her, since I never throw away a nut, bolt, scrap of material, or automotive and building supplies. I know I have what I need to finish any project on hand...the problem is laying my hands on them.

* I had to trim some off the main panel, which is square but my truck bed tapers a bit more than I accounted for, so that's why I needed a sander. Wasted at least six hours looking, before I found one. And, along with the sander, I found my missing Rotozip, which I could've used to enlarge the four hood-pin holes, since they were impossible to snag while holding the 30 lb panel at arm's length (and me with a bad back, shoulder, and no grip in my left hand!); instead, I had already used a tiny Dremel grinder bit that broke, and followed that with a rattail file. I bought a good air compressor last year to be able to use air tools, and I already have a die grinder, but it too went missing....just the way it is around here.

* Anyway, I'm using PL Premium adhesive to seal exposed plywood in the holes and where I sanded; it'll work as good or better than using the poly "mix" procedure, and is a lot faster. While it's drying, prior to touching up with aluminum paint, I touched up the weathered divider boards from the bed (using some old spray cans left in her shop), and found two more handles to attach to the panels, making them easier to install/remove. I have one more handle to install, and I'll put away everything (rain is always a possibility), and will resume with the touch-up paint this time tomorrow. So maybe, just maybe, I can finish the project this weekend?

* Here's two pics from last night, I don't have any from today:

getting closer to a finished project.jpg (236.63 KiB) Viewed 3050 times

needed to move the support to have room for the Hi-lift and 2-3 coolers at the rear

caster wheel support post assembly alternative placements.jpg (162.63 KiB) Viewed 3050 times