Show us your truck bed sleeping platform/drawer/storage systems

Finally graduating from TW lurker to sharer ... Figured I'd add my modest bed build to the mix. I've had it installed in the truck for 2 years now and I absolutely love it. Only thing I wish I did differently would be the locking slides that lock the drawer out so when I'm parked sloping downwards I don't have to hold it. Fortunately I just use it to store gear so it's usually just a quick pull out, grab stuff, and push back in. An unexpected benefit due to the way I designed it has been that all my gear in the drawer stays completely dry even though my shell leaks like a bitch and I can't get it to stop.

At the time I built this my brother in law had access to a huge woodshop with full-size CNCs and he's a wizard with computer design software, so we drew this up on the laptop and had the machine cut most of the pieces....Really nice way to do things coming from a more traditional carpentry background myself. The drawer is 5 feet long and my bed is 6 ft. There is storage on the sides accessible through cubby tops, and a big storage area in the front of where the drawer stops.

 

Still liking my bambeds sleeping platform.
Keep the important things high and dry and have room for bulky stuff to.

 

wait.....you're telling me this company is charging $1,000 for a sheet of bamboo plywood...?!??!?!??!

 

its CNC'd bamboo.

but really, if you did this yourself with bamboo it would be around $600 for just the bamboo
https://www.ambientbp.com/bamboo-plywood-panels.php

I figure 3 pieces then you cut them out.

if you dont want the sides covered and just want the middle, you could probably get away with a single sheet. it would only be 4 feet wide and wouldn't cover the wheel wells.

still, the company is pretty expensive

 

please, let's not get into the "cost of everything/ value of nothing" discussion; there's plenty of service threads already rolling that ball.

Q: how was the company to work with? or did someone local provide the finished product?

Q: since the core layers are running the long dimension of the bed, do the top & bottom layers of veneer stop the sheet from sagging?

Q: if "yes," point load & evenly distributed weight.

Q: are the cut edges sealed against moisture infiltration?

thanks

 

Being a business owner for over 35 years...

While that price may look high, it's actually not bad.

When you add up the cost of having the CNC, paying rent for the shop, Liability insurance, the time it takes to take the order, process and ship the order, the time to load the CNC, then apply finish to the edges, I'm guessing it's not really a high profit operation.

 

yeah but being a customer.......yeeeesh. you could get an entire decked system or even a custom wood drawer system for that much. crazy.

 

Yup. I wouldn't be a customer for the bamboo, then again, I have a complete wood shop at home. But I'm sure it's a good fit for some people.

 

i'll give you a cookie to price out either parts, tax, shipping (if applicable) AND labor - and put it in this thread.

c'mon; let's see what you come up with.

 

just because profit margins are (potentially) reasonable doesn't mean it's a reasonable price to pay for the product, especially when you consider opportunity cost of what you could be buying or making yourself.

 

also, their shipping costs $100. lol

 

in anything there's the buyer's value and the seller's.

in 1952, when i entered this whirling sphere, gas was 26 cents and postage stamps 3.

there's a good recently posted video on YT. it's a couple with a "van" - have no idea what they paid for it, but they "built-it-out" and then got T-bones going through an intersection. i think they're both damn luck not to be in Intensive Care Unit. laid that sucker on the driver's side and went for a slide into the oncoming lane. the point being, everyone wants to do stuff for a moderate price and get a good value. the individual needs to decide where his line is to be drawn.

i understand a sheet or two of expensive plywood most likely not be a life or death decision if the driver is in a collision, but i think other people read these posts and if watching that video gives One owner pause to either pony up a little more jit or have a professional do something which he thought he could do because a friend's cousin's brother did it, maybe it's not a wasted move.

here it is:

https://youtu.be/iANPQBhP4yk

 

I'm so lost lol. are you saying that the $1000 piece of plywood would hold up better in a crash than an alternative use of that money?

 

no; but if someone can actually see the value of something and overlook the $$$ of that something, at some point it may pay dividends unexpected.

or it may not and they simply pissed away some money.

it's not as if i'm suggesting everyone go out and buy those cute little blue halo leds for around their headlights or something. i mean Everything we slap on our trucks makes them better than the engineers ever imagined, so let's keep it going, men!

i have a headache and have to lay down now.

 

I wonder if BamBeds fit with BedRugs that commonly come with shells

 

BamBed is usually compatible with BedRug and I've had numerous customers use it with no modification needed.

However, sometimes the thickness of the bedrug or the way it was installed can prevent the boards from having enough room in the fore-aft direction which requires a slight amount of trimming on the aft nubs which interface with the tailgate bulkhead. It's easy to do with a basic manual handsaw or jigsaw.

 

Shipping is included for all products going to the lower 48.
Shipping to Canada, HI and AK costs extra

 

well, shipping is included in the cost. just like handling and everything else which comes under the headings of General & Administrative costs.

who would expect someone not to include or line item everything which will net the seller to make enough to stay in business?

even Amazon charges above retail or 1 cent below some items and think of their buying power.

 

This is fantastic! I was searching for "half bed" ideas. Pretty clever using the rollers. I am thinking of some roller bearing sandwiching a small diameter square stock. So many possibilities! Ha!