RADO Designs Bed Basket

Hey everyone,

Matt here with RADO Designs.

I’ve been testing a new product concept and would love to get your feedback on it:

Adventure Series Bed Basket

•Bolts directly to factory accessory rails
•Width-adjustable to fit a variety of setups
•Molle-style mounting panels all around
•Compatible with the factory tonneau cover

Let me know what you think — any feedback or ideas are welcome!

 

I know it would be pretty much a tool box if you did it but a locking lid would make it more useful. I really like that it sits low, has space underneath it, and attaches to the bed rails.

 

Some 3rd gen guys also mentioned a lid. That is a possibility. It would be a specific Tacoma only lid to accommodate that size of bed.

 

If i didn't have my spare tire mounted vertically against the front of the bed, I'd be all over this. I've always wanted some sort or shelf towards the front of the bed but I can't use it now.

What I was looking for years ago was basically a shelf at the height you have so I could mount some lighter storage boxes on top (think step22 bags or front runner wolf pack boxes) and keep the bottom empty for my jack, tools, other heavier things.

regardless, awesome product!

 

@Taco-rado
What are the chances this could be made so the "thickness" (depth) can also be adjustable?

Great product idea!

 

That is a possibility. We’re doing one more prototype out of aluminum to test it out first.
Then we can see which option people would be more open to. While we’re at it we can look at making a plate that can give some sort of height adjustment.

Right now it’s all a matter of making sure there’s enough interest for them to go into production.

 

Love the idea! I think I could really use something like this in conjunction with my Softopper. But unfortunately, the mounts for the topper will get in the way of being able to mount the basket

 

Great idea, with or without lid may be the way to go. I have a tonneau cover and I would prefer without lid.

 

Looks really handy tbh, but a having a locking lid as an option (maybe a separate item/sku?), preferably just a hasp on either side that I could put my own lock on, would be really great. Sitting under a tonneau is really good, probably critical for me so I don't have to choose.

Price dependant, it looks very very interesting for me. I don't off road/wheel, but I'm hauling stuff and making trips with tools and supplies and a full toolbox is kinda overkill and they just fill up with dirt and junk anyway imo. Something to keep stuff handy and accessible is right up my alley.

It's really well placed between a full toolbox and some kind of overland-marketed stuff that's not necessarily useful day to day. I think it's a great idea.

 

Mind sharing a picture of your clamps for your topper?
You aren’t the only one who’s mentioned using this with a topper. And I’d like to know if we can figure out a solution if one is needed.

 

Appreciate the feedback!
That was kind of the goal with this basket. Something the every day person can use, but also give it some useful components that fit the overland/off-road community.

First step right now is to get feedback and see how much interest there is. But a lid has been brought up a few times now. And that is something else I am looking at designing. It would be model specific, Tacoma, tundra, ect..

Thank you for your comments and feedback. I am taking all of that into consideration.

 

Some ideas, take em or leave em... I know every feature adds cost, and frankly I would rather have this in its simple form as it is at a lower cost than something that's really laden with extras. What you have already is very close to perfect for me personally, these are just things I was thinking about, I might not even want to pay more for them.

A locking lid that covers the middle third only, leaving the two sides exposed for ready access. Kind of best of both worlds and the locking lid covers the valuable stuff but isn't in the way and it's smaller so less cost hopefully.

Removable 'baskets' that sit in the frame on each side, with the middle half being what you have designed plus a locking lid. This way you can grab a whole basket and take it with you? This is a passing fancy and I'm not sure it would actually be useful given that you have to reach in and pick up something that's kinda heavy. But a thought.

 

That looks like it's got nice build quality and materials, to me the design needs work. Too much like a typical truck tool box IMO and it's not locking and the room under it is questionable if it's usable. I did almost the opposite, built a box that sits between the inner bed fenders, like yours it works with or without a topper but it's not at all weatherproof like yours. It's shelf is a great place to pile rolled up sleeping bags on and gear bags w/o affecting what's in it. I added tie down loops to the top and utilize the shelf it all the time when packing for a camping trip.

Something like this made with your processes would be much more appealing and usable IMO.


Everything is locked inside the box and none of it's affected by what's in the bed or piled on top of it. The stuff inside remains untouched out of sight and out of the way till it's needed. With the right design you could make something similar that was weatherproof. You product is very nicely built and I'm sure allot of design time went into it, not knocking it at all but I think between the wheel wells is more usable and versatile. The advantage I see with your design is one could possibly sleep in the bed with their feet under that box which could be very significant for some owners.

 

Appreciate the feedback!
Like your storage you designed. That works nicely for your setup.

This basket is meant to be a bit “universal” with it being width adjustable. See the attached pic of the same basket mounted in a Tundra bed. So making a locking lid would be a model specific additional part at the moment.

Our design can also mount to the factory rails and work with most toppers. So if you had a topper with sides that fold up, you could have the basket mounted and have easy access to items. All while staying secured under the topper.

Theres always small tweaks that can be made. As making one product that suites every single persons needs is virtually impossible. But we are working on making something that the majority of users can see the benefit of having one.

 

This actually looks like a great product. I'm not in the market for it, but I definitely see what you're aiming for and I think it's pretty dang cool. Nice design mechanically, I would bet it is capable of taking a pretty good beating while maintaining what looks like a pretty wide range of adjustment. I can see where you left generous margins on that center section to keep it strong enough for a dingus to load it poorly and the shape of the channels looks pretty good when considering the loads it will see in use doing actual truck stuff.

Neat. People get so focused on perfect for a specific application that they lose out on the "compromise" that is more than good enough, and trying to keep production costs reasonable without chintzing isn't always how things are done these days.

 

I'm out of town at the moment, but there's a pic of one of the clamps in this post: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sealing-softopper-corners.711935/

Some good shots of the install and various parts of the softopper: https://youtu.be/Aml1MBsJnYk?si=jI1P8ySV7AMg6K50

There are 2 clamps per side, each about 10" from the end (front or rear) of the utility track. Each person sets theirs up a little differently but the correct spacing is ~10" from the end IIRC. If there were a cutout in your basket then maybe it could accommodate this? But it may also be tough to find exactly the right spot for that cutout which would accommodate most people's needs. Most hard tops also use similar style clamps as far as I know.

You could also push the basket back and avoid the clamps but I don't think it's nearly as useful if the basket is middle of the bed and to me, the best placement is right up against the cab. For second gens it'd actually be rad to add additional supports to the front since we have a front utility track as well as side.

Now what would be REALLY cool is if you could mount this to the side rails with bearings so the basket could slide forward and back. Totally unnecessary but your cool design really got me thinking and imagining different options

 

It's all totally subjective. Your setup, while very nicely executed, would be unusable for me. Personally, the basket, as he has designed is great from a functional standpoint and only problematic as it conflicts with my topper. I explicitly would NOT want a lid or anything lockable. I like the idea because it creates a quick access basket. I already have a sorta similar setup in my truck but it's not a nice basket, just some bins behind an OEM bed divider. I like having a spot there where I can quick access my compressor, some tools/towels, cleaning supplies...etc.

Unfortunately, no one project will work for all of us

 

I have a couple ideas for a solution to go around that clamp. That’s not that big of a deal.

As for the sliding back and forth. That is a feature I am working on. And will hopefully be an “add on” piece, which won’t require any modifications to the current design.

 

I have a long bed and I often load stuff like boards and tools or fill the whole bed with plants so the open space all the way forward is what I like!

I'm often throwing things into the back for a few minutes or for a short drive, then I want them again, so the easy access over the side is really good.

Having even a smaller locked section lets me secure the few valuable items if I'm in town or in the city and don't want idle hands on my stuff.

I run open bed or with an accessable tonneau.

So yeah I'm the opposite use case as an overland/camping rig, just to be clear.

I think this is a great utility/farm/work product.

 

Thanks for the feedback and input! The idea is to have it for those who do want that easy access to items. And wanting to keep the floor open for all the heavy and long items.

It’s hard to make one product that makes everyone happy. But I am working on a couple tweaks to hopefully make most potential buyers happy.

Thankful for all the feedback and suggestions we’ve received. We are working hard to bring this to market before the end of the month.