Bed Project - DONE... Hell YES!!

Well fellas, last week I showed you the new Snugtop XV with the BedRug installed. Today I furthered the project by building and installing the sleeping platform and installing my small Geneva Manufacturing tool cabinet.

The result came out perfect. Using 1.5" laminated planks was perfect. I have 3 planks (roughly 56" x 23" installed). These things are so damn thick and heavy that I did not need any undersupports. Each plank weighs roughly 40lbs. I've placed my Mountain Smith 3 bin organizer which holds an air compressor; 2 sets of jumpers; tire chains, come-alongs; coolant and all my hitch accessories on top of the platform for scale. The Geneva Man. is roughly 70 lbs as filled and is mounted to a bracket which is bolted to the rear platform. The cabinet is locked to the base with a large hardened steel Master Lock. With all this gear placed on the platform, the filled tool cabinet and me laying on it there was no sag whatsoever so i feel the choice to use these heavy laminated planks justified their price since no under supports were necessary to the project. This frees up the entire area below the platform for gear and goods such rods, guns, folding chairs and skis.

Cost of planks and 36 square feet of Perfection Grey outdoor carpet: $135.

Now the pics:

 

Looks good, what are the planks sitting on?

 

that looks great and functional........you know if you put some kindve slider bin below that platform for better access that would top that off. awesome post man!

 

The platform support edges molded in the truck bed.

 

Nice work, looks great.

Frank

 

Gun vault is going down there centered left-to-right in roughly a month which should fill it out perfectly with a 48"x24" slider drawer w/3 dividers for the M1A; Mini-14; Benelli 12 Gauge and Ruger 10-22.

 

SWEET!

 

Wow that's impressive with no under supports! Good Job! Those planks will support you sleeping without bending?

I made similar but I had to put a center support beam or else it will bend (then again I used 1/2" Plywood )





Where did you find the laminated planks?

 

I like the carpet on the tailgate too!

 

I've got the BedRug and a futon. I like the headroom. Nice work on your set-up though.

RZ Rob

 

Laminated planks and panels are sold at Home Depot although at the store in my area they are not located with regular lumber and raw building materials. I found these a few aisles over near the area for shelving and unfinshed doors. What caught my eye was the thickness of these bastards. HD sold both 3/4 inch and these 1.5 inch heavy sumbitches. You should have seen the customer assistance clerk when I told him I needed 3 and then asked him to take them to the courtesy precision saw.

No sag whatsoever with me and gear laying up there. They feel like a darn rhino could stand on them. I think the key is that I had them cut the boards so that I would be sleeping or laying on them ACROSS the directional grain and glue seams of the laminate rather than with the grain. (eg: if the truck's orientation is North-South, the orientation of the laminate planks is East-West) This causes the weight of your cargo or a sleeping person to be spread over more pieces of the wood laminate. I came to this conclusion having looked at how the planks reacted to my weighting them down by kneeling on them prior to purchase and cutting. Seems to have borne out correctly. Bottomline - real stout.

I recommend.

 

put all that gear on the passenger side, youll have the prettiest taco lean correction system out there.

 

ahhh.. that didn't occur to me but makes perfect sense! Awesome

 

Excellent!

 

thats really nice, what in the two containers on the ceiling?

 

Nice Job!

 

Well, at the moment, nothing. I did attach my snow brush/ice scraper to the left tie down harness on the left hand container. There is a large map pocket on the underside of each one. Tie down harnesses on the right and left of each one. A couple of zipper pockets in each one as well as a keys teather. I need to put my Rand-McNally trail guides in one along with a flashlight. For the most part they will be used while camping for wallet, keys, cash, personals and a Springfield 1911.

 

I have tried to find those overheard storage bins without luck. Are they a newer or older product? My snugtop dealer had no idea about them and google hasn't helped yet either.
And how is your bedrug holding up with the platform resting on it? I want to do the same but wondered if that would wear the bedrug where the planks rest on it. And the two home depots I have been too look at me like I'm on crack when I ask for 1.5 inch laminated planks! No luck yet but I'm still working on it. They suggested 1" flooring.
Looks great!

 

holy shit dude nice work!