Saddlebag-esque bed storage

Here is what I wanted:


And here is what I got:
The Mod build is spread out through the thread (starting here), but here is the finished product:

With the lids on:


Lids off, crossbars on:


Lids on, tonneau on (regular mode):



My next phase will be painting the whole thing.
following that I want to build a lid for the entire bed; that when disassembled fits in the gap between the two saddlebags.

 

I have not done anything similar, but I would try to build it out of metal. The plywood would take up more room with less storage area. If you could fab it out of metal and powder coat it or bed liner it, that might be better, and look cleaner, imo.

 

While I considered metal my fab skills are unfortunately less than nil. Possibly once I've made my wood one someone can use the dimensions to make their own metal one. Then I'd buy one from them.

 

Now you have me thinking about trying to make one. lol.

 

I'll be building this with in the month or so, if you want to wait that long you can get the dimensions and "what not to do's"

 

lessons learned are always helpful. i'll be watching

 

Building Phases:

Phase 1: sides (1) <-- Done
Phase 2: back (2) <-- Done
Phase 3: mount <-- Done
Phase 4: lids (3 & 4) <-- Done
Phase 5: other side <-- Done, Woot!


Phase 1: Sides (panel 1)

I have the dimensions of the inside of the bed where I want to put these. That said, in order to make sure everything lines up perfectly, I'm only using the outer dimensions.
One the piece is cut I will line it up with the bed ribs and trace them prior to cutting. This is partly to ensure a snug fit, but mostly because the ribs are tapered at the end, and therefor a pain in the arse to measure.
Once those are cut I'll dry fit it in and figure out a way to trace the shelf indents. Again, they are tapered a tad, and this will insure the best fit.
---------------------------
And so it begins:
Got my 9 1/2" height store cut (home depot has some damn fine machines) then chopsawed the end of the 8' ply down to the length I required. Low and behold the wheel wells aren't vertical on the upside I learned the stock inverter is strong enough for my jigsaw.

so I built some struts for it, to be connected with L braces. on the upside this will keep the wingnuts out of the bed to catch on things...

Next I measured and cut the end piece. you can see it has a little bit of clearance with the tailgate (I totally planned that)

L brace for temporary support and then drilled and screwed from the end to finish off the end.


The L braces I have are too long for the struts so another trip to Home Depot is required.

That is it for today, as I am losing daylight. but just for kicks I threw in a picture of my workspace.

I've attached the struts:

-12 right now, so that's all I did before needing a defrosting break. Around 1300 it should warm up to -9 and I'll go back to work with mounting the rig to the bed.

 

Great diagram, you must be an engineer!

 

engineering at its finest, or, really awesome MS paint skills. good design. looking forward to seeing the product.

 

a canuck using inches? thought ya'll were metric up there?

 

Hey Liam,
I built my storage system for my 2001 Tacoma DBL cab with a cap about a year ago and very pleased with it. I have a ARE cap with flip up side windows which make it handy to get the compartments from the outside. I used 1/2" birch plywood for the back board that slides behind and under bed rail and attaches with screws. I used 3\4" Birch plywood for the rest of the build. I built the section towards the tailgate with a bottom and sides and left the section w/o a bottom over the wheel well for my shovel, axe, jumper cables, rope, bungee cords and jack. I painted the wood w/ exterior paint and put laminate for the exposed surface towards the bed. I used piano hinges for the lids and thin rope loops for the handles. I then covered the lids with indoor carpet. I put 3/4" x 3/4" maple cleats for the plywood shelves to sit on. I'm using two separate pcs. off plywood covered with laminate for the shelves. I can lay them on the floor of the bed if I need to haul something large and I can use the for table tops when I go camping. Their also great to lay on when I have work under my truck. I also screwed 3/4" angle iron underside to prevent sagging when I sleep on them. I also installed a brace behind the cab and between the two compartments to hold shelf up and help the shelves from binding up. I will sketch out some measurements later and post them.

 

-Lengths under 1 cm metric, up to about 15 feet are imerpial, over 5m metric
-Volume metric
-Tempurature metric (save -40)
-Weight metric, except body weight.
-Area metric, except acres

EXACTLY what I was looking at doing... Sexy, the measurements will be greatly appreciated, even if I have to modify a little for the '09 long bed.

 

For the diagram I didn't take the first picture off of Google images for "Tacoma Bed" as that would be piracy... then I used GIMP to trace the lines on a second layer. I can draw, as long as it is straight lines, and on a computer.

The lack of engineer in me will become more and more apparent as this project continues (Reference not realizing the wheel wells are not square )

 

This is a really cool project. Cant wait to see more progress!

 

that would get confusing...


project looks good so far though.

 

Project Continued:

Onto the mounting, with the new struts on the wheel wells I went with 4 L-braces to mount my project to the side and back of the bed. I took a picture, but it doesn't show the work well. I have a blueprint of the build for you instead:



As for the mounting of the braces, I reconsidered using wing nuts, and instead just screwed into the bed for the following reasons:

1. Removal time, screws with drill/driver: 60s for all for, screws with screwdriver: 4min for all 4, wing nuts: 4=3min for all 4.
Basically I don't get a speed increase with the wingnuts, and I always have screwdrivers, and usually drills in my truck.

2. Bolt after removal: with the bolt & Wingnut combo, I would of had to install something to keep the bolt in place after talking off the wing nut, and then I would have a bolt jutting out into my bed! With the screws I'll have 4 small holes per side, not an issue.

3. Installation, this is a cold time of year to be doing work without a garage, and I very much doubt I would of had the patience to fish the bolts for the back of the bed into place.

Here she is at the 50% point, already stowing things.


Next stage will be the lids. Originally I wanted the split somewhere random over the wheel well. Now that I have 3 storage compartments, I will make the cut on top of the tailgate-most V brace. This will mean one lid for the large rear compartment and another for the 2 forward, smaller, compartments. I will cut the gap into the sidewall (piece 1) once I have the tops made, and can trace the crosspieces precisely.

 

Very good idea! Subbed

 

Well now that the temperature outside is slamming the double digits, I figured it was time to get some more work done on this project.

Unfortunately I didn't take progress pics, however I will use my lyrical wordsmith like skills to entertain you with progress.

As per the diagram I did piece 4 & 3 next.

1- Ripped the ply to 8 1/4"
2- Chopped to 36 3/8" (I think) so it would cover the 2 cab-most pockets.
3- Lined up piece 4 with the cab side and traced the "teeth"
4- Measured (1" deep) and jigsawed out the teeth.
5- Realized I cut the teeth out backwards on the dry fit, set the piece aside to become the next piece 3
6- Repeated steps 2-6, dry fit worked.

7- Chopped a 34 1/2" (I think) piece of the 8 1/4" ply.
8- Traced the square piece at the tailgate side and jigsawed
9- Trace the slope up to the square bit and jigsawed.

10- Dry fit pieces 3 & 4, had a beer and appreciated my work.

11- Measured the centres of the crosspeices
12- Chopped two pieces of 1" by 5 1/2" deck floor to 8 1/4"
13- attached the crosspieces
14- Removed the walls to line up the lids, jigsawed the crosspiece holes

15- Dry fit and took some shitty cell pics:


Tailgate-most pocket:


Cab-most pocket and mini pocket:


Hi-Lift bungeed into place:


With the tonneau closed:

 

Today I build the other saddlebag. While it is mostly the same I took a few more (shitty cell) pics for you to oogle.

First is the jigsaw guide I used to cut out the bottom slots:


Next the angle of the triangle braces:


Entire box before mounting:



finally.... FINISHED PRODUCT!!


With the lids on:


Lids off, crossbars on:


Lids on, tonneau on (regular mode):




If there is interest I can remake a post that is a little more clear on the build process, I can also get exact measurements (instead of ish'es) if anyone wants to make this themselves.

The only catch is if someone decides to make one of these out of metal, using my blueprints, measurements and photos, then I'd like an R&D discount when I buy one off you


Other than that, my next phase will be to build pieces to cover the whole bed while the crossbars are in, but still skinny enough to fit between the two boxes (I'm thinking one sheet big enough to cover everything, then sliced in half truck-length-wise)

 

An update on how this worked out:
A few points if anyone wants to try this themselves in the future:
1: Use a joint for the end piece of wood, the screws gave out on one of them come the next winter
2: With nothing to hold the lids in place, they would only stay until I hit a bump or something then bounce off. I ended up just not using them after a while
3: The bed pocket and inverter plug, while accessible, are a pain to get at.

As such I will be making Ver 2.0 sometime in the foreseeable future. With the new version I will be doing a few things differently:


A. Going metal, less bulky, smexier, and I can stick magnets on it. Not sure yet what thickness I will use, or if I will go smooth or diamond.


B. The tailgate-most piece will only be far enough back to clear the wheel wells. This has two advantages, The stowage compartments and plug are easier to access, and if necessary I will be able to put one of these in my truck

C. Lids will allow cross pieces to be placed onto, without removing the lid. Essentially the profile will follow the ridges of the box side.


D. Lids will not extend all the way to the cab side. They will stop at the outside of the ridges, which I will fill with something else, so that:


E. Lid will be secured, I'm thinking of running piano hinge on the inside, so that the new lids can open towards in inside of the bed. (only the top pieces, so that the dips won't meet any resistance)


F. Attachments (maybe) I'm thinking of either attaching some D rings, or making sections out of metal lattice to secure things to... However the boxes are designed to be lightweight, and I wouldn't want to overburden the light hardware attached to the bed.




This is where I will ask you all to PLEASE HELP ME! some basic questions I want to ask before I get started are:
- What thickness should I go with the metal?
- Flat or diamond plate?
- Will I (aka someone else) need to weld at all, or should I be able to get by with just cutting and bending?
- Is this something I can manage with the tools I have?: For cutting I was thinking just angle grinder with cutoff disks, and for bending, securing the sheets on a work surface, heating it with a gun, then hammering the snot out of it until it bends like Beckem.
- Which magnetic bottle opener do you recommend I stick on there once this project is completed.