1st Gen Bed Storage Solutions

What size can is this?

 

7.5 x 14.5 x 19
I think it was a 40mm ammo can.
It has M548 stamped in the end.

 

How are you guys attaching these to the bed? ...bolts thru the bottom?

 

Yes, I used a rivnut to attach them to the bed.

 

I really like the idea of the Decked system, mostly because it is a drawer system, but it creates a new bed "floor", that covers the entire bed. No pockets/ spaces for things to fall into. Something that is totally doable if one were to build their own. I've used them on some fleet trucks as well and mostly liked the way they functioned. We had them under work toppers on a several F-150s. Those systems were never out in the weather so we never had problems with them getting busted up. They were nice because those trucks were constantly loaded to the gills on top of the drawers, but you could still get to stuff in the drawers without unloading the whole dang truck. But again that would be the same with any nice drawer system.

But they don't have a product for the first gen, and they cost way too much for it to be an option that I would seriously consider. You could build several really killer plywood systems way before you spent enough to buy a Decked one, like you guys said.

 

I have a homemade tie-down system built for the truck at this point. Which works great for a lot of the things I do.

It's made out of shallow electrical strut, which you can get at any hardware store. I made several adjustable tie downs that can be placed where needed. Its kind of funny because I thought I would like the adjustability, but I don't really use it very often, still nice to have I guess.

 

20mm ammo can IIRC
36" T-track from Amazon, cut it in half, powdercoated the tracks and ammo can (I paint and powdercoat for a living so why not), self tapped screws into bed. 1/4" bolts side right in track. Lined up the ammo can where I wanted it, marked and drilled holes in the bottom of can. I wanted to be able to remove the can IF for some reason I needed the whole bed for hauling stuff. It WOULD slide in/out, but the screws I used to hold the T-track down are slightly too big and prevent the can from moving. I'll fix it later

 

I've been through this on my old Land Cruiser and (even more so) my 1st gen, and after trying a few solutions my best setup has been....nothing but a shell/topper.
Well, not nothing, I built a marine plywood floor with an insulation board subfloor, just for the flat surface, but no permanent storage. I use FrontRunner wolf boxes and I have a few Pelicans and then whatever else I need gets sorted for each trip as necessary. I found that permanent solutions were really limiting when not out on a trip. An open bed gives you options to freestyle depending on what you want to bring each go versus trying to fit things into drawers/containers that exist but might not be a good practical fit. Before the shell I used a bed cover and that worked well if your stuff isn't stacked above bed rail height. I think tie-down track is also a good call.

 

I've had this exact question as well and haven't found exactly what I want to this point, but I have started having fun with extruded aluminum framing so I guess there's that.
Always a work in progress, though. (Yes it's crooked in the first picture. I straightened it afterwards.)

 

This is a full size box. It's already full of stuff that I keep in there pretty much all the time. I also often have a plastic tub ratchet strapped in the bed with things that don't need to be secured in it. I need to put the other toolbox on the other side so I have some clean empty temporary storage. These boxes are more secure but they're so heavy I'm thinking about switching to aluminum.



Regular Cab Problems. Nice thread!