DIY Split Bed Slide with Limited Drilling

I found a cheap camper shell for my taco last spring and while I love the covered storage, I immediately realized getting items from the front of the bed is a lot of work without windoors. So I have been working on a DIY solution for the last year-ish. Thought I'd share to inspire others as they inspired me.

I thought about buying a BedSlide or CargoGlide, as well as Decked, but none quite fit my requirements:

1. Not cost an arm and a leg
   
2. Maximize bed space
   1. Minimal gaps between the deck and wheel wells
   2. Lowest possible deck height
3. Support several hundred pounds
4. Easily removable by only me in case I want to fill the bed with mulch, stone, lumber, an appliance, etc
5. Minimal drilling
6. Enough extension for me to be able to 'reach the back wall' without climbing into the bed
7. Split deck so that my fridge doesn't have to slide out with the rest of the load

So I set out with my pencil and paper, then saw and wood...

Here's the mostly finished product, more details about the build in the following posts.

 

My first design was built last June from 5/8” plywood. It doesn’t get much more simple/low profile than this. By the time I got the camper, I had already built a slide for my fridge and bolted it down and I had a jerry can on the same side, with only a very small space between, so I just wanted half a bed slide. The inspiration for the first version came from this post by @turbodb / AdventureTaco


The slats in the bed are a little under 5/8” tall and a 5/8” piece of stock lines up well with the Mountain Hatch tailgate cover I picked up on FB marketplace. So I ripped a bunch of ~20”x1”x5/8” slats then staggered some between the slats near the tailgate area, just mounted using 3M tape since the load would be downward not upward.



I cut a 5/8” plywood panel to match the angles of the bedside and the width of the remaining space. Then I threw some slats down on opposite ridges near the front of the cab and glued/screwed the top panel to the slats in place so they were aligned properly. I put a little wax on the slats to make them slide smoother.



When the entire slide is in the bed, the entire length supported by the 5/8” slats, it slides toward the tailgate, then the forward slats hit the tailgate panel and stop it from sliding entirely out.




Now the rearward section is mostly supported by the tailgate panel. I never had reason to have it fully extended with more weight on the non-supported part than the no supported part, so nothing was bolted down except the fridge.



This worked well for almost a year, but it could get hard to slide if it was loaded very heavy. More importantly it was still a PITA to get to the stuff behind the fridge or the jerry can.

This is about as loaded down as I liked to get it

But it definitely made it easier to reach the items closer to the cab.

 

So, in May I went back to the drawing board (or pad?) and decided to come up with a new design that would better suit my needs. I almost pulled the trigger on a used BedSlide, but then I bought a ‘new’ camera instead (sadly not used for any of these pics). I thought I took more photos during the process, but it’s hot in San Antonio so maybe I didn’t snap as many as I thought.

Including the dimensional drawings in case anyone is interested, but some of the dimensions changed during the actual build process due to my inability to math properly, fortunately it did not result in any wasted lumber.



This time I splurged a bit and used casters from Amazon to support the weight and make it roll more smoothly. Each caster/wheel supports 75#, I used 24 altogether.

First, I ripped a couple of ¾” plywood sheets down to 60” and cut to fit between the wheel wells (I could’ve gained a few mm if I’d done this after building the substructure since the wheel wells are angled).



Next, I ripped down the two side supports and a middle support, then mounted some of the 5/8”x1” slats to those in the same way I mounted them to the previous one (placing the slats in the bed first, then screwing the panel in to ensure alignment) except they are in front and rear since these pieces are stationary.

Because the full caster made the setup much taller than necessary, I removed all the wheels from the casters and made some channels to mount the caster wheels in. I cut axles from 6mm SS steel rod and mounted the wheels to the axels using SS/rubber pipe clamps .

I also included some cutouts that allow a cam strap to pass through each of runners. This cam strap also passes through a factory tie down I bought long ago and mounted to front bed mount bolt, and a smaller (also OEM) tie down that I previously used to mount the fridge before I got the topper. This allows the entire system to be removed or installed in about 5 minutes.

Since I moved the fridge from driver to passenger side at one point, I had one on each side thus making this a no-drill installation for me. The center support is not mounted in any way and depends on the travel channels and the side that is not extended to prevent it from pivoting.



Building the C channels that keep the drawer in place so things don’t bounce around off road and keep the drawers from pivoting when extended was very time consuming. I expected it to be cut and paste but getting the alignment right was not as easy as expected and resulted in extra cutting/sanding to get the fit just right. They do work well though, I (220#) have sat on the wider side when extended

Before mounting the channels to the bottom of the top panels, I placed the panels on top of the completed substructure, clamped everything in place, and ran a circular saw down the middle to create an even split between each panel. I also added a back wall using Kreg screws and these aluminum shelf brackets.



I also added some of the casters to the bottom of the larger panels, in locations where wouldn’t interfere with the C channels, to help support the load when it’s above the tailgate (since I already had the extra casters by this point). Fortunately, the height was perfect for my needs, I expected to make shims or different height channels like I did for the lower wheels but it wasn’t necessary.





I don't have good pictures of this, but they're visible in some photos below. The slides are locked in place by two 1/4" SS pins that drop into holes drilled into each slide as well as the middle channel.

I took it on a trip to CO in June and bounced around for countless hours on dirt roads and a few minor trails. Most things worked great, nothing broke but I did make a few adjustments:

• I rounded over the edge of my Mountain Hatch tailgate cover to make the transition smoother for the casters on the rear edge of the slide
• Got a new fridge and built a new fridge slide from aluminum stock
• Added an economy outdoor rug from HD to the top

I would still like to improve the locking mechanism, and possibly bolt down the middle substructure.

 

reserved 3?

 

Stolen #4!!

 

I had a bed slide in my 1st gen. I felt like it wasted a lot of space on the sides when not using just the platform area.

 

What fridge slide?

looks good

 

Thanks! I made the fridge slide myself as well from aluminum stock and drawer slides from Amazon. There are a few photos in the (now) updated third post. I used a piano hinge and made a couple of nylon straps to create the tilting mechanism (taken from various YouTube videos).

 

That was one of the issues that I saw from looking at the pictures online. This gives me the option to have (almost) the entire bed flat, or quickly remove the whole setup if I actually need the entire space.