Drilling Holes in Truck Bed - Bed Modifications

3 holes last week for softtopper to mount snaps up front. Didn't bother me any.

 

Bright enough for me, I wanted something clean and easy with an on/off switch near the back;

 

Yes. I drilled 3 holes for additional mounting of things and then another 3 holes for drainage - it’s just a plastic bed. No harm no foul

 

My bed has holes in it from the factory.

 

my fix has apparently worked. No codes so far, but I know where to look if they pop back up. Always look before you drill!

 

I need to drill a hole into the side of my bed to secure the RCI hilift jack mount to the bed. Right now it is only connected to the bed rail, so it rattles like crazy while driving around, especially on uneven dirt covered surfaces. The last trip through Mojave rattled my entire bed rail off that the RCI mount was attached to. If I were to drill a hole through the bottom of the mount and truck bed, would I need to reinforce the backside of the bed with a large metal washer?

 

I did the same thing so that I could get my tonneau cover drain tubes installed.

 

I opened mine up to 1/2" because they would get clogged with dirt. Just be careful on the driver's side because the fuel fill line runs right next to that corner.

 

Drilled mine and cut bed mat for a DENY lock.

 

I did enlarge the drainage holes at the front of the bed too. Their original small diameter made it too easy to become plugged up with organic debris.

 

I drilled the two outer holes larger and went to drill the middle hole and the battery in the drill died. I charged the battery but keep forgetting to drill the last hole.

 

Soon installing a Bluesea, tec error whatever panel to run power to my fridge in the bed and charge misc USB items. Itll require a small rectangle hole I'll put on the left sidewall.

 

I put a hole in the left side rear to mount a Bluesea power panel. And two drain hole at the front for the tonneau cover drain tubes.

 

Can you post a photo of your mounting location? I assume you ran power lines under cab and up to battery?

 

I ran a bundle of wires a while back when I installed my tailgate actuator. So I already had a 10 gauge power and ground I just had to terminate to complete the install.

Originally there were 2 usb charge ports and the 12 volt accessory socket. I replaced one of the USB sockets for the voltage gauge. Always good to know battery state of charge while using the ports out camping.

 

Mounted my jack.

 

I drilled one hole for the camper shell wiring. Protected it with a grommet. The bed material is a little tough to drill, since it is reinforced with fiberglass.

 

Timely thread. I just drilled a bunch of holes in my 03.

To anchor custom bed compartments/frame… I had a tri-fold ATV ramp from my trailer conversion to use. So two ‘wings’ will lift up on either side. Going to diamond plate with security screws both, then figure out locks. Plus working on a back fold down door/panel that is about 11-12” inside the tailgate. Oh, this all fits under a tonneau cover, with about 20-30 snap buttons drilled through the fenders/tailgate.

Then I ran a beefy wire up from the battery (probably #6 AWG or larger) as I am going to install a 20amp DC-DC charger for my THOW. I have 100amp CB on each end (overkill, but I had them already). I wrapped in plastic wire loom and followed brake/fuel lines back. Added a section of garden hose going through the bed. I had a rubber grommet, but I gave up and just used the hose.

I added a 100amp/30amp 6 blade panel also.

 

I saw other posts about wires here and had a question….

How many Leads could I run off the Ignition Accessory line coming into the radio harness?

I know I need at least 1 for the DC-DC charger (to sense when truck is running), and feel there are at least a few more leads already…. Accessory outlet/USB, plus the radio.

would I be better adding a small relay, or is that overkill?

 

It would be easier on the radio circuit to run a relay as your turn on signal and then run what you need through the relay. Less chance of overloading and gives future expansion options if the relay output went to an auxiliary fuse panel.