Fridge Slide install directly to bed?

It is very easy to reach the bolts under the bed. Depending on location you might need to take the spare out just ta make it easy. I used 4 stainless carriage bolts and washers to hold it to the bed. I placed 4 T nuts in the plywood to attach the slide to. slide unbolts in about 2 minutes.

 

I have L-Track through out the bed for tie down spots to hold camping containers and used rivnuts in most places and in a couple where I would easily get under the truck and get to the bed without a hassle I did use stainless bolts, washers and nuts.

 

Since many of you bolted directly to the bed I decided to do the same. The BAKflip cover actually closes firmly against the top of the fridge providing some some downward pressure but still closing all the way. I used 7 bolts total with large fender and lock washers. I used a couple of well nuts where I couldn't get a large washer to work. Dropping the spare tire made it easy to get to all the bolts. I doubt it will ever move or be an issue but I will report back if anything changes.

 

Forgot to mention this in previous posts but the bolts that hold the bed to the frame have tons of extra thread that just hangs down below, inside the frame. There is plenty of room to bolt 3/4" ply or something even thicker than that on top of the bed using the factory bolts and then you're bolted to the frame. Id wager its nearly 2" you have to work with. You can see in the pics how much thread there is and how much extra room there is under the one bolt that is partially threaded in. That is 1/4" thick steel plate. This is how Four Wheel Campers mounts campers to the 2nd and 3rd gen Tacoma. I made a knockoff version of their mounts for about $100 for my last FWC and it worked like a charm, even with decently hard offroading.

 

Sweet setup, I think that’s a kickass slide? How do you like it?

 

Love it works flawlessly

 

What are the turn buckles for?

 

That was the system I used to mount my Four Wheel Campers Fleet to the truck. There were eyelets on the camper that you hooked those turnbuckles to so you could tighten it down.

 

10-4, thanks!

 

I was trying to measure this out.

Are you using the arb fridge slide and outer fridge cover?

How much clearance do you have from your DB cover? 1"... 1/2"?

Thinking my fridge has to be under 17.5

 

What model Dometic is that and do you have pics with the bed cover down?

 

Are you using the arb fridge slide and outer fridge cover? Yes to both.

How much clearance do you have from your DB cover? 1"... 1/2"? 0 inches. I could not squeeze a finger in between if I tried. It rubs against the cover and has left an impression on the cover. Nothing bad but its just very snug. That might even be a preferable thing since it might help secure it down if it gets bumpy.

I calculated I have about 18" from bed mat to the cross beam.

 

Thanks thats good info.

 

Its an older Dometic CFX 35. it rubs with the cover all the way down. If I took the fridge cover off it probably wouldn't rub. the rubbing isn't bad enough to bother me. The backflip closes all the way and seals fine.

 

That looks great. Was going to post a question about these mounts and ability to save the bed mat. You did just that. I don't have a tonneau cover. Problem is I have bed stiffeners installed and think they'll be in my way with this setup.

This is my daily driver too...or will be when the world rights itself again. Hate to even ask this but has anyone strapped these in when travelling to destination? 4 tie down points through bed or similar with no track...to save my entire bed mat. Mine will live under a low profile bed rack and wedged between supplies when travelling.

 

You cut you bed mat to fit the slide? I was thinking of just drilling holes through the mat that meets up with either an intermediate piece of plywood or directly to the slide.

Cutting that entire part of the mat around the fridge slide freaks me out, idk why

 

I just drilled holes through my mat. Works just fine.

 

I drilled holes through my mat too. The one thing I noticed is that when I tightened down the bolts the slider frame flexed a bit causing the rails/sliders to bind and not slide smoothly. I adjusted the bolt tensions and that fixed the problem. If I were going to do it all over I'd mount the slider frame to a plywood base before bolting it on.

 

Yea thats what I was thinking (flexing and plywood). Once the snow stops dumping at my place, Im gonna get this going. I will take some pics and do a writeup and post it here.

 

My fridge barley fits under my tonneau cover as it is. I didn't have a choice but to have the slide mount directly to the bed. I wanted to be able to close the cover completely and conceal the fridge. The added bonus is that the cover puts a decent amount of downward pleasure on the fridge so it helps keep everything in place.