My bed drawer platform

I'd like to do something similar and figure out some way to cut some of the weight. Any suggestions there?

 

That and the hardware, tie down track, paint, etc.

 

Use 1/2" plywood and use plastic tubs instead of drawers. You wouldn't have the strength though along with possible warping/breaking when using tie downs. You might be able to shave a couple pounds with 1/2" plywood used in conjunction with aluminum angle as added support. But you will drive cost up that way.

 

@masterwacker
Sir,
This is exactly what I am working on building. A couple questions if I could ( I am a metal fab guy, not so much a woodworker, but have the appropriate tools for this):

• Did you rabbett the vertical supports into the base wood? (pictures wont zoom well enough to tell)
• The routed/cut out areas in the secondary vertical support, was this just to save weight or for some other reason?
• Do you feel the doubled vertical supports are necessary for the strength of the upper deck?

Thanks for any help, I am basically wanting to do this same thing, however I will be mounting my bedslide on top, and replacing/expanding the deck of the slide to go as close to full bed width as possible and still roll through the tailgate opening.

 

1) Yes I used Daddoes and rabbets to strenghten those joints. All joints were glued and screwed. They are not moving or breaking. The other benefit of flying the joints is water proofing. There is a seal around opening or drawer and I used a pressure washer on it and had no water or moisture get inside drawers. Coupled with the Berliner coating on the outside no issues so far. This also greatly reduces expansion and contraction since water, moisture/humidity is not getting to the wood.
2) yes, I did this to save weight and strengthen the vertical supports for dead weight and also torsional strength when using the tie down tracks. I am pretty sure that in a previous reply or original post I put the very conservative weight load rating based on 3/4" plywood and the construction
3)yes I do for the reasons listed in (2)

I was/am planning on a bedslide and would have no qualms putting it on my setup. Good luck on your build and any more questions let me know. One last tip be careful of the bed opening as it is narrower than inside the bed. That is why I built it with removable side wings so it could be installed and removed with the topper on. Otherwise you would need a lift to drop it in the bed due to the smaller opening if you wanted the top to be full bed width.

 

Awesome, thanks for the reply.

I am planning on only adjusting the deck width to the opening of the tailgate area. I am contemplating creating a flip up cover to fill in the sides, downside is they will need to be mounted to the bed in order for the slide to work still. I may just leave the small gap however, we will see.

Once I get the wood and start getting into it I will document, this will be my first woodworking project like this, thus far I have only done basic home needs and some basic framing. Hopefully I can pull it off!

I was thinking of doing this with materials more normal to me (aluminum and steel) but this in the end seems easier, and I am eager to learn how to do some of this stuff.