Truck bed/storage question.

The truck is an 04 short bed DC with the Rugged Liner bed insert.

I was wondering if anyone here knows if I can take 4x1 lumber and cut it to the width of the bed (3 or 4 slats) to lay a piece of plywood on top (like a bed frame)? The bed liner seems to have some "slots" that will accommodate the side to side slats that end right above the wheel wells.

I was going to do this to create storage under the plywood and have a flat surface on top for a double decker type storage. I know it won't be weather tight but I was wanting to keep some things out of sight on a trip.

I would cut the plywood to fit the bed box and be able to close the tailgate.

While I'm at it....anyone know of a tailgate "lock" for the release handle?

 

Can't help much with the storage question but the Pop and Lock option seems pretty popular as a tailgate lock

http://www.realtruck.com/pop-lock-keyed-tailgate-lock/R1856P2003Y608MA.html

 

Sweet! Well one down...honestly I hadn't searched for that tailgate lock yet, but was going to soon. Thanks for the quick reply on that! Good place to start.

 

I'm doing something similar at the moment. Mainly to bolt my fridge,co2, etc. to the bed so they all don't go flopping around on the rocks.

I used a piece of 3/4 ply wood as the platform covered it in outdoor carpeting and treated 2x4's between platform and bed.

What do you plan to store underneath it? 4x1's height won't provide very much room to store a whole lot...

 

Taking a trip and wanted to store luggage and baby's things under there. Just wanted to keep stuff out of sight. 2x4's would offer a bit more height for the platform. I hate loading out the cab with stuff when I have an empty bed. When I get to two kids I'll do a topper. No way I can take four people and my German Shepherd all their stuff in a DC truck on a trip...

A buddy bought an 06 4runner just for this reason. I like my truck...