DIY Decked

[CPawlowski]

Built a decked system this weekend for around $350. Pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I have a 2018 Ram 1500 eco diesel with a 6.5' bed. It has what looks to be small ledges on the four corners of the bed and on tye wheel hubs that fit a 2x4 or 2x6 perfectly. With a 2x4 it wasn't high enough to get the clearance I wanted so I doubled them up at the ends. This gave me room to use 1x8's for the drawers.

I ripped a 2x10 for the center support. The deck is 23/32 pine and the drawers 5'x2' made with 1x8's and 1/4" sanded pine for the bottoms. I bought a pocket jig to drill the holes to assemble the drawers and that worked great.

I had already made a bed rug out of a cheap 6'x8' outdoor rug. I glued furniture sliders to the bottom the drawers and they slide in and out easily. I used the same rug for the top of the deck.

I used small screw in hooks and turnbuckles on the 4 corners to attack it to the tie downs of the bed just to make sure it can't come up.

I had some small L brackets laying around that I attached to the the back of the center support to act as drawer stops.

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That looks awesome! I’d like to do the same thing.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Thanks! Yes it does. I appreciate the advice/recommendation. Its not a big atv but ideally it would be great to be able to haul it in the back.

I used cabinet screws they have a big head.
And a bunch of these corner do hickies.
I did a 2x12 across the front. That went into the slots of my plastic bed liner.
Then 2 runners back.
Then just get the thickest ply you can.

The hard part would be keeping access to the places you would hook a tie-down strap to for the quad.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

I used cabinet screws they have a big head.
And a bunch of these corner do hickies.
I did a 2x12 across the front. That went into the slots of my plastic bed liner.
Then 2 runners back.
Then just get the thickest ply you can.

The hard part would be keeping access to the places you would hook a tie-down strap to for the quad.

That’s a great use of those. Thanks for the further explanation. I was thinking of doing little slots similar to the decked system where you could reach in and get to the tow straps. Not sure how to go about it quite yet but in theory that’s what I was thinking. It may have smaller drawers to be able to have the atv sit right on the supports

 

[BRTreedogs]

That’s a great use of those. Thanks for the further explanation. I was thinking of doing little slots similar to the decked system where you could reach in and get to the tow straps. Not sure how to go about it quite yet but in theory that’s what I was thinking. It may have smaller drawers to be able to have the atv sit right on the supports

Depending on what truck you have.
There are companies that make corner brackets for the high side of your pickup box as well

 

[BRTreedogs]

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

Depending on what truck you have.
There are companies that make corner brackets for the high side of your pickup box as well

Those are slick. I have not heard of those before.

 

[Capt Shann]

When I built mine I looked at using rollers, but they're expensive. I ended up screwing furniture sliders on the underside of my drawers and they slide on the bedliner great.

I did the budget idea

 

[22Jdub]

That looks awesome! I’d like to do the same thing.

It's still working as good as I could hope. Nothing really that I would change at this point. For my use I think I like it a little better than the actual decked because I like the wider drawers. The dexked ones are deeper but I like the added width.


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[artripb13]

Has anyone tried using a different material i.e. abs or thin plywood with fiberglass and epoxy to keep the weight down?

 

[cuerro viejo]

Has anyone tried using a different material i.e. abs or thin plywood with fiberglass and epoxy to keep the weight down?

you are getting into a price point that matches Decked or Truckvault unless you just have materials laying around.

 

[artripb13]

you are getting into a price point that matches Decked or Truckvault unless you just have materials laying around.

Fair point, plywood with fiberglass cloth should be significantly less expensive than decked if I recall correctly. I've got some laying around from a cedar strip kayak build so I may go that route sometime this year. I like the idea of being able to customize the drawer layout to my needs

 

[ztc92]

Wanted to post my approach for anyone who is looking for ideas. I built a box to house my drawers so that they would sit on plywood rather than my rhino-lined truck bed. I added sliders to the bottom of each drawer that consists of thin strips of HDPE (like super strong Teflon) and I’ve been really happy with this approach. There’s no need for rails or drawer glides with drawers in a truck bed because the tailgate will hold the weight of the drawers when you open them.

Another tip for anyone considering this, get the Win-Doors on your topper and then add a platform, it makes them 1000% more useful since you don’t have to reach way down to the bed.

Here’s where I got most of my inspiration, though I also added “flaps” on each side of the box to provide additional storage around the wheel wells and create a full platform with no gaps.

 

[dylsdad]

awesome ideas

 

[Shoot870p]

Great tips! I really want to put 2 drawers in my truck bed and these tips will help.

 

[Macintosh]

Have had mine in my current truck for a few years. All marine plywood. Biggest difference between mine and others is my drawers arent full depth, I have a “wing” door that opens up on both sides just behind the cab, for tow straps, chains, tools, etc.(side wing doors on cap as well), then the drawers are about 52” deep if I recall correctly.