How to slide out truck bed tool boxes? Well, truck bed tool boxes need a few simple steps for sliding them out in your truck bed. First you need to start the procedure by taking the measurements of your truck bed. Then purchase plywood to build tool boxes that accommodates the size of your truck bed. The next step involves preparing the drawers or tool boxes with the help of a friend or assistant. The final step will be to slide the drawers in between the planks.
If you want to do this on your own, you can follow a few simple steps to build the tool boxes and slide out them in your truck bed. But before discussing the steps to slide out the tool boxes, let us first know why you need toolboxes in your truck bed.
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Advantages of Slide-Outs In Truck Campers
There are a few good reasons why some people prefer a truck camper with slide-outs.
The biggest advantage of truck bed slide outs is you get additional living space provided in your camper. The extra space may accommodate more essential things, thereby creating more open feeling inside. The space also works helps you store various things during a rainy day. Thus it helps protect from damage caused by rain water.
Besides the extra space, slide-outs allow more storage areas in the camper.
When the dinette is located in the slide, the camper can have more storage capacity in the dinette seats, the fold-down bunk area, and more.
Since storage is an important part in tiny RVs like truck campers, the slide-outs definitely provide ample of storage, which is a strong factor and reason to choose a camper with slide-outs.
How to slide out the truck bed tool boxes
Step 1
To start with the procedure, you need to build your own storage tool boxes. For this, you need to measure the length of your truck bed from the back of the cab to the tailgate. Then measure the width at widest point and also between the two wheel wells.
Step 2
Then cut a piece of plywood to the length and width of your truck bed. Then you have to cut an indentation into each side of the board so that you can make room for the wheel wells. Flip the board over and draw three straight lines lengthwise on the back with the help of a marker; one down the center and one next to each of the cuts for the wheel wells.
Step 3
The third step is to cut three additional pieces of plywood the length of the truck bed by 1-foot wide. Now lay them parallel to each other on their sides. Place the large piece of plywood over them so that the side with the chalk lines faces up.
Step 4
You can take the help of an assistant to hold the top piece of plywood steady while you move the pieces of plywood below. Line each end of the plywood up so that they match with each of the chalk lines. Then drill five wood screws through the wood at even intervals along each chalk line, thereby securing the three smaller boards in place.
Step 5
In the next step, flip the large piece of plywood over so the three smaller boards stick up. Take the measurement of the space between the vertical plywood planks.
Step 6
Then you have to cut two pieces of plywood as wide as the space between the vertical boards and as long as the truck bed. These are the bottom pieces of the slide out drawers. Cut four drawer slides 2 inches shorter than the length of the truck bed and 9 inches tall. Then you can label the bottom pieces with an “A” and the side pieces with “B” for your convenience.
Step 7
Place both “A” planks flat on the ground and then set two “B” pieces on top of each “A” piece vertically. Place the “B” pieces so that they are fixed at the right and left side of the “A” pieces with an inch of space between the end of the “B” boards and the edge of the “A” boards. Sfter you are done with the proper positioning of planks, attach them to each other using wood screws.
Step 8
Then cut four pieces of board to make the front and the back of the boards. You can cut them 9 inches tall and as wide as the bottom pieces of the drawers. Attach these pieces of wood to the front and back of the drawers, in front of the “B” pieces and on top of the “A” pieces.
Step 9
To make the plywood look good, you have to paint the plywood drawers with exterior-grade spray paint to make them weather resistant. Paint the large piece of plywood with the three vertical boards in the same paint. Leave them for some time to dry before you proceed to the next step.
Step 10
Position a flat rubber drop in bed liner on top of the vertical boards protruding from the large piece of plywood with the top facing up. Then attach the bed liner to the vertical planks using roofing nails and bolts. To add support to the four corners of the truck bed liner, attach 2 by 4s that reach from the bottom piece of plywood to the bottom of the liner at every corner.
Step 11
Then carefully slide the two drawers in between the vertical wood planks attached to the large piece of plywood. You can take the help of a friend or an assistant while you lift the entire construct into the empty bed of your truck. The bed liner should face upward.
Then attach the construct to the bed of your truck by installing bolts through the plywood on either side of the drawers down into the metal of the truck bed. You can install latch locks on the drawers to keep them shut and keep your valuables safe.
Tips for Slide-out Tool Boxes:
If the drawers are in the unit, remove them and keep them aside before installation. You can arrange the completed box on the tailgate, lift it into the truck and slide it halfway in with the help of a friend.
Always use drywall screws to attach the wing boxes to the main box. These screws also help push the entire unit into place.
You should use galvanized L-brackets to screw the unit to the truck bed.
Apply paste wax along the runners on the bottoms of the drawers to slide the drawers into the storage unit.
Fix small metal brackets to the ends of the vertical dividers so that they overlap the drawers slightly. Doing so will keep the drawers from sliding out when the tailgate is down. Now rotate the brackets out of the way to open the drawers.
The most important thing is to do the weather-proofing of the drawers to increase the shelf-life of the tool boxes. To make the drawers weather-proof, you need to cut a wide strip of rubber liner to cover the drawers completely and overlap the top of the unit by about 1 foot.
Place the rubber liner and nail it to the unit using roofing nails. Place a nail at about every 6 inches. The liner will keep water and debris out of the drawers. However, it will flip up the tool boxes for easy access. Never forget to lay a truck bed liner on top of the box. The liner should cover the entire unit.
Always use L-brackets to attach the purchased truck bed liner to the truck.
Note: The rubber liner should be kept in the “down” position over the drawers before you put the truck bed liner in place. Otherwise, it could be trapped under the purchased liner.
Conclusion
Truck bed slide systems work as a great option especially when you carry long cargo such as lumber, piping, and plywood. However, you can use a slide system for convenient unloading of materials if you are in a landscaping or construction business. The everyday users can use truck bed cargo slides to carry their groceries, vegetable, and other electronics. However, always make sure to check the payload capacity of the truck bed slide system and see if the particular design is capable of withstanding the load capacity or not. You can also take the help of a professional while doing this. However, it will add more to your expenses. On the other hand, you can build your own tool boxes and slide them out in your truck bed, which will cost you $150-$180.
