Some of you may have rent my recent post on the bed/storage system I built for the back of my truck for camping.

Well, it’s gone.

Despite my initial enthusiasm about what I thought was the perfect camping set-up for me. I decided to completely rebuild it. Here’s why:

• I can’t sit up on bed. (No headroom)
• More storage space than needed.
• I don’t fit. (Bed length is shorter at elevated height due to construction of topper)
• Bins slide around when driving.
• Back corners are still a dead zone for storage.
• Country is quarentined and I needed a project.

The former design wasn’t that bad, it was mostly functional, aesthetically pleasing, and got lots of compliments on the couple of trips I took it on; but for all the reasons outlined above I thought it was worth completly re-doing. I had such a good time truck camping, I wanted to optimize my set-up for more trips to come.

The new design: (Scroll down to see a video tour)

I only needed to buy a single 2×12 for the new build-out, and simply cut/modified materials from the old set-up to construct the new design. Beyond fixing all the problems with the old configuration, I was also able to create a handy gear storage configuration for day trip adventures as well.

Features:

• I used L brackets and small self tapping screws to mount 2×12 to bed.
• 1×5’s for support boards, 2×12 for side wall, 1/2″ plywood for top.
• Indoor outdoor rug cut, glued, and secured to plywood with lathe screws for top.
• Simple utility hinges to make back corners accessible.
• Tie down cleats for fastening gear to lid.
• Hefty “under bed bins” for a poor man’s storage drawer arrangement.

Will this perfect? No. It will have it’s own subset of downsides I’m sure, but I do believe it will be an improvement on the old system. (For my camping preferences at least.)

Plus I had fun making it. (Again)