S10 Bed Storage

[t0mills]

Hey guys, just wanted to share my proposed solution for storing gear in the bed of an S10 pickup.

My truck is a 2002 ZR2, Ext. Cab Short Bed. I recently installed a shell, and have been thinking of ways to maximize the bed space.

A few goals were:

Places for extra batteries - there is NO extra room under that hood..

Place for Recovery Gear

Place for camping supplies, first aid kit, ect...

Place for air compressor

And a place to sleep until I can get a roof rack made and a roof top tent.

So, I think this satisfies all of those requirements:

The whole thing takes up every bit of available bed space, and when all closed up, makes a perfect surface to put a full size air mattress.

The sliders are from Accuride, and are the Heavy Duty 26" units. I wanted longer, but I scored 2 brand new pairs for only $20 on ebay...

I'm thinking about putting more flip lid storage in the area in front of the drawers. I could mount my battery isolators and other equipment in there.

It's going to be made out of 3/4" MDF, and will be finished with carpet.

I've still got a little work to do on it, but this is how it will look for the most part.

Once I get it finished, I will gladly share the files with anyone who is interested. The model is made in such a way that you can resize it to fit any bed size.

This unit will weigh in at ~250lbs, empty. I've already added air bags to my truck, so it will be able to cope with the extra weight.

I'm expecting the sliders to come in either tomorrow or Thursday. I'll start on it this weekend.

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

:beer:

-Tim

 

[eugene]

When I had my s10, and I may still do this with my full size, I was going to use the space under the bed. If you look on the passenger side in front of the rear fender under the bed there is just enough room outboard of the frame to mount a battery. I planned to get some sheet metal and put a floor at the bottom of the body side there and hinge that connection, then put a back next to the frame with a notch for the bed mount and extend the inner fender down to my floor building a box there. Once I had it boxed in I was going to cut the outer sheet metal right where the body line is since that was nearly even with the bed floor so it would swing down allowing access to the battery. I planned the same on the drivers side, but there wasn't quite room for a battery since the fuel tube was there.

First aid kit there is room in the cab, If you fold down the rear jump seats and then fold down the back of those seats there is a small space between the hinges, I put a small kit on one side and some recovery gear on the other. I was working on trying to make those seats removable by using a hitch pin in place of the hinge bolts, thought I could then make a mount in the bed or legs for them as a camp chair.

There is also a small space under the factory battery tray, I had a battery isolator mounted there.

 

[ZR2nit]

Hey guys, just wanted to share my proposed solution for storing gear in the bed of an S10 pickup.

My truck is a 2002 ZR2, Ext. Cab Short Bed. I recently installed a shell, and have been thinking of ways to maximize the bed space.

So, I think this satisfies all of those requirements:

The whole thing takes up every bit of available bed space, and when all closed up, makes a perfect surface to put a full size air mattress.

Once I get it finished, I will gladly share the files with anyone who is interested. The model is made in such a way that you can resize it to fit any bed size.

I'm expecting the sliders to come in either tomorrow or Thursday. I'll start on it this weekend.

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

:beer:

-Tim

That thing is an awesome idea. Congrats. Its good to see another ZR2 owner on here. I have a 02 GMC ZR2 Highrider. I'm interested in the plans when you are done.

Marty

 

[Dale]

Hi Tim, I had the same set up for my 1984 S-10 a budy and I used to travel in for 5 weeks around the US. Hope you don't mind my sugestions. The mattress is going to be difficult to manuever when accessing top opening compartments and you will probably get dirt on your bedding, I would have the two small compartments near the tailgate open to the outside instead maybe leave off the door and bungee in a duffle bag. If possible I would double up the sliders and make one big drawer all the way to the cab so it will be easier to pack and you will fill a lot of those little void spaces. Before my trip, I went to a couple Goodwills and pick up a bunch of 99 cent duffle bags to seperate our gear, they compress a lot easier than plastic containers. The drawer latches you plan to use look like they'll take up about two inches of bed space, maybe two small slide bolts will take up less room for about a $1. Have fun.

 

[ntsqd]

I would suggest that you look at other De-Sta-Co options for drawer latches or orient those such that their "draw" is in the direction of the drawer's opening/closing. Those will work as oriented, but they're 90* to the way they are intended to work so they'll have to be adjusted rather tight to not allow the drawer to wobble in and out. I fear that given the MDF foundation that keeping them tight will be a uphill battle. If they can wobble then over time they will wear out the slides and jostle everything in the drawers, promoting wear on those items too.
Might peruse the Austin Hardware page and see what else might work for your application.

I have considered something just on the sides of the bed of Patch. Though drawers have a large appeal, I'm reluctant to loose any height in the bed as I can just barely kneel in there now. Loosing some height would make dressing that much more difficult.

A trick I've been told about, but have not seen, is to use the carpet itself for the 'hinge'. With the carpet glued or screwed to the movable panel the carpet will flex enough for the occasional access. The original application I was told about was used to hide beer just fwds of the step in the bed of a teenager's FJ-40.....

 

[Rhode Trip]

Nice plan, well thought out. But, since you asked, here's my $.02... If you could make those drawers slide all the way forward, you could use them for heavier items to keep the center of gravity ahead of the rear wheels. And use the space behind them at the back for lighter stuff in duffles, like was suggested already.

 

[t0mills]

Excellent information guys! I appreciate the feedback!

I've been thinking of how I could make the drawers slide the whole length of the bed.

Well, I could purchase a couple pair of Accuride Sliders with the correct length, or, I could design my own system.

The Accuride route, would end up costing me over $600.

My design, should be much cheaper.


I have contacts with a local metal manufacturer. I use them several times a week to produce items that I've designed for my company.
My plan is to design a set of rails, that will allow a full length drawer to slide the full length of the bed.

I've got some ideas in my head, and am going to toss them into solidworks and see what I can come up with.

Also, about the latches. You guys have brought up a good point.

I think I am going to go with a much simpler "slide" latch. That would allow me to set the latch while the drawers are open, to keep them open.

As far as the mattress situation goes, I know it's not ideal, but it will work for the few times that I actually use it.
I plan on getting a roof rop tent fairly soon.



Thanks for the feedback! If you have any more suggestions, feel free to post them up!


Tim

 

[Dale]

My first trip out to CO from PA I used a platform system which required lifting the plywood to gain acces to all of my gear.What a pain that was. Two years after, on my 5 week trip: I wish I had pictures of my setup but half the film from that trip wasn't able to be developed and once I went back to building houses for the rest of the summer I tore out the platform. I was on a limited budget, so I used wood scraps from the jobsites for the platform and pull out tray, instead of a drawer track, I used old fashioned window (sash)pulleys from the double hung windows we replaced as low profile caster wheels. I cut out sections in four corners of the drawer and had the pulleys attached to the bottom of the drawer. The tailgate kept it all in place. The purpose of our trip was rock climbing and the only four wheeling we did was to find guerilla campsites. I didn't have any problems from the drawer shifting around but I wasn't doing anything extreme. I also used multiple street signs for one continous skid plate along the frame.