Dust

[ddog45]

What is everyone doing about dust in the bed of their trucks? I have a snug top shell on my double cab and am getting ready to head to Utah for 10 days I would like to keep my stuff as clean as possible. Seal kits or diy pictures would be a huge help.
thanks

 

[Clymber]

Dust is like water. It will find a way into everything, we usually keep our clothes and sleeping bags in the truck with us our kitchen setup gets a little dust in it but nothing terrible and we put our table and chairs in a huge duffle bag. I know its not what you are looking for but some ideas

 

[mtnkid85]

Ive been slowly trying to get the back of my truck better sealed up as well. I think the ultimate would be some kind of a filtered forced air system that would create positive pressure in the bed. That would be the only real way to keep it dust free.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I would take everything out of the bed to try and determine where the dust is getting in. From what I've seen, most of it comes in through the tailgate. You can try sealing the tailgate with strips of pipe insulation that you can get at a hardware store. Also look for drain holes near the forward part of the bed.
.
Honestly, though, it's a tough battle to fight. Pickups just aren't made for sealing out dust, which is one of the reasons I like having an SUV. When I had my pickup I was constantly fighting this. One thing you can try is putting the stuff you'd like to stay "clean" (typically your sleeping bag and maybe whatever it is you sleep on - a sleeping mat or mattress or whatever) in a big, heavy duty plastic trash bag and sealing that up. Food should also be sealed up and as for everything else - well, as the Marines like to say "Embrace the suck" or in this case "Embrace the dust." :sombrero:

 

[Louisd75]

The tailgate seal made the biggest improvement for the least amount of work for me. I still get dust, but it's nowhere near as bad as before. Everything that I don't want dusty goes into plastic storage bins.

I know that Caravan Camper out of Reno has an option for a pressurization system but I don't know much more than you can see in the picture: http://www.caravancamper.com/options/ (you'll have to scroll down a bit). I think that the Baja Taco website used to have a writeup on a truck with a pressurization system but I didn't see it with a quick look http://www.bajataco.com/

 

[Desert Dan]

Some camper shell stores sell tailgate seal kits.

Put a light inside and do light leak test at night.

 

[ddog45]

Thanks for the great ideas. Today I went to home depot and bought a few things to try out first is a strip of rubber that Im going to put across the bottom of the tailgate on the inside to cover the gap between the bed and the tailgate, I plan to put this on with the red 3m two sided sticky tape. For the sides of the tailgate I got a garage door bottom seal that I plan to also stick on with two sided sticky tape. I will post some pictures once I get everything stuck on.

 

[mtnkid85]

After thinking about this a little bit. I have been wanting to put together a small computer fan mounted to a plate which would fit into the front sliding window frame that would run at night to keep condensation down. I suppose if you just made that little fan reversible then came up with some way to mount a drop in style air filter to it, then it might double as a dust pressurizer system as well.

Or I wonder if simply putting a vent in the top of the topper and just letting it draw cleaner air in from the top of the vehicle would be enough to help?

 

[ddog45]

I like the vent on the top idea but would it just suck in dust if you were following someone?

 

[robert]

You can buy tailgate seals that stick on; I've got one on my truck and it helps, but it's definitely not like a regular door seal. Getting under the truck with a light while someone else gets inside and looks for light helps too. Near the front of the bed there are seams that can be taped as well as the tool pockets (the later trucks don't have the side ones over the wheel wells do they?). Basically anywhere there is a seam it needs to be taped; I've used foil tape for a quick solution and it works but cutting a piece of inner tube, spraying it with heavy duty contact cement and slapping that on like a tire patch works better as it's more durable. Obviously do this from underneath where you can since it looks ghetto.

If you have sliding windows make sure the sweeps are in good shape- the fuzzy part that the window slides against as it opens.

Trash bags are the cheapest and easiest way to keep your stuff clean and I still use them for some stuff although I've accumulated some nicer duffles over the years- North Face Base Camp Duffels are my favorite.

 

[tyv12]

All the Hutterites around here have toppers and put a little scoop on the top so when you're driving there is cap is pressurized, works like a dream that way there's less chance of dirt entering the tailgaters, not a huge amount of dirt at the top of the vehicle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Utah KJ]

If it's from UT, that's not dust, it's awesome powder.

 

[MJCake1]

Check the little cubby holes at the end of the bed too by the tailgate. Mine is a 2014 and there are little open slots in there top and bottom. Seal that up too. I did that and the tailgate seal kit and hardly any dust now.

M&M Overland Adventures

 

[DVexile]

As others said biggest entry point is usually the tailgate. Getting everything all sealed is nearly impossible, but reducing the amount helps of course. I've usually put my stuff in plastic bins in the back of my truck with a topper. I've done little or nothing to attempt to seal the bed or tailgate. The bins get dusty, but what is inside them does not. Also, remember when using trash bags if you can fit your stuff in trash compactor bags those are thicker and a lot more durable.

I'm just about to set up a new rig (Tacoma plus Flippac) and I will be try to seal that up as best as possible - thanks for the advice in this thread, I'll check the tool pockets in the back carefully!