Hi All,
Picked up a tonneau cover for my Tacoma work truck. Unfortunately, my tool boxes are a few inches too tall to use an ordinary bedslider. The tonneau cover will not close.
Have any of you folks built a bed slider where the plywood bed sits very close to the truck bed? If so, got any tips on the plywood bed/ slider- roller mechanism?
I would seriously be in your debt. Thx!
Ray
It would depend on your fabrication abilities.
If I wanted to build such a slider I would use Unistrut/Powerstrut/Superstrut as the slider rails, with the open channel facing up and probably three rails to limit the plywood span between rails.
Make roller trucks from two pieces of 2"x2"x1/8" angle paired together to make a "T" with the top mounted to the ply and the leg sitting in the strut track. Cross drill and bolt two pears of ball bearings to the leg of the "T" to act as rollers, sized just under the height from the bottom of the strut to the bottom of the rolled lip so that the bearings roll on the bottom of the track with a load on the plywood and if there is lift from cantilever they roll on the rolled lip of the strut. Cut the leg of the "T" down as needed to minimize height.
A bolt across the strut will serve as the stop to keep the slide from pulling too far out. Make the middle back roller trucks a bit longer and add a cross hole at the back to use for a lock pin.
This should give you about 2" high sliders, perhaps 1 3/4" if you can set the strut into the bed ribs. If you really want lower, then do a 1
1/2" body and bed lift on the truck and recess the sliders into the bed almost entirely. The other option is to get some 2x4 and 2x2 tubing and make a lift for the cap to raise it up for clearance, but you'll have to do the matching lift on the tailgate so the cap door can close properly.
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I've thought some of this, too, but never got one of the necessary round tuits that is required to actually "get 'er done"... :)
My thought was to simply mount bearings on the box and let them run on angle w/ a guide. I agree that need middle support or weight can easily get excessive.
Large part of actual design depends on what is the material/tools/whatever that is intended for use with...
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The Idea with the strut is to provide the roller action in cases of uplift as well as downward load, i.e. so the whole thing doesn't tip out of the truck when you have the box at the back and lean on it. Definite shortage of round tuits though...
Try Grainger for round tuits....
Joe
If Grainger doesn't have the round tuits, a good substitute is the EASY button from Staples.
Hank
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