Flatbed (ute), service, utility bed ideas. 1st Ta come Doublecab

[theferg]

Flatbed (ute), service, utility bed ideas. 1st Gen Tacoma Doublecab

While having a bunch of junk in my back seat and rolling around loosely in the truck bed for months, I've been brainstorming the best way to keep stuff with/in my truck all the time and keeping it mostly safe and secure from the elements. I'm thinking some sort of utility/tool boxes but not totally sure what's out there...

I cannot give up any room in the cab so thats off limits and I run a roof top tent over the bed so I can't use the standard bed utility/tool boxes with topside openings.

Ive thought perhaps some side opening boxes could work, but theyd have to fit between the tent and bed-rail and I don't want the closed-position tent sticking up higher than the cab roof rack. (I would've kept my 4runner if I wanted the tent up high). Prob have ~18 inches max between top of bedside to underside of tent but probably less. (I'll measure later this evening). Not sure if there's some bedside mount tool boxes that could work for this situation..?

I also don't want it to be super heavy, so aluminum would be awesome...

The ideal solution I'm dreaming of is some sort of high clearance service body, or a Aussie style "ute" tray/flat bed with side-opening tool boxes. I've found a place in Washington that has all sorts of good stuff, but its a bit pricey (plus shipping) so I want to make sure it would be the best workable option for me. Their website is http://www.utebed.com.

A service body would be cool, but they are prob overkill, heavy, and bulky (wide and low) for what I want to do. And id also lose out on all the standard pickup truck uses such as being able to haul big bulky stuff around. Yes, with either option all fully done up, I couldn't haul big bulky stuff, but with a flatbed base, I could remove pieces all the way down to the flatbed if necessary and them make use of the flatbed and even swap on some tray sides if needed.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Anyone weld aluminum and want to produce a sweet Aussie flat bed for me? (Something similar to that ute bed would be cool)

I've also been tooling around http://ebay.com.au and found tons and tons of ute bed stuff for sale (new and used). Id love to grab a used tray from down under.... Anybody regularly shipping containers of crap from Oz on a regular basis?

-Ferg

 

[Kiel]

that ute top canopy is awesome

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I'm a big fan of ute beds and canopies, while they are extrenely popular in Aus and others they just haven't caught on in the states, particularly for the light truck market such as Tacoma's. I say do it!

Here is the Bosston canopy on the E7 79 I built, absolutely a rock solid setup that has proven very functional throughout the travels thusfar and is very robust. This particular model was nearly $20k US and many Aus options are similar, one reason the US market isn't 'ready' for them yet

 

[spencevans]

My first and second vehicles were a 1979 Chevy LUV's. One had had a traditional bed and one with a flat bed. I think the second one was converted into a flat bed more out of necessity than function because those old LUV's would get cancer something terrible. I liked the functionality of the flatbed better than the traditional bed. When I would go collecting fire wood the flatbed was more functional because of the departure angle. The useful bed space was almost doubled with the flatbed as well. Sorry, no pics, they did not have fancy cameras in the late 1990's.

 

[Rot Box]

For a short time I had a Ford (like the one I have now only it was a reg cab) with a ranch style flatbed. I loved everything about it. One day I'd like to put one on my current truck. I think it would work well with the Four Wheel Camper.

Do it

 

[Kevin B.]

How much room do you need? A flatbed with integrated box sides down low under the bed would give you a bigger platform for strapping on cargo and still leave room to mount the RTT low, but you'd want to keep them smallish to preserve clearance for wheeling.

 

[theferg]

Technically, on a daily basis, I don't need tons of storage room. Just the standard emergency type gear: first aid kit, gloves, straps, tie downs, jumper cables, a small tool set, etc. I think it could easily all fit in the under-bed mounted boxes. The top side boxes would be mainly for going camping etc.

Something like this would be perfect (minus the animal cages) for the daily usage. The two under side boxes and the trundle box (sliding drawer between the frame under the middle of the flatbed) would be plenty.

View attachment 86629

And another one that would be pretty much what my truck would look like:

View attachment 86630

 

[theferg]

Couple more. These are from the same mfg as the black one above. I really like this design. The boxes do hang down below a bit, but in this pic of the white one, it looks like it has a decent "departure" type angle on it--enough of an angle for me I think anyway.

View attachment 86632View attachment 86633

 

[Kevin B.]

It looks like you could run that same size box a couple inches higher, too, there's a gap between the box and the bed in those photos.